INTRODUCTION

NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE BOOK

The Foundation Certificate in Software Testing was introduced as part of the BCS Professional Certification portfolio (formerly ISEB) in 1998; since then over 40,000 Foundation Certificates have been awarded. An intermediate level certificate was introduced in 2007 as a step towards the more advanced Practitioner Certificates which have in turn been replaced by the Advanced Certificates. (For more information visit www.bcs.org/certifications).

The International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) (www.istqb.org) was set up in 2001 to offer a similar certification scheme to as many countries as wished to join this international testing community. The UK was a founding member of ISTQB and, in 2005, adopted the ISTQB Foundation Certificate Syllabus as the basis of examinations for the Foundation Certificate in the UK. The Foundation Certificate is now an entry qualification for the ISTQB Advanced Certificate. The Certified Tester Foundation Level Syllabus has been updated and released in a 2010 version, and this book relates to the 2010 version of the syllabus.

This book has been written specifically to help potential candidates for the ISTQB-BCS Certified Tester Foundation Level examination. The book is therefore structured to support learning of the key ideas in the syllabus quickly and efficiently for those who do not plan to attend a course, and to support structured revision for anyone preparing for the exam.

In this introductory chapter we will explain the nature and purpose of the Foundation Level and provide an insight into the way the syllabus is structured and the way the book is structured to support learning in the various syllabus areas. Finally we offer guidance on the best way to use this book, either as a learning resource or as a revision resource.

PURPOSE OF FOUNDATION

The Certified Tester Foundation Level Certificate is the first level of a hierarchy of ISTQB—ISEB certificates in software testing, and leads naturally into the next level, known as the Intermediate Certificate in Software Testing, which in turn leads on to the ISTQB Advanced Level, followed by the various ISTQB Expert Level examinations.

The Foundation Level provides a very broad introduction to the whole discipline of software testing. As a result coverage of topics is variable, with some only briefly mentioned and others studied in some detail. The arrangement of the syllabus and the required levels of understanding are explained in the next section.

The authors of the syllabus have aimed it at people with varying levels of experience in testing, including those with no experience at all. This makes the certificate accessible to those who are or who aim to be specialist testers, but also to those who require a more general understanding of testing, such as project managers and software development managers. One specific aim of this qualification is to prepare certificate holders for the next level of certification, but the Foundation Level has sufficient breadth and depth of coverage to stand alone.

THE CERTIFIED TESTER FOUNDATION LEVEL SYLLABUS

Syllabus content and structure

The syllabus is broken down into six main sections, each of which has associated with it a minimum contact time that must be included within any accredited training course:

The relative timings are a reliable guide to the amount of time that should be spent studying each section of the syllabus. These timings are further broken down for each topic within a section.

Each section of the syllabus also includes a list of learning objectives that provides candidates with a guide to what they should know when they have completed their study of a section and a guide to what can be expected to be asked in an examination. The learning objectives can be used to check that learning or revision is adequate for each topic. In the book, which is structured around the syllabus sections, we have presented the learning objectives for each section at the beginning of the relevant chapter, and the summary at the end of each chapter confirms how those learning objectives have been addressed.

Finally, each topic in the syllabus has associated with it a level of understanding, represented by the legend K1, K2, K3 or K4:

• Level of understanding K1 is associated with recall, so that a topic labelled K1 contains information that a candidate should be able to remember but not necessarily use or explain.

• Level of understanding K2 is associated with the ability to explain a topic or to classify information or make comparisons.

• Level of understanding K3 is associated with the ability to apply a topic in a practical setting.

• Level of understanding K4 is associated with the ability to analyse a situation or a set of information to determine what action to take.

The level of understanding influences the level and type of questions that can be expected to be asked about that topic in the examination. More detail about the question style and about the examination is given in Chapter 7. Example questions, written to the level and in the formats used in the examination, are included within each chapter to provide generous examination practice.

Syllabus map

The syllabus can usefully be viewed as a mind map, as shown in Figure 0.1. In this representation the main sections of the syllabus, corresponding to chapters in the book, provide the first level of ordering. The next level provides the breakdown into topics within each section. In most cases the syllabus breaks topics down even further, but this level of breakdown is omitted from the diagram for clarity. Figure 0.1 enables the entire syllabus to be viewed and is potentially useful as a tracking mechanism to identify visually which parts of the syllabus need most attention and which parts you feel are well understood. By recognising the relative strengths and weaknesses by topic within sections it is easier to understand the nature and extent of the weakness. For example, problems with certain black-box techniques that are not also associated with white-box techniques and experience-based techniques should give confidence in the overall section on test case design techniques. It is also possible to identify how many marks are ‘at risk‘ from this weakness so that you can plan where to spend most revision time and, perhaps, decide which weaknesses you feel able to leave until after the examination.

RELATIONSHIP OF THE BOOK TO THE SYLLABUS

The book is structured into chapters that mirror the sections of the syllabus so that you can work your way through the whole syllabus or select topics that are of particular interest or concern. The structure enables you to go straight to the place you need, with confidence either that what you need to know will be covered there and nowhere else, or that relevant cross references will be provided.

Each chapter of the book incorporates the learning objectives from the syllabus and identifies the required level of understanding for each topic. Each chapter also includes examples of typical examination questions to enable you to assess your current knowledge of a topic before you read the chapter, and further questions at the end of each chapter to provide practice in answering typical examination questions. Topics requiring K3 level of understanding are presented with worked examples as a model for the level of application expected from real

examination questions. Answers are provided for all questions, and the rationale for the correct answer is discussed for all practice questions.

A final chapter explains the Foundation Level examination strategy and provides guidance on how to prepare for the examination and how to manage the examination experience to maximise your own performance.

HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF THIS BOOK

This book is designed for use by different groups of people. If you are using the book as an alternative to attending an accredited course you will probably find the first method of using the book described below to be of greatest value. If you are using the book as a revision aid you may find the second approach more appropriate. In either case you would be well advised to acquire a copy of the syllabus (available from www.istqb.org) and a copy of the sample examination paper (available from BCS) as reference documents, though neither is essential and the book stands alone as a learning and revision aid.

Using the book as a learning aid

For those of you using the book as an alternative to attending an accredited course the first step is to familiarise yourself with the syllabus structure and content by skim reading the opening sections of each chapter where the learning objectives are identified for each topic. You may then find it helpful to turn to Chapter 7 and become familiar with the structure of the examination and the types and levels of questions that you can expect in the examination. From here you can then work through each of the six main chapters in any sequence before returning to Chapter 7 to remind yourself of the main elements of the examination.

For each chapter begin by attempting the self-assessment questions at the beginning to get initial confirmation of your level of confidence in the topics covered by that chapter. This may help you to prioritise how you spend your time. Work first through the chapters where your knowledge is weakest, attempting all the exercises and following through all the worked examples. Read carefully through the chapters where your knowledge is less weak but still not good enough to pass the exam. You can be more selective with exercises and examples here, but make sure you attempt the practice questions at the end of the chapters. For the areas where you feel strong you can use the chapter for revision, but remember to attempt the practice questions to confirm positively your initial assessment of your level of knowledge. Every chapter contains a summary section that reiterates the learning objectives, so reading the first and last sections of a chapter will help you to understand how your current level of knowledge relates to the level required to pass the examination. The best confirmation of this is to attempt questions at the appropriate K level for each topic; these are provided in the book.

Using the book as a revision aid

If you are using this book for final revision, perhaps after completing an accredited course, you might like to begin by using a selection of the example questions at the end of each chapter as a ‘mock examination‘. The information in Chapter 7 will enable you to construct a properly balanced mock exam of your own. Your mock exam will provide some experience of answering typical questions under the same time pressures that you will experience in the real examination, and this will provide you with a fairly reliable guide to your current state of readiness to take the real examination. You can also discover which areas most need revision from your performance in the mock exam, and this will guide you as you plan your revision.

Revise first where you feel weakest. You can use the opening sections of each chapter, containing the learning objectives and the self-assessment questions, together with the summary at the end of each chapter to refine further your awareness of your own weaknesses. From here you can target your studies very accurately. Remember that every K3 topic will have at least one worked example and some exercises to help you build your confidence before tackling questions at the level set in the real examination.

You can get final confirmation of your readiness to take the real examination by taking the sample examination paper available from BCS.