ISQI ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level - Test Automation Engineering CTAL-TAE (Syllabus v2.0) Sample Questions:

1. As a TAE, you are evaluating a test automation tool to automate some UI tests for a web app. The automated tests will first locate the required HTML elements on the web page using their corresponding identifiers (locators), then perform actions on those elements, and finally check the presence of any expected text for an HTML element. These tests are independent of each other and are organized into a test suite that must be run every night against the most recent build of the web app. There is a high risk that the web app will crash while running some automated tests. Based only on the given information, which of the following is your MOST important concern related to the evaluation of the test automation tool?

A) Does the test automation tool offer a feature to create a mock server that simulates the behavior of a real API by accepting requests and returning responses?
B) Does the test automation tool support a licensing scheme that allows accessing different feature sets?
C) Does the test automation tool provide a feature to specify automated tests in a descriptive meta- language that is not directly executable on the web app?
D) Does the test automation tool offer a feature to restore the web app, recover from the failed test, skip such tests, and resume the next one in the suite?

2. You have agreed with your organization's managers to conduct a pilot project to introduce test automation.
Managers' expectations about the benefits of automation are too optimistic. Which of the following is LEAST relevant when deciding the scope of the pilot project's objectives?

A) Evaluate the potential cost savings and benefits (e.g., faster test execution, better test coverage) of using automated testing versus manual testing
B) Evaluate the performance of an organization's network infrastructure in terms of factors such as availability, bandwidth, latency, packet loss, and jitter
C) Evaluate the knowledge and skills of people who will be involved in automating test cases for applicable test automation frameworks and technologies
D) Evaluate the suitability of different test automation tools based on the technology stack used by the applications for which the automated tests will be developed

3. Consider choosing an approach for the automated implementation of manual regression test suites written at the UI level for some already developed web apps. The TAS is based on a programming language that allows the creation of test libraries and provides a capture/playback feature that allows recognition and interaction with all widgets in the web UIs being tested. The automated tests will be implemented by team members with strong programming skills. The chosen approach should aim to reduce both the effort required to maintain automated tests and the effort required to add new automated tests. Which of the following approaches would you choose?

A) Test-Driven Development (TDD)
B) Linear scripting
C) Structured scripting
D) Capture/playback

4. Consider a TAS implemented to perform automated testing on native mobile apps at the UI level, where the TAF implements a client-server architecture. The client runs on-premise and allows creation of automated test scripts using TAF libraries to recognize and interact with the app's UI objects. The server runs in the cloud as part of a PaaS service, receiving commands from the client, translating them into actions for the mobile device, and sending the results to the client. The cloud platform hosts several mobile devices dedicated for use by this TAS. The device on which to run test scripts/test suites is specified at run time. You are currently verifying whether the test automation environment and all other TAS/TAF components work correctly. Which of the following activities would you perform to achieve your goal?

A) Check whether all test scripts that will be executed by the TAS as part of a given test suite have expected results
B) Check whether the references to the device on which the given test scripts/test suites will be executed are correctly hard-coded within these test scripts/test suites
C) Manage the infrastructure that hosts the server, including hardware, software updates, and security patches
D) Check whether the TAF libraries that the test scripts will use to recognize and interact with the app's UI objects (widgets) function as expected

5. Which one of the following answers does NOT refer to an example of configuration item(s) that should be specified in development pipelines to identify a test environment (and its specific test data) associated with a web app under test on which to execute automated tests?

A) The connection string(s) to connect to the test database(s) within the test environment where the web app is deployed
B) The URLs of web APIs/web services related to the web app's backend within the test environment where the app is deployed
C) The number and type of automated tests to execute in the test environment where the web app is deployed
D) The base URL of the test environment where the web app is deployed (i.e., the root address for accessing the web app)

Solutions: