CTAL-TTA Glossary

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Browse and search 65 syllabus-grounded terms and definitions by chapter.

65 terms

accountability: A security sub-characteristic used as a basis for specifying security tests.
adaptability: A portability sub-characteristic concerned with an application functioning in its intended target environments.
analyzability: A maintainability sub-characteristic concerned with how readily code can be analyzed.
anomaly: A potentially problematic sequence or use of code or data identified by static analysis.
API testing: Testing the application programming interface, with attention to its input parameters, returned results, and interactions.
atomic condition: A single condition within a decision predicate that evaluates to true or false.
authenticity: A security sub-characteristic used as a basis for specifying security tests.
availability: The extent to which a system is available to users and other systems under normal operating conditions.
capacity: A performance efficiency sub-characteristic concerned with maximum limits under specified operating conditions, such as transactions per unit of time or simultaneous users.
capture/playback: A tool capability that records manual interactions with graphical objects and replays them as an automated script.
coexistence: The ability of unrelated systems to run in the same environment without adversely affecting each other.
compatibility: A quality characteristic that includes coexistence and interoperability.
confidentiality: A security sub-characteristic used as a basis for specifying security tests.
control flow: The sequence of steps followed through code or another structured process.
control flow analysis: Static analysis of the steps followed through a program, commonly represented by a control flow graph.
cyclomatic complexity: A positive integer representing the number of independent paths in a strongly connected control flow graph.
data flow analysis: Static analysis that gathers information about how variables are defined, used, and destroyed.
data-driven testing: An automation approach that keeps test data separate from a script so one script can run with different inputs and expected results.
decision testing: A white-box technique that exercises the outcomes of decisions in code.
definition-use pair: A control flow path between a variable definition and a subsequent use of that variable.
dynamic analysis: Analysis that requires executing code to find defects or observe behavior while it runs.
emulator: A mobile testing tool that models device hardware and uses the same runtime environment as the physical device.
fault injection: The deliberate supply of incorrect inputs or creation of defect scenarios to check how software copes.
fault seeding: The deliberate modification of code under test to check the effectiveness of tests.
fault tolerance: The ability of a system to continue operating when failures occur.
installability: A portability sub-characteristic tested through the software and procedures for installing it in its target environment.
integrity: A security sub-characteristic used as a basis for specifying security tests.
keyword-driven testing: An automation approach that separates test actions and data from scripts by using descriptive keywords.
maintainability: The ease with which code can be analyzed, changed, tested, modularized, and reused.
maturity: The degree to which a system meets reliability requirements under normal operating conditions.
memory leak: Allocated memory that a program does not release when it is no longer needed.
model-based testing (MBT): A technique using a model, such as a finite state machine, to describe intended runtime behavior.
modifiability: A maintainability sub-characteristic concerned with how readily code can be changed.
modified condition/decision testing: A white-box technique that uses pairs of tests to show that each atomic condition can independently affect a decision outcome.
modularity: A maintainability sub-characteristic that can be tested by static analysis.
multiple condition testing: A white-box technique that exercises combinations of atomic conditions within decisions.
non-repudiation: A security sub-characteristic used as a basis for specifying security tests.
operational profile: A pattern of system use, typically describing users, operations, and their frequencies or probabilities.
performance efficiency: A quality characteristic comprising time behavior, resource utilization, and capacity.
portability: The degree to which software can be transferred into or adapted to a target environment, or can replace another entity.
product risk: A risk concerning the product, assessed using factors such as technology and code complexity, code changes, defect history, and interface or integration issues.
project risk: A risk that may affect the project's success, such as conflicting technical requirements or high rates of technical requirements change.
quality characteristic: An aspect of product quality used to plan and organize technical testing, such as reliability or security.
recoverability: The ability of a system to recover from failure, measured by recovery time or data loss.
reliability: The ability of software to perform specified functions under specified conditions for a specified period.
reliability growth model: A statistical model that uses a reducing frequency of failures to predict mean time between failures.
replaceability: The ability of a software component to replace an existing component in a system.
resource utilization: A performance efficiency sub-characteristic concerned with resource usage during operation.
reusability: A maintainability sub-characteristic that may be evaluated through architectural reviews.
review: An examination of a work product to understand what is written, identify what is missing, and verify technical correctness and consistency.
risk assessment: The evaluation of identified risks to estimate their likelihood and impact.
risk identification: The activity of identifying pertinent risks, drawing on stakeholders' views, expert interviews, brainstorming, and experience.
risk mitigation: Actions that reduce or respond to identified risks, including designing and executing tests and using contingency measures.
risk-based testing: A testing approach in which identified and assessed risks guide the test strategy and test activities.
safety integrity level: A relative level of risk reduction defined by IEC 61508 for a safety-related system.
security: A product quality characteristic with confidentiality, integrity, non-repudiation, accountability, and authenticity as sub-characteristics.
simulator: A mobile testing tool that models a mobile platform runtime environment and runs a dedicated application build.
statement testing: A white-box technique focused on exercising executable statements in code.
static analysis: Evaluation of software without executing it, performed by a tool or a person.
technical review: A review in which the Technical Test Analyst contributes a technical perspective on a work product.
test execution: The running of tests, which can be supported or automated by test tools.
testability: A maintainability sub-characteristic concerned with how readily code can be tested.
time behavior: A performance efficiency sub-characteristic concerned with response or processing time.
white-box test technique: A test technique applied to code or another structure, with coverage measured against that structure.
wild pointer: A pointer that is no longer accurate and must not be used.