CT-TAE Exam Dumps - ISTQB Test Automation Engineer Questions and Answers

Good practice for maintaining the Test Automation System (TAS) involves ensuring that the system is under configuration management, which includes the test suite, the testware artifacts, and the test environment. It also involves separating the test scripts from the environment and associated harnesses and artifacts to promote modularity and maintainability. Additionally, the TAS should be designed with replaceable components to allow for easy updates and changes without disrupting the overall system. However, stating that the TAS must run in the development environment because development and programming knowledge are required for its maintainability is not a good practice. The TAS should be able to run in multiple environments, and maintainability should not be dependent solely on the development environment or require development knowledge, as it should be maintainable by the testing team as well12345.

References = The ISTQB Test Automation Engineer (CT-TAE) certification materials and the associated syllabus provide guidelines on the best practices for maintaining the TAS, emphasizing the importance of configuration management, separation of concerns, and modularity12345.

 The ISTQB Test Automation Engineer guidelines emphasize the importance of a Test Automation Architecture (TAA) that is flexible and maintainable. In the scenario described, automating tests at both the Component and System levels allows for early detection of defects and continuous integration of changes. Customized hooks at the Component level enable testing of interfaces that are under development, which is crucial for incremental delivery in Agile environments. Testing only the newly developed or amended interfaces at the System level ensures that the automation is focused on the changes that are most relevant to the release.

References = The answer is based on the principles outlined in the ISTQB Test Automation Engineer syllabus, which discusses the design, development, and maintenance of test automation solutions, as well as the automation of dynamic functional tests and their relationship to test management, configuration management, defect management, software development processes, and quality assurance123.

For the scenario of automating functional tests at the system test level via the Command Line Interface (CLI) of the SUT, with the requirements for fast and cheap maintenance, low cost for adding new tests, and high independence from the automation tool, the most suitable scripting technique is Data-driven scripting. This approach externalizes test data from the scripts into separate data files or repositories, allowing for the reuse of test scripts with different sets of data. Data-driven scripting is ideal for meeting the specified requirements because it enables rapid execution of a large number of test cases by merely changing the input data, without the need to alter the scripts themselves. This significantly reduces maintenance costs and the effort required to add new tests, as the core script remains the same. Moreover, this technique enhances the independence of the automated tests from the specific tools used, as the focus is on the data and the generic actions performed by the scripts, making it the most suitable choice for the described needs.

 The most significant risk for the Test Automation System (TAS) in this scenario is related to the level of abstraction and the departure of the automation architect. The architect’s role is crucial in designing and maintaining the architecture of the TAS. Their departure can lead to challenges in understanding the system’s design and making necessary updates or changes. The level of abstraction means that the system is designed in a way that may not be easily understood without the architect’s insight, which can make maintenance difficult. This risk is compounded when the TAS is used across several projects, each with its own library of keywords, which requires a deep understanding of the system’s architecture to manage effectively.

References = This answer is based on the principles outlined in the ISTQB Test Automation Engineer syllabus, which discusses the importance of maintainability and the risks associated with high levels of abstraction in test automation architectures12. The syllabus also emphasizes the role of the automation architect in ensuring the long-term success of the TAS2.