Module 3 - Performance Testing Sample Questions Part 3A
3.1 Principal Performance Testing Activities
Performance testing is iterative in nature. Each test provides valuable insights into application and system performance. The information gathered from one test is used to correct or optimize application and system parameters. The next test iteration will then show the results of modifications, and so on until test objectives are reached.
Performance testing activities align with the ISTQB test process
Q1: Select all the Test activities
i: Test Planning
ii: Test Releases
iii: Test Closure
iv: Test Implementation
v: Test Execution
Select all
A: i, ii, iii
B: ii, iv, v
C: i, iv, v
D: i, iii, v
C: i, iv, v
Test Planning
Test Monitoring and Control
Test Analysis
Test Design
Test Implementation
Test Execution
Test Completion
Q2: What activities are carried in Test Planning
Select all
i: Allocation of test environments
ii: Changes to network components
iii: Test data,
iv: Test Implementation
v: Scope of Performance Testing
A: i, ii, iii
B: ii, iv, v
C: i, iv, v
D: i, iii, v
D: i, iii, v
Test planning is particularly important for performance testing due to the need for the allocation of test environments, test data, tools and human resources. In addition, this is the activity in which the scope of performance testing is established.
Q3: What risks are identified in Test Planning
Select all
i: Risk identification
ii: Test conditions are identified
iii: Risk Analysis
iv: Test results are provided to the stakeholders
v: Test plan documentation is updated
A: i, ii, iii
B: i, iii, v
C: i, iv, v
D: ii, iii, v
B: i, iii, v
During test planning, risk identification and risk analysis activities are completed and relevant information is updated in any test planning documentation (e.g., test plan, level test plan). Just as test planning is revisited and modified as needed, so are risks, risk levels and risk status modified to reflect changes in risk conditions.
Q4: What activities are carried in Test Monitoring and Control
Select all Options
i: changed, new or replaced hardware
ii: Changes to network components
iii: Control measures are defined to provide action plans
iv: changes to software implementation
v: Scope of Performance Testing
A: i, ii, iii
B: ii, iv, v
C: i, iv, v
D: i, iii, v
A: i, ii, iii
Test Monitoring and Control
Control measures are defined to provide action plans should issues be encountered which might impact performance efficiency, such as
A: Increasing the load generation capacity if the infrastructure does not generate the desired loads as planned for particular performance tests
B: Changed, new or replaced hardware
C: Changes to network components
D: Changes to software implementation
The performance test objectives are evaluated to check for exit criteria achievement.
Q5: What activities are carried in Test Analysis
Select all Options
i: Test objectives
ii: Service Level Agreements (SLA)
iii: IT Architecture
iv: Changes to software implementation
v: Analysis of performance requirements
A: i, ii, iii, iv
B: ii, iii, iv, v
C: i, ii, iii, v
D: i, ii, iv, v
C: i, ii, iii, v
Test Analysis
Effective performance tests are based on an analysis of performance requirements, test objectives, Service Level Agreements (SLA), IT architecture, process models and other items that comprise the test basis. This activity may be supported by modeling and analysis of system resource requirements and/or behavior using spreadsheets or capacity planning tools.
Specific test conditions are identified such as load levels, timing conditions, and transactions to be tested. The required type(s) of performance test (e.g., load, stress, scalability) are then decided.
Q6: What activities are carried in Test Analysis
Select all Options
i: Test objectives
ii: Test cases
iii: building blocks of complex performance tests
iv: Changes to software implementation
A: i, ii
B: ii, iii
C: iii, iv
D: ii, iv
B: ii, iii
Test Design
Performance test cases are designed. These are generally created in modular form so that they may be used as the building blocks of larger, more complex performance tests (see section 4.2).
Q7: What activities are carried in Test Implementation
Select all Options
i: Test objectives
ii: Test cases are ordered into performance test procedures
iii: Changes to software implementation
iv: Test steps/ Step Scripts/Test procedure
A: i, ii
B: ii, iii
C: iii, iv
D: ii, iv
D: ii, iv
Test Implementation
In the implementation phase, performance test cases are ordered into performance test procedures. These performance test procedures should reflect the steps normally taken by the user and other functional activities that are to be covered during performance testing.
Q8: What activities are carried in Test Implementation
i: The results
ii: Test is executed
iii: Performance tools are used
iv: Test result Evaluated
v: Test Objective
Select all Options
A: ii, iii, iv
B: i, ii, iii
C: i, iii, iv
D: i, ii, iv
A: ii, iii, iv
Test Execution
Test execution occurs when the performance test is conducted, often by using performance test tools. Test results are evaluated to determine if the system’s performance meets the requirements and other stated objectives. Any defects are reported.
Q9: What activities are carried in Test Completion
i: The results provided to stakeholder
ii: Test Summary report
iii: Test result aggregated
iv: Test result Evaluated
v: Test Objective
Select all Options
A: ii, iii, iv
B: i, ii, iii
C: i, iii, iv
D: i, ii, iv
B: i, ii, iii
Test Completion
Performance test results are provided to the stakeholders (e.g., architects, managers, product owners) in a test summary report. The results are expressed through metrics which are often aggregated to simplify the meaning of the test results. Visual means of reporting such as dashboards are often used to express performance test results in ways that are easier to understand than text-based metrics.
Performance testing is often considered to be an ongoing activity in that it is performed at multiple times and at all test levels (component, integration, system, system integration and acceptance testing). At the close of a defined period of performance testing, a point of test closure may be reached where designed tests, test tool assets (test cases and test procedures), test data and other testware are archived or passed on to other testers for later use during system maintenance activities.
3.2 Categories of Performance Risks for Different Architectures
As mentioned previously, application or system performance varies considerably based on the architecture, application and host environment. While it is not possible to provide a complete list of performance risks for all systems, the list below includes some typical types of risks associated with particular architectures:
Q10: Select Performance Risk from below:
i: Single Computer Systems
ii: Test Summary report
iii Multi-tier Systems
iv: Test result Evaluated
v: Dynamic/Cloud-based Systems
Select all Options
A: ii, iii, iv
B: i, ii, iii
C: i, iii, v
D: i, ii, iv
C: i, iii, v
Q11: What risk are associated with Single Computer Systems:
A: Excessive resource consumption including memory leaks
B: Poor or non-scalable database design
C: Critical workflows or dataflows to, from, or through unreliable or unpredictable remote servers
D: Excessive load on the hardware
Answer
A: Excessive resource consumption including memory leaks
Single Computer Systems
These are systems or applications that runs entirely on one non-virtualized computer. Performance can degrade due to
A:Excessive resource consumption including memory leaks, background activities such as security software, slow storage subsystems (e.g., low-speed external devices or disk fragmentation), and operating system mismanagement.
B:Inefficient implementation of algorithms which do not make use of available resources (e.g., main memory) and as a result execute slower than required.
Q12: What risk are associated with Single Multi-tier Systems
A: Excessive resource consumption including memory leaks
B: Poor or non-scalable database design
C: Critical workflows or dataflows to, from, or through unreliable or unpredictable remote servers
D: Excessive load on the hardware
B: Poor or non-scalable database design
Multi-tier Systems
These are systems of systems that run on multiple servers, each of which performs a specific set of tasks, such as database server, application server, and presentation server. Each server is, of course, a computer and subject to the risks given earlier. In addition, performance can degrade due to poor or non-scalable database design, network bottlenecks, and inadequate bandwidth or capacity on any single server.
Q13: What risk are associated with Distributed Systems
A: Excessive resource consumption including memory leaks
B: Poor or non-scalable database design
C: Critical workflows or dataflows to, from, or through unreliable or unpredictable remote servers
D: Excessive load on the hardware
C: Critical workflows or dataflows to, from, or through unreliable or unpredictable remote servers
Distributed Systems
These are systems of systems, similar to a multi-tier architecture, but the various servers may change dynamically, such as an e-commerce system that accesses different inventory databases depending on the geographic location of the person placing the order. In addition to the risks associated with multi-tier architectures, this architecture can experience performance problems due to critical workflows or dataflows to, from, or through unreliable or unpredictable remote servers, especially
Q14: What risk are associated with Virtualized Systems
A: Excessive resource consumption including memory leaks
B: Poor or non-scalable database design
C: Critical workflows or dataflows to, from, or through unreliable or unpredictable remote servers
D: Excessive load on the hardware
Virtualized Systems
These are systems where the physical hardware hosts multiple virtual computers. These virtual machines may host single-computer systems and applications as well as servers that are part of a multi-tier or distributed architecture. Performance risks that arise specifically from virtualization include excessive load on the hardware across all the virtual machines or improper configuration of the host virtual machine resulting in inadequate resources.
Q15: What risk are associated with Dynamic/Cloud based Systems
A: Excessive resource consumption including memory leaks
B: Poor or non-scalable database design
C: Critical workflows or dataflows to, from, or through unreliable or unpredictable remote servers
D: Excessive load on the hardware
Dynamic/Cloud-based Systems
These are systems that offer the ability to scale on demand, increasing capacity as the level of load increases. These systems are typically distributed and virtualized multi-tier systems, albeit with self-scaling features designed specifically to mitigate some of the performance risks associated with those architectures. However, there are risks associated with failures to properly configure these features during initial setup or subsequent updates.
Q16: What risk are associated with Client Server Systems
A: limited and variable resources and connectivity available on the mobile device
B: Risks exist due to connection speed and reliability issues, network congestion at the client connection point
C: many of the risks of mobile devices, including (increasingly) connectivity-
related issues since these devices are connected to the Internet
D: Poor or non-scalable database design
B: Risks exist due to connection speed and reliability issues, network congestion at the client connection point
Client –Server Systems
These are systems running on a client that communicate via a user interface with a single server, multi-tier server, or distributed server. Since there is code running on the client, the single computer risks apply to that code, while the server-side issues mentioned above apply as well. Further, performance risks exist due to connection speed and reliability issues, network congestion at the client connection point (e.g., public Wi-Fi), and potential problems due to firewalls, packet inspection and server load balancing.
Q17: What risk are associated with Mobile Applications
A: limited and variable resources and connectivity available on the mobile device
B: Risks exist due to connection speed and reliability issues, network congestion at the client connection point
C: many of the risks of mobile devices, including (increasingly) connectivity-
related issues since these devices are connected to the Internet
D: Poor or non-scalable database design
B: Risks exist due to connection speed and reliability issues, network congestion at the client connection point
Mobile Applications
This are applications running on a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device. Such applications are subject to the risks mentioned for client-server and browser-based (web apps) applications. In addition, performance issues can arise due to the limited and variable resources and connectivity available on the mobile device (which can be affected by location, battery life, charge state, available memory on the device and temperature). For those applications that use device sensors or radios such as accelerometers or Bluetooth, slow dataflows from those sources could create problems. Finally, mobile applications often have heavy interactions with other local mobile apps and remote web services, any of which can potentially become a performance efficiency bottleneck.
Q18: What risk are associated with Embedded Real-time Systems
A: limited and variable resources and connectivity available on the mobile device
B: Risks exist due to connection speed and reliability issues, network congestion at the client connection point
C: Many of the risks of mobile devices, including (increasingly) connectivity-
related issues since these devices are connected to the Internet
D: Poor or non-scalable database design
C: Many of the risks of mobile devices, including (increasingly) connectivity-related issues since these devices are connected to the Internet.
These are systems that work within or even control everyday things such as cars (e.g., entertainment systems and intelligent braking systems), elevators, traffic signals, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, and more. These systems often have many of the risks of mobile devices, including (increasingly) connectivity-
Q18: What risk are associated with Mainframe Applications
Select One Option
A: limited and variable resources and connectivity available on the mobile device
B: Risks exist due to connection speed and reliability issues, network congestion at the client connection point
C: Many of the risks of mobile devices, including (increasingly) connectivity-related issues since these devices are connected to the Internet
D: Unexpected loads that affect throughput of established applications.
D: Unexpected loads that affect throughput of established applications.
Mainframe Applications
These are applications—in many cases decades-old applications—supporting often mission-critical business functions in a data center, sometimes via batch processing. Most are quite predictable and fast when used as originally designed, but many of these are now accessible via APIs, web services, or through their database, which can result in unexpected loads that affect throughput of established applications.
Note that any particular application or system may incorporate two or more of the architectures listed above, which means that all relevant risks will apply to that application or system. In fact, given the Internet of Things and the explosion of mobile applications—two areas where extreme levels of interaction and connection is the rule—it is possible that all architectures are present in some form in an application, and thus all risks can apply.
While architecture is clearly an important technical decision with a profound impact on performance risks, other technical decisions also influence and create risks. For example, memory leaks are more common with languages that allow direct heap memory management, such as C and C++, and performance issues are different for relational versus non-relational databases. Such decisions extend all the way down to the design of individual functions or methods (e.g., the choice of a recursive as opposed to an iterative algorithm). As a tester, the ability to know about or even influence such decisions will vary, depending on the roles and responsibilities of testers within the organization and software development lifecycle.
Q19: What risk are associated with Embedded Real-time Systems
i: Identify risks to product quality, focusing on characteristics such as time behavior, resource utilization, and capacity.
ii: Test Summary report
iii Manage risks on an ongoing basis to ensure that the risks are adequately mitigated prior to release.
iv: Take appropriate risk mitigation actions for each risk item based on the nature of the risk item and the level of risk.
v: Assess the identified risks, ensuring that the relevant architecture categories (see Section 3.2) are addressed. Evaluate the overall level of risk for each identified risk in terms of likelihood and impact using clearly defined criteria.
vi: Dynamic/Cloud-based Systems
Select all Options
A: i, v, iv, iii
B: i, ii, iii, v
C: ii, iii, iv, v
D: i, ii, iv v
A: i, v, iv, iii
For performance-related risks to the quality of the product, the process is:
- Identify risks to product quality, focusing on characteristics such as time behavior, resource utilization, and capacity.
- Assess the identified risks, ensuring that the relevant architecture categories (see Section 3.2) are addressed. Evaluate the overall level of risk for each identified risk in terms of likelihood and impact using clearly defined criteria.
- Take appropriate risk mitigation actions for each risk item based on the nature of the risk item and the level of risk.
- Manage risks on an ongoing basis to ensure that the risks are adequately mitigated prior to release.
Q20: Select the correct answer for statement below:
“As with quality risk analysis in general, the participants in this process should include both business and technical stakeholders”
Select One Option
A: True
B: False
A: True
As with quality risk analysis in general, the participants in this process should include both business and technical stakeholders.
For performance-related risk analysis the business stakeholders must include those with a particular awareness of how performance problems in production will actually affect customers, users, the business, and other downstream stakeholders. Business stakeholders must appreciate that intended usage, business-, societal-, or safety-criticality, potential financial and/or reputational damage, civil or criminal legal liability and similar factors affect risk from a business perspective, creating risks and influencing the impact of failures.
Q21: Select the correct answer for statement below:
“For performance-related risk analysis the business stakeholders must include those with a particular awareness of how performance problems in production will actually affect customers, users, the business, and other downstream stakeholders”
Select One Option
A: True
B: False
A: True
As with quality risk analysis in general, the participants in this process should include both business and technical stakeholders. For performance-related risk analysis the business stakeholders must include those with a particular awareness of how performance problems in production will actually affect customers, users, the business, and other downstream stakeholders. Business stakeholders must appreciate that intended usage, business-, societal-, or safety-criticality, potential financial and/or reputational damage, civil or criminal legal liability and similar factors affect risk from a business perspective, creating risks and influencing the impact of failures.
Q22: Select the correct answer for statement below:
“Business stakeholders must appreciate that intended usage, business-, societal-, or safety-criticality, potential financial and/or reputational damage, civil or criminal legal liability and similar factors affect risk from a business perspective, creating risks and influencing the impact of failures.”
Select One Option
A: True
B: False
A: True
As with quality risk analysis in general, the participants in this process should include both business and technical stakeholders. For performance-related risk analysis the business stakeholders must include those with a particular awareness of how performance problems in production will actually affect customers, users, the business, and other downstream stakeholders. Business stakeholders must appreciate that intended usage, business-, societal-, or safety-criticality, potential financial and/or reputational damage, civil or criminal legal liability and similar factors affect risk from a business perspective, creating risks and influencing the impact of failures.
Further, the technical stakeholders must include those with a deep understanding of the performance implications of relevant requirements, architecture, design, and implementation decisions. Technical stakeholders must appreciate that architecture, design, and implementation decisions affect performance risks from a technical perspective, creating risks and influencing the likelihood of defects.
Q23: Select the correct answer for statement below:
“Further, the technical stakeholders must include those with a deep understanding of the performance implications of relevant requirements, architecture, design, and implementation decisions”
Select One Option
A: True
B: False
A: True
Further, the technical stakeholders must include those with a deep understanding of the performance implications of relevant requirements, architecture, design, and implementation decisions. Technical stakeholders must appreciate that architecture, design, and implementation decisions affect performance risks from a technical perspective, creating risks and influencing the likelihood of defects.
Q24: Select the correct answer for statement below:
“Technical stakeholders must appreciate that architecture, design, and implementation decisions affect performance risks from a technical perspective, creating risks and influencing the likelihood of defects.”
Select One Option
A: True
B: False
A: True
Further, the technical stakeholders must include those with a deep understanding of the performance implications of relevant requirements, architecture, design, and implementation decisions. Technical stakeholders must appreciate that architecture, design, and implementation decisions affect performance risks from a technical perspective, creating risks and influencing the likelihood of defects.
Q25: Select the correct answer for statement below:
“The specific risk analysis process chosen should have the appropriate level of formality and rigor. For performance-related risks, it is especially important that the risk analysis process be started early and is repeated regularly. In other words, the tester should avoid relying entirely on performance testing conducted towards the end of the system test level and system integration test level.”
Select One Option
A: True
B: False
A: True
The specific risk analysis process chosen should have the appropriate level of formality and rigor. For performance-related risks, it is especially important that the risk analysis process be started early and is repeated regularly. In other words, the tester should avoid relying entirely on performance testing conducted towards the end of the system test level and system integration test level. Many projects, especially larger and more complex systems of systems projects, have met with unfortunate surprises due to the late discovery of performance defects which resulted from requirements, design, architecture, and implementation decisions made early in the project. The emphasis should therefore be on an iterative approach to performance risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and management throughout the software development lifecycle.
Q26: Select the correct answer for statement below:
“Many projects, especially larger and more complex systems of systems projects, have met with unfortunate surprises due to the late discovery of performance defects which resulted from requirements, design, architecture, and implementation decisions made early in the project. The emphasis should therefore be on an iterative approach to performance risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and management throughout the software development lifecycle.”
Select One Option
A: True
B: False
A: True
The specific risk analysis process chosen should have the appropriate level of formality and rigor. For performance-related risks, it is especially important that the risk analysis process be started early and is repeated regularly. In other words, the tester should avoid relying entirely on performance testing conducted towards the end of the system test level and system integration test level. Many projects, especially larger and more complex systems of systems projects, have met with unfortunate surprises due to the late discovery of performance defects which resulted from requirements, design, architecture, and implementation decisions made early in the project. The emphasis should therefore be on an iterative approach to performance risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and management throughout the software development lifecycle.
Q27: Select the correct answer for statement below:
“Good performance engineering can help project teams avoid the late discovery of critical performance defects during higher test levels, such as system integration testing or user acceptance testing. Performance defects found at a late stage in the project can be extremely costly and may even lead to the cancellation of entire projects.
Select One Option
A: True
B: False
A: True
Good performance engineering can help project teams avoid the late discovery of critical performance defects during higher test levels, such as system integration testing or user acceptance testing. Performance defects found at a late stage in the project can be extremely costly and may even lead to the cancellation of entire projects.
Q28: Select the correct answer for statement below:
“As with any type of quality risk, performance-related risks can never be avoided completely, i.e., some risk of performance-related production failure will always exist. Therefore, the risk management process must include providing a realistic and specific evaluation of the residual level of risk to the business and technical stakeholders involved in the process. “
Select One Option
A: True
B: False
3.4 Performance Testing Activities
Performance testing activities will be organized and performed differently, depending on the type of software development lifecycle in use.
Q29: Select the correct answer for statement below:
“The ideal practice of performance testing in sequential development models is to include performance criteria as a part of the acceptance criteria which are defined at the outset of a project. Reinforcing the lifecycle view of testing, performance testing activities should be conducted throughout the software development lifecycle. As the project progresses, each successive performance test activity should be based on items defined in the prior activities as shown below. “
Select One Option
A: True
B: False
A: True
Sequential Development Models
The ideal practice of performance testing in sequential development models is to include performance criteria as a part of the acceptance criteria which are defined at the outset of a project. Reinforcing the lifecycle view of testing, performance testing activities should be conducted throughout the software development lifecycle. As the project progresses, each successive performance test activity should be based on items defined in the prior activities as shown below.
1: Concept – Verify that system performance goals are defined as acceptance criteria for the project.
2: Requirements – Verify that performance requirements are defined and represent stakeholder needs correctly.
3: Analysis and Design – Verify that the system design reflects the performance requirements.
4: Coding/Implementation – Verify that the code is efficient and reflects the requirements and design in terms of performance.
5: Component Testing – Conduct component level performance testing.
6: Component Integration Testing – Conduct performance testing at the component integration level.
7: System Testing – Conduct performance testing at the system level, which includes hardware, software, procedures and data that are representative of the production environment. System interfaces may be simulated provided that they give a true representation of performance.
8: System Integration Testing– Conduct performance testing with the entire system which is representative of the production environment.
9: Acceptance Testing – Validate that system performance meets the originally stated user needs and acceptance criteria.
Q30: what task is carried out during Concept in Sequential Development Models
Select One Option
A: Conduct performance testing at the component integration level.
B: Verify that the system design reflects the performance requirements
C: Verify that system performance goals are defined as acceptance criteria for the project.
D: Verify that the code is efficient and reflects the requirements and design in terms of performance.
C: Verify that system performance goals are defined as acceptance criteria for the project.
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