In this series I am sharing a few mnemonics that helped me study and remember the concepts of software testing described in the ISTQB Foundation Level Syllabus.
🧠 PhaLaTra
PhaLaTra is the first mnemonic I learned back in primary school. Our teacher gave us this tip to remember the order of appearance of 3 important organs of the digestive and respiratory system: pharynx, larynx, trachea.
This trick has worked as a charm ! As you can see, I still remember it decades after 🌠...
Since that day, whenever I need to remember something I always try to find a way to come up with a mnemonic that could help my brain better save the information.
🖥️ Software testing
Software testing is not an easy topic. It is full of terminology and concepts that testers, analysts, test engineers and software developers need to understand, remember and be able to put into practice in their daily work.
Very shortly after I started my career as a software automation tester I was offered the chance by the company I was working for to attend a course and eventually take the ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level exam.
Let me be a bit blunt..this ISTQB Syllabus is a real pain in the butt to study! In the 93 pages "2018 V3.1" version, the word "testing" appears not less than 897 times ! Almost 10 times per page 👀!
But well, it's a syllabus right 🎓! We cannot expect a high level of pedagogy and outreach, can we? So it's on us to find ways to simplify content and imagine tricks to study more efficiently: mindmap, drawings, mnemotecnics, colors, rephrasing, identifying key messages, etc.
👉 What is a test process?
I think it's now time I share with you one of my mnemonics. It is about the test process which is often a question that is asked during the certification exam.
While it will depend on the organization’s test strategy, a test process often consists of the following 6 main groups of activities:
☑ Planning
☑ Analysis
☑ Design
☑ Implementation
☑ Execution
☑ Control (or monitoring and control)
--> 🧠 P A D I E C 🧠
The acronym "PADIEC" is a nice way to store several information at a time:
- the order in which the test activities often occur
- the first letter helps your brain remember the name of the activity
- the total number of activities
Test Work Products
Each activity of the test process gives birth to a document that formalises the result of the work.
| Activity | Work product |
|---|---|
| Planning | Test plan |
| Analysis | Test condition |
| Design | Test case |
| Implementation | Test procedure |
| Execution | Defects report |
| Control | Test completion |
Once again, an acronym could help us here. And because we already studied the order of the test activities, we might as well do the same with their corresponding work product.
--> 🧠 P C C P R C 🧠
"PCCPRC" is not so obvious but when you say it, you notice it kind of rhymes... Which in the end also helps us remember.
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