ISTQB CTAL-TTA study plan

Explain how product risk analysis drives test depth, selection of test design techniques, and the choice between static and dynamic approaches

Distinguish risk identification, risk assessment (likelihood x impact), and risk mitigation, and assign a risk level to at least six product quality characteristics

Derive statement and decision coverage targets for a small code module and justify how risk level changes the required coverage

Map the CTAL-TTA syllabus risk-based testing terms to concrete test planning artefacts such as the test strategy, test approach, and exit criteria

Apply statement, decision, and decision-condition coverage to a 20-30 line function and calculate the exact number of test cases each criterion needs

Construct a control flow graph from source code and enumerate all independent paths to compute cyclomatic complexity three ways (edges-nodes+2, predicates+1, regions)

Identify infeasible paths and explain why path coverage is usually impractical as an exit criterion

Design test cases that achieve 100% decision coverage but less than 100% condition coverage, and explain what defect class that gap can hide

Write test cases for modified condition/decision coverage (MC/DC) on a compound boolean expression and verify the independence requirement for each condition

Explain how data flow analysis (definition-use pairs, all-definitions, all-uses) complements control flow coverage and select test cases for all-uses coverage

Classify static analysis findings by severity and decide which ones block release versus which are logged as technical debt

Run at least one static analysis or linter tool on real code and triage its output into true positives, false positives, and accepted risks

Compare static analysis, dynamic analysis, and review techniques, and state which defect types each detects that the others miss

Explain how dynamic analysis (memory checking, runtime assertions, instrumentation) is applied during test execution and how results feed back into risk assessment

Design a review process for code or testware using a checklist derived from the top product risks, and define entry and exit criteria for it

Connect defect data from static and dynamic analysis to the re-assessment of risk likelihood in an ongoing test cycle

Select non-functional test types (performance, load, stress, scalability, security, usability, reliability, maintainability, portability) appropriate to stated product risks, and justify each selection

Define measurable non-functional requirements and derive acceptance thresholds, including percentile response times and resource utilisation limits

Design a load profile with ramp-up, steady state, and ramp-down, and explain how to interpret results where throughput plateaus

Distinguish load, stress, spike, soak, and failover testing by the risk each one targets and the failure mode each one exposes

Explain how non-functional test results are analysed statistically and how measurement noise and environment differences affect pass/fail decisions

Compare test automation architectures (keyword-driven, data-driven, behaviour-driven, linear scripting) and match each to a project context with stated trade-offs

Apply the test automation process: suitability assessment, tool selection, proof of concept, and total cost of ownership including maintenance

Identify automation design principles that reduce maintenance cost, such as abstraction layers, no hard-coded data, and independent test cases

Design a test automation strategy with a layered test pyramid, defining what to automate at unit, API, and UI level and what to keep manual

Specify metrics that show automation value (defect detection effectiveness, execution time saved, flakiness rate, maintenance effort) and set target values

Explain how automated checks feed continuous integration, including failure triage and gating criteria for risk-based release decisions

Apply risk-based prioritisation to decide the automation order of existing manual test cases

Consolidate all five domains into a single risk-based test approach for one end-to-end scenario, from risk analysis through coverage selection, static and dynamic analysis, non-functional thresholds, and automation decisions

Complete two timed mock exams and review every wrong answer to identify the specific syllabus concept that was misunderstood

Re-derive from memory the coverage formulas, cyclomatic complexity methods, and automation selection criteria without notes

Write a personal list of the ten weakest concepts and close each gap with a targeted worked example