Full Test Bank Chapter 12 Construction

Chapter 12: Construction
Testbank

Multiple Choices

1. When information systems projects fail, the primary reason has traditionally been _____.

a. improperly trained programmers

b. inadequate planning

c. poor analysis, design, installation, or project management

d. poor programming

e. shortened testing periods

1. _____ is the development of all parts of the new system including the software, documentation, and new operating procedures.

a. Construction

b. Design

c. Documentation

d. Management

e. Testing

1. The cost of fixing one major bug after the system is installed can easily exceed the _____.

a. annual salary of a programmer

b. cost of one week’s work as a programmer

c. cost of two weeks’ work as a programmer

d. entire cost of the programming project

e. value of the entire systems team

1. When assigning programmers to a programming team, the best size of the team is _____.

a. five

b. six

c. the largest number of people possible

d. the smallest number of people possible

e. twenty-two

1. Regular meetings of a systems project team _____.

a. encourage communication

b. is not a simple approach

c. reduce communication

d. reduce discussion

e. should not be held unless necessary

1. When programmers or project teams set up three areas on different disk drives in which the programmers can work, these areas are for _____.

a. development, goal setting, and testing

b. development, testing, and contracting

c. development, testing, and production

d. testing, filing, and printing

e. testing, printing, and program logging

1. A classic mistake made during the implementation phase is to _____.

a. create a risk assessment

b. maintain control over the code

c. plan for the use of state-of-the-art technology

d. spend too much time in testing

e. use low cost personnel

1. Which of the following statements is true about testing object-oriented systems?

a. testing can be minimized since we are reusing parts of systems that have been tested before

b. testing should be designed to prove there are no errors in the system

c. testing is more important than it was in systems developed before object-oriented development

d. encapsulation makes testing easier

e. most testing techniques have been developed to support object-oriented development

1. _____ allow hiding everything in a system behind a visible interface, making testing difficult.

a. Encapsulation and information hiding

b. Polymorphism and dynamic binding

c. Inheritance

d. Reuse

e. Object-oriented development processes

1. _____ makes it impossible to know which implementation is going to be executed until the system actually does it.

a. Information hiding

b. Dynamic binding

c. Inheritance

d. Reuse

e. Encapsulation

1. The number of errors found will be highest in the _____ stage of testing.

a. unit test

b. integration test

c. system test

d. acceptance test (alpha)

e. acceptance test (beta)

1. A(n) _____ defines a series of tests that will be conducted to identify errors in programming.

a. object test

b. test script

c. stud test

d. test case

e. test plan

1. Mary has written a message into her program to notify her when a particular class has been reached within the program. This message is commonly called a(n) _____.

a. change item

b. error message

c. navigator

d. stub

e. unit

1. _____ is the type of test performed to assess whether a set of classes that must work together do so without an error.

a. Acceptance testing

b. Beta testing

c. Integration testing

d. System testing

e. Unit testing

1. Which approach to system testing checks to see if the new system can handle high volumes of transactions?

a. requirements testing

b. usability testing

c. security testing

d. performance testing

e. documentation testing

1. _____ is the test that is performed to ensure that all classes work together without error and meet the business requirements for usability, security, and performance.

a. Acceptance testing

b. Beta testing

c. Integration testing

d. System testing

e. Unit testing

1. _____ documentation is designed to help programmers and systems analysts understand the application software and maintain it after the system is installed.

a. Acceptance

b. Integration

c. Navigation

d. System

e. User

1. The type of documentation designed to be used when the user needs to learn how to perform a specific function is known as _____.

a. procedural cohesion

b. procedures manuals

c. reference documents

d. sequential cohesion

e. tutorials

1. A(n) _____ is a navigation control for on-line documentation that provides access into topics using important keyword.

a. agent search

b. index

c. table of contents

d. text search

e. web-like links

1. Topics in the text documentation should be written from the viewpoint of ______.

a. the programmers

b. the users

c. the sponsor

d. what the system can do

e. the objects

1. In developing documentation use ______.

a. the active voice

b. e-prime style

c. consistent terms

d. parallel grammatical structures

e. all of these

1. In developing documentation use __________.

a. formal language

b. simple language

c. technical language

d. all of these

e. none of these

1. Hall identified several cultural differences, and cultural issues add a new wrinkle in the management of developing a successful information system. From an information systems development perspective, _______________ could influence the ability of a team member to see (or not see) potential creative solutions that are out of the box or affect a team member’s ability (or inability) to understand the entire problem under consideration.

a. time

b. context

c. color

d. language

e. geography

1. Hofstede identified 5 dimensions on cultural differences. Which one in the following list is NOT the dimension Hofstede identified?

a. individualism and collectivism

b. time

c. power distance

d. religion

e. masculinity versus femininity

1. From an information systems development perspective, the common language today tends to be ____________, Java, SQL, C++, Objective-C, and Visual Basic.

a. English

b. Formal language like Finite State Machines

c. technical language

d. UML

e. Graphical language

1. Security testing involves three primary areas: ________, authorization, and virus control.

a. encoding/decoding

b. monitoring

c. authentication

d. validation

e. verification

1. Which one in the following is NOT in the state of the system testing?

a. Requirements Testing

b. Usability Testing

c. Security Testing

d. Performance Testing

e. System Interface Testing

1. In addition to testing the functional requirements across all layers, testing must also address all nonfunctional requirements. Which of the following is not one of those nonfunctional requirements?

a. Operational

b. Budgetary

c. Performance

d. Security

e. Political requirements

True/False

1. Programming can be the greatest single component of any information systems development project in terms of time and cost.
2. Implementation is the development of all parts of the system, including the software development, documentation creation, and new operating procedures generation.
3. The programming process of a new systems project is considered completed prior to testing.
4. The larger the number of programmers assigned to a programming team, the shorter the time will be for programming to be completed.
5. A test plan is often a short document (1 to 2 pages) that has one to two sentences about each test to be performed during the testing part of the implementation phase.
6. Integration tests focus on one unit, program, or class that performs a specific function.
7. System tests are conducted by the systems analysts to ensure that all classes work together without error.
8. Three common types of documentation are reference documents, help systems, and procedure manuals.
9. Three recommended guidelines for writing documentation are to use an active voice, use consistent terms, and use parallel grammatical structures.
10. Documentation should be written in long paragraphs so that users get large amounts of detail quickly.
11. If you use state-of-the-art technology, you can significantly decrease the project’s time and cost estimates because the newer technologies are much faster and more efficient than older ones.
12. If cost is a critical issue, you should assign the best, most expensive personnel to the implementation phase; never assign entry-level personnel in an attempt to save costs.
13. The number one reason for project failure during implementation is testing in which the programmers and analysts test the system without formal test plans.
14. On large projects, programmers must coordinate changes to the program source code, and the best way to avoid mistakes is to use a source code library, which requires programmers to check out programs and prohibits others from working on them at the same time.
15. The four approaches to unit testing are user interface testing, use scenario testing, data flow testing, and system interface testing; most projects use all four approaches.
16. Acceptance testing is done in two stages: alpha testing, where users test the system using made-up data, and beta testing, where users begin to use the system with real data but are carefully monitored for errors.
17. System documentation is intended to help programmers and systems analysts understand the application software and enable them to build it or maintain it after the system is installed.
18. Paper-based user documentation is simpler to use because it is more familiar to users, is easier to flip through to gain a general understanding of its organization and topics, and can be used far away from the computer itself.
19. One of the most common causes for schedule problems is scope creep
20. If cost is a critical issue, a reasonable solution is to assign lower cost programmers to the project.
21. A classic mistake made during the implementation phase is to coordinate changes to the source code, since that increases the development time.
22. Unit test is the type of test performed to ensure that a class is performing the function as it is defined in the program specifications.
23. Interaction testing is one type of integration testing. In interaction testing, the entire system starts as a set of stubs, and each class is added in turn and tested.
24. Beta testing is part of performance testing.
25. System documentation consists of user’s manuals, training manuals, and on-line help systems.
26. Performance testing (examining the ability of the system to perform under high loads) is an example of integration testing
27. Time required to develop and test user documentation should be built into the project plan.
28. Unit testing includes two kinds of tests: white box testing and black box testing.
29. A reference document is designed so the user can learn how to perform a specific computer application function.
30. A reference document describes how to perform a business task that typically requires several computer functions or steps.
31. A tutorial will teach people how to use a major component of the system by providing a step-by-step or sequence of entries.
32. The type of documentation designed to describe how to perform business tasks is known as procedures manuals.
33. The general structure used in most on-line documentation for documents, procedures manuals, or tutorials is called documentation items.
34. The type of navigation control for topics that organizes the information into a logical form (as though the users were to read the material from start to finish) is known as table of contents.
35. An index is a navigation control for on-line documentation that provides the ability to search through the topics with user generated text.
36. The guideline for crafting documentation that creates a more readable text by putting the subject at the start of the sentence, the verb in the middle, and the object at the end of the sentence is “use the active voice”.
37. The guideline for crafting documentation that when followed permits the user to quickly scan text to find the information needed is “use e-prime style”.
38. Changing the headings from “Calling the Help Desk”, “How to Dial the Phone,” and “Provide Important Details” to “Calling the Help Desk”, “Dialing the Phone”, and “Providing Important Details” is an example of implementing the “use parallel grammatical structures” guideline for crafting documentation.
39. The change from “Select the text you want to copy. Pressing the copy button will copy the marked text to the new location.” to “Select the text you want to copy. Pressing the copy button will copy the selected text to the new location.” is an application of the guideline “use consistent terms” for crafting documentation?
40. Omitting all forms of the verb “to be” from documentation to create a more active writing style follows the documentation guideline “use active voice.”
41. Terms for the index and search engine can come from technical terms the analyst used in creating the system.
42. When writing documentation, all commands contain two parts, an index and an action.
43. The number of errors found will be lowest in the unit testing stage of testing.
44. The goal of acceptance testing is to confirm that the system is complete, meets the business needs that prompted the system to be developed, and is acceptable to the users.
45. System interface testing is performed at the system testing state.
46. White-Box testing is used when complexity of the system under testing is high.
47. One has to execute the system under test to know which implementation to be used when dynamic biding is implemented in the system.
48. Testing Object-oriented system is same as difficult as testing non-object-oriented systems.
49. Given the context dimension identified by Hall on cultural difference, the level of detail in direction could be varied between cultures.
50. In polychromic time cultures, deadlines are critical. This is probably why timeboxing has been relatively successful as a method to control projects.
51. Understanding cultural issues is extremely important to successfully manage international/multicultural development teams..
52. Performance testing typically falls into two categories: stress tests and speed tests.
53. Performance testing typically falls into two categories: stress tests and volume tests.
54. The purpose of volume tests is to push the implementation so that it may break when there is a large amount of data required to answer a user request.
55. Comparing managing programmers in a feminine culture than in a masculine culture, it is more important to ensure that the workplace is a supportive, non-competitive, and nurturing environment in a feminine culture.
56. In addition to testing the functional requirements across all layers, testing must also address all nonfunctional requirements.
57. In testing, the “happy path” are those activities and abilities that keep the users satisfied.
58. Testing should be limited to the functional requirements.
59. Testing should end once a system is deployed.
60. Testing is of limited usefulness when it comes to security threats because those threats vary so widely.

Short Answer

1. During the construction phase of the SDLC the project manager must coordinate the programming activities performed by the programmers. Identify three coordination activities and provide the advantages of each.

Regular weekly meetings provide an opportunity for the project team to discuss any changes or issues to the system that have arisen during the past week. Regular meetings encourage widespread communication and discussion of issues before they become problems.

The creation of standards, ranging from simple rules to the completion of formal forms, assists the project team in the completion of the project. Historically, projects have been completed faster when a team completed standards for task coordination.

Mechanisms can be put in place to keep programmers well-organized. Three areas can be established for programmer to work: a development area, a testing area, and a production area. A program is written in the development area. When it is completed it is sent to the testing area. If the program passes testing, it is placed in production. If a program does not pass testing it is sent back to development. This three work area process helps manage the “change control” process.

1. What are the two types of acceptance tests and when are they used? What is the difference between the two types of tests?
2. Identify three types of user documentation. Contrast when each form of documentation should be used.

Reference documents or help systems are designed to be used when the user needs to learn how to perform a specific function, such as updating a field or adding a new record. Since users may have already attempted to perform the function prior to reading the reference documentation, it must be particularly clear and brief.

Procedure manuals describe how to perform a business task such as printing a monthly report or taking a customer order. Each item in the procedure manual typically guides the user through a task that requires several functions. Procedure manual entries are normally much longer than reference document entries.

Tutorials teach people how to use major components of the system, such as the operating system or the accounts receivable system. Tutorial entries are much longer than procedure manual entries. Tutorials are typically designed to be read in sequence whereas reference documents and procedure manuals are designed to be read individually.

1. Explain the distinction between unit testing and integration testing.
2. Sara has been assigned by the project manager to serve as the testing manager for the soon-to-be-completed systems project. The project manager has made it clear that this systems project is normal in every way and they are to design a plan that would be similar to the last. They have written a normal testing plan that is very similar to the testing plan followed on the last three projects. What are the four stages of tests Sara should include in their testing plan and what is the ideal type of test to be performed for each stage.

During unit testing the normal type of test is black-box testing. During this test the tester focuses on whether the unit meets the requirements stated in the program specifications.

The normal test for integration testing is user-interface testing. This test is done by moving through each and every menu item in the interface by either a top-down or bottom-up order. Each interface function is tested.

Requirements testing is the normal test for system testing. This test ensures that changes made as a result of integration testing did not create new errors. During requirements testing the users often pretend to be uninformed users and perform improper actions to ensure the system is immune to invalid actions.

The final testing stage is acceptance testing. Alpha testing is performed by having the users repeat previous tests performed by systems analysts to ensure they accept the system.

1. Explain the purpose of integration testing. Explain each of the four approaches that are commonly used in integration testing.

In user interface testing, each interface function is tested by testing each and every menu item in the interface either a top-down or a bottom-up manner.

In use-case testing, each use case is tested by moving through each use case to ensure they work correctly. This testing is usually combined with user interface testing because it does not test all of the interfaces.

Interaction testing tests each process in a step-by-step fashion. The entire system begins as a set of stubs. Each class is added in turn and the results of the class compared to the correct result from the test data; when a class passes, the next class is added and the test rerun. This is done for each package. Once each package has passed all tests, then the process repeats integrating the packages.

System interface testing tests the exchange of data with other systems. Because data transfers between systems area often automated and not monitored directly by the users it is critical to design tests to ensure they are being done correctly.

1. Discuss the tests performed during system testing.
2. Discuss the reasons why on-line documentation is expected to be the dominant form of documentation for the future.
3. Explain the five general types of navigation controls for user documentation topics.
4. Why is testing so important in object-oriented systems when we are using patterns, frameworks, class libraries, and components that have all be tested before?
5. What techniques are used by project managers during the construction phase for managing the project schedule?
6. Discuss four classic implementation mistakes, and how project teams can avoid these mistakes.
7. Explain the distinction between black box testing and white box testing.
8. Explain the distinction between user documentation and system documentation.
9. Explain four sources for identifying navigation terms.
10. When offshoring development, how could differences in Hall’s context dimension of culture affect the contribution of a team member to the successful development of an information system? What about Hall’s time or speed of messages dimensions?
11. What are Hofstede’s five dimensions of cultural differences? How could differences in them influence the effectiveness of an information systems development team?

Hofstede’s other previously mentioned dimensions are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity versus femininity. Managing programmers in a culture with a high power distance value will be different than with a culture with a low power distance. For example, in the US, programmers see themselves as equals to their managers. In fact, in some firms, the president of the firm will be “coding” solutions alongside of a brand new hire. This somewhat explains the growing popularity of Agile methods (see Chapter 1). In comparison, the president of the firm would never stoop down to perform the same tasks as a new hire. It would be insulting to the president and embarrassing to the new hire. With regards to uncertainty avoidance, the choice of systems development approach could be affected. In a culture that prefers everything to be neat and ordered, a system development methodology that is very rule-driven would be beneficial. Furthermore, development team member professional certification and team/firm ISO or CMMI certifications would lend credibility to the team, whereas, in a culture that willingly takes on risk, certifications may not increase the perceived standing of the development team. When managing programmers in a masculine culture, it is critical to provide recognition to the top-performing members of the development team and also to recognize the top-performing teams. On the other hand, when considering a feminine culture, it is more important to ensure that the workplace is a supportive, non-competitive, and nurturing environment.

Finally, Hofstede identified a fifth dimension, long- versus short-term orientation, which deals with how the culture views the past and the future. In a long-term focused culture, team development and a deep relationship with a client is very important, while in a culture that emphasizes the short-term, delivering a high-quality product on time is all that really matters.