Which of the following is a typical cause of test smells?

Lack of refactoring of test code

Using a continuous integration server

Using a test framework that is too old

Writing tests after the production code is complete

A tester is new to a team and is asked to maintain an existing test suite. The tester notices that many tests are tightly coupled to the implementation details of the code, such as calling private methods via reflection. What is the most likely cause of this test smell?

The tests were written without considering maintainability and refactoring.

The application is too complex, making it impossible to test without reflection.

The tests are written by developers who are not familiar with the code.

The team is using a test framework that requires reflection.

A team has been under pressure to deliver features quickly and has been writing tests hastily. A review finds that many tests are long, contain multiple assertions, and rely on a shared setup that initializes many objects. What is the most likely root cause of these test smells?

The team is not using test doubles, which would eliminate all smells.

The tests are too complex because the application is too complex.

The team is using a test automation framework that encourages these patterns.

Lack of refactoring and inadequate test design practices.

What is the most accurate definition of a test smell?

A defect in the production code that causes a test to fail unexpectedly

A warning message generated by the test runner when a test is skipped

A feature of the test framework that makes tests run faster

A symptom in test code that indicates a deeper problem and can hinder maintainability or effectiveness

A team is refactoring a test suite to improve maintainability. They have a test that performs multiple behaviors and has multiple assertions without messages. They also have a test that relies on a shared database that is not always available. The team wants to address both smells without reducing test coverage. Which approach would be most effective?

Remove the tests that rely on the shared database.

Split the eager test into focused tests and replace the shared database with test doubles.

Add descriptive messages to the assertions and keep the shared database.

Combine all tests into a single test to reduce the number of tests.

Certified Tester Advanced Level Agile Tester

Domain 5Objective 3

Test Smells CTAL-AT Practice Questions (Page 2)

Part of the Agile Approaches and Test Techniques domain, which makes up ~17% of our current practice bank. ISTQB does not publish an official question count, but from its 90-minute exam (~35–60 total, ~6–10 in this domain), expect 2–3 from this objective — we provide 24 practice questions to prepare you well beyond it. (estimate)

24questions here

5free pages

6concepts

Questions 6–10

6foundation · easy
Which of the following is a typical cause of test smells?
Select an answer first
7application · medium
A tester is new to a team and is asked to maintain an existing test suite. The tester notices that many tests are tightly coupled to the implementation details of the code, such as calling private methods via reflection. What is the most likely cause of this test smell?
Select an answer first
8application · medium
A team has been under pressure to deliver features quickly and has been writing tests hastily. A review finds that many tests are long, contain multiple assertions, and rely on a shared setup that initializes many objects. What is the most likely root cause of these test smells?
Select an answer first
9foundation · easy
What is the most accurate definition of a test smell?
Select an answer first
10expert · hard
A team is refactoring a test suite to improve maintainability. They have a test that performs multiple behaviors and has multiple assertions without messages. They also have a test that relies on a shared database that is not always available. The team wants to address both smells without reducing test coverage. Which approach would be most effective?
Select an answer first

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