Chapter 4

1:	Can a software tester perform white-box testing on a specification?
A1:	Yes, white-box testing is simply using information about how something is designed to influence how the testing is done. The tester could attend the project's focus groups, usability studies, and marketing meetings to understand the underlying process being used to design the features and the overall product. With that information she could more effectively test the resulting specification. There is a risk, though, that this information could bias the tester into assuming that the spec is correct.
2:	Cite a few examples of Mac or Windows standards or guidelines.
A2:	On the Mac, deleted files go to the Trash Can. In Windows, they go to the Recycle Bin. In Windows, pressing F1 always displays Help for the software. It's Command-? on the Mac. The File menu is always the far-left menu choice in Windows. In Windows, selecting Help, About displays the software's copyright, licensing, and version information. On a Mac, Command-X performs a cut, Command-C performs a copy, and Command-V performs a paste. These are just a few examples of a wide variety of possible answers.
3:	Explain what's wrong with this specification statement: When the user selects the Compact Memory option, the program will compress the mailing list data as small as possible using a Huffman-sparse-matrix approach.
A3:	It uses the phrase as small as possible. This is impossible to test because it's vague and imprecise. The spec should state exactly what level of compression will take place. The statement also isn't code-free. It explains how the feature will work on the algorithm level. This doesn't belong in a specification. The user doesn't care how the compaction occurs, just that it does.
4:	Explain what a tester should worry about with this line from a spec: The software will allow up to 100 million simultaneous connections, although no more than 1 million will normally be used.
A4:	Testability. It doesn't matter that typical usage is only 1 million connections. If the specification states that 100 million are possible, the 100 million must be tested. The tester needs to find a way to test something this large or get the spec writer to reduce the maximum possible number to something closer to what's typical.