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So I am preparing for the ISTQB Advanced level exam, using a book from Rex Black. However, he mentiones (among others) that those are product metrics:

  • Rework time to fix defects
  • Duration of the review process
  • Time to conduct the review

I believe this is wrong - product metrics should measure attributes of the product, and to me those seem to be clearly related to a process. As I found a few mistakes in the book already, I would like to be sure I am not misinterpreting or misunderstanding something in this.

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  • It is a very good question that is worth voting up. While the "rework" refers mostly to a process, the "rework time" I guess still could be used as a measure of a product defect (how heavy the defect is) that is obviously a property of a product.
    – Alexey R.
    Commented Feb 7, 2018 at 12:04
  • @AlexeyR. Yes, but on the other hand, it is also about efficiency of the rework process. Because then basically you could say that Defect Removal efficiency is also a product metric (which is not), because the defects are in the product. The same with defect detection efficiency.
    – John V
    Commented Feb 7, 2018 at 12:07
  • Let's put it in this way: the more complex and the worse is the product, the worse those metrics will be. But it is also true that a bad product is coming from a bad process while a good product can come also from bad processes.
    – acejazz
    Commented Feb 7, 2018 at 12:47

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You are a very independent thinker.

But please bear in mind, the messages from his book are not law, they are his opinions, and opinions are very subjective.

My suggestion is to ignore the difference between a tangible product and an abstract process, instead, focus on whether having those metrics will add any values to a software testing practice, or any insight to stakeholders.

P.S. which ISTQB advanced exam you are taking on? Advanced test analyst or Advanced technical test analyst?

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