SAFe Continuous Delivery Pipeline and DevOps 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a 'Definition of Done (DoD)' at the ART level in SAFe?
- The completion criteria for individual user stories
- The criteria that must be met for a Feature or PI Increment to be considered complete and releasable (Correct answer)
- The exit criteria for the PI Planning event
- The quality gate for deploying to staging only
Correct answer: The criteria that must be met for a Feature or PI Increment to be considered complete and releasable
The ART-level DoD defines the quality and completeness standards a Feature or PI Increment must meet to be considered potentially releasable.
Question 2: What is 'Test-Driven Development (TDD)' in the context of SAFe Built-in Quality?
- Having the QA team write all test cases
- Writing automated tests before writing the code, using tests to drive the design and validate correctness (Correct answer)
- Testing in production to reduce pre-release testing overhead
- Using AI tools to generate test cases automatically
Correct answer: Writing automated tests before writing the code, using tests to drive the design and validate correctness
TDD is a development practice where developers write failing unit tests first, then write the minimum code to pass them, ensuring quality is built in from the start.
Question 3: What is 'Behavior-Driven Development (BDD)' in SAFe?
- A method for analyzing team member behavior
- A collaborative technique using Given-When-Then scenarios to define and verify behavior from the customer's perspective (Correct answer)
- A performance management approach
- A UI/UX design methodology
Correct answer: A collaborative technique using Given-When-Then scenarios to define and verify behavior from the customer's perspective
BDD uses Given-When-Then format to create executable specifications that serve as both documentation and automated acceptance tests, bridging business and technical teams.
Question 4: What does the SAFe 'Test Automation Pyramid' recommend?
- More manual tests than automated tests
- A large base of fast unit tests, fewer integration tests, and minimal UI/end-to-end tests — to maximize speed and reliability (Correct answer)
- Equal distribution of test types
- Prioritizing end-to-end tests as the most valuable
Correct answer: A large base of fast unit tests, fewer integration tests, and minimal UI/end-to-end tests — to maximize speed and reliability
The Test Automation Pyramid recommends many fast unit tests at the base, fewer integration tests in the middle, and minimal slow E2E tests at the top — for fast feedback.
Question 5: What is 'Pair Work' in the context of SAFe Built-in Quality?
- Assigning two developers to the same task to double productivity
- Two practitioners collaborating in real time on a single task to improve quality, share knowledge, and catch errors (Correct answer)
- A code review process performed after completion
- Pairing team members with external consultants
Correct answer: Two practitioners collaborating in real time on a single task to improve quality, share knowledge, and catch errors
Pair Work (including Pair Programming and Pair Testing) improves code quality, knowledge sharing, and error detection by having two practitioners work together simultaneously.
Question 6: What is a 'Non-Functional Requirement (NFR)' and how is it handled in SAFe?
- A feature request from a non-technical stakeholder
- A system quality attribute (e.g., performance, security, scalability) that constrains how the system must work (Correct answer)
- A requirement that was rejected from the backlog
- A requirement that applies only to UI components
Correct answer: A system quality attribute (e.g., performance, security, scalability) that constrains how the system must work
NFRs define quality attributes (performance, security, reliability, usability) that constrain the system and are incorporated into the Definition of Done and Enabler Stories.
SAFe Continuous Delivery Pipeline and DevOps 2
What is a 'Definition of Done (DoD)' at the ART level in SAFe?