Software Quality Assurance Practice Exam

Which method shows the program state at a specific moment for error analysis?

1. Scatter print statements

2. Storage dump

3. Automated tools

4. Source code review

The correct answer is: Storage dump

The method that shows the program state at a specific moment for error analysis is the storage dump. A storage dump captures the entire memory content of a program at a specific point in time, allowing developers and testers to view the values of variables, the call stack, and other important state information when an error occurs. This information can be vital for diagnosing the root cause of the error, as it provides a snapshot of what the program was doing at the exact moment of the fault, facilitating deeper inspection beyond what typical logging may provide. In contrast, scatter print statements primarily offer a limited view by outputting specific points during execution, which might not capture the complete state of the program at the time of an error. Automated tools might assist in error detection and analysis, but they do not inherently provide a direct view of the program state like a storage dump does. Source code reviews focus on the examination of the code itself rather than the state of the executing program, meaning they do not provide live state information useful for analyzing errors encountered during runtime.