IREB-CPRE Exam Information and Guideline
IREB Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE)
Below are complete topics detail with latest syllabus and course outline, that will help you good knowledge about exam objectives and topics that you have to prepare. These contents are covered in questions and answers pool of exam.
The Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE) is a personal certificate aimed at individuals working in Requirements Engineering, Business Analysis and Testing. It will expand your professional knowledge and help you to become more successful in your job.
The certification scheme is developed by the IREB, the contents are taught by independent training providers and the CPRE exam can be taken at approved certification bodies. The CPRE certificate has lifetime validity.
Requirements engineering as the first step of system development crucially influences the success of the development project. The four core disciplines of requirements engineering are: elicitation, documentation, verification and validation management. Professionalism in requirements engineering avoid defects in system analysis and establishes a structured proceeding from project idea to a valuable set of requirements. Quality characteristics are defined for a single requirement as well as for the requirements specification as a whole.
You can prepare for the exams by attending a training course with a recognised IREB® training provider for IREB® Requirements Engineering - Foundation Level; participants will have relevant content and topics clearly explained and taught to them. The syllabus covers the important foundations in requirements engineering: differentiation between the system and system context, establishment and documentation of requirements, as well as their testing and management and the tool support available.The exam is available on Pearson Vue for anyone wishing to self-study.
The IREB® Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering - Foundation Level certification is a prerequisite for taking the three IREB® Advanced Level courses: Requirements Modelling, Requirements Management, Requirements Elicitation & Consolidation.
The level of detail of this syllabus allows internationally consistent teaching and examination. To reach this goal, the syllabus contains the following
General educational objectives
Contents with a description of the educational objectives and References to further literature (where necessary)
Educational Objectives / Cognitive Knowledge Levels
Each module of the syllabus is assigned a cognitive level. A higher level includes the lower levels.
The formulations of the educational objectives are phrased using the verbs "knowing" for level
L1 and "mastering and using" for level L2. These two verbs are placeholders for the following
verbs:
L1 (knowing): enumerate, characterize, recognize, name, reflect
L2 (mastering and using): analyze, use, execute, justify, describe, judge, display, design,develop, complete, explain, exemplify, elicit, formulate, identify, interpret, conclude from, assign, differentiate, compare, understand, suggest, summarize
All terms defined in the glossary have to be known (L1), even if they are not explicitly mentioned in the educational objectives.
This syllabus uses the abbreviation "RE" for Requirements Engineering.
Structure of the Syllabus
The syllabus consists of 9 main chapters. One chapter covers one educational unit (EU). Each main chapter title contains the cognitive level of the chapter, which is the highest level of the sub-chapters. Furthermore, the teaching time is suggested that is the minimum a course should invest for that chapter. Important terms in the chapter, which are defined in the glossary, are listed at the beginning of the chapter.
Example: EU 1 Introduction and Foundations (L1)
Terms: Requirement, Stakeholder, Requirements Engineering, Functional Requirement, Quality Requirement, Constraint
This example shows that chapter 1 contains education objectives at level L1 and 75 minutes are intended for teaching the material in this chapter.
Each chapter can contain sub-chapters. Their titles also contain the cognitive level of their content.
Educational objectives (EO) are enumerated before the actual text. The numbering shows to which sub-chapter they belong.
Example: EO 3.1.2
This example shows that educational objective EO 3.1.2 is described in sub-chapter 3.1
The Examination
This syllabus is the basis for the examination for the foundation level certificate.
A question in the examination can cover material from several chapters of the syllabus. All chapters (EU 1 to EU 9) of the syllabus can be examined.
Fixed typos and grammar issues
EU 1: Reference to ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2011 added
EU 1: List of aspects for quality requirements modified and
reference to ISO/IEC25010:2011 added
EU 3.1: Term “legacy” replaced by “existing”
EU 4.3: Reference to IEEE 830-1998 replaced by reference to
ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2011
EU 4.6: List of quality criteria for requirements modified
EU 5.2: Term “may” added to the verbs for fixing liability of a
requirement
EU 6.1: Hint added to the definition of the term “model”
EU 6.5: Duplicate paragraph regarding cardinalities removed
EU 7.1: examples “correctness” and “completeness” for
quality criteria replaced by reference to EU 4.6
EU 7.3: List of criteria for quality aspect "documentation”
modified
EU 7.6: List of conflict types modified; detailed description
added; “Subject conflict” replaced by “Data conflict”
EU 8: New Educational objective 8.7.1 added
EU 8.1: Attribute “criticality” replaced by “risk”
EU 8.7: New Educational unit “Measurement for
Requirements” added
Terms: Requirement, Stakeholder, Requirements Engineering, Functional Requirement,
Quality Requirement, Constraint
Educational Objectives:
EO 1.1 Knowing symptoms of and reasons for inadequate RE
EO 1.2 Knowing the four major activities of RE
EO 1.3 Knowing the role of communication in RE
EO 1.4 Knowing skills of a requirements engineer
EO 1.5 Knowing the three kinds of requirements
EO 1.6 Knowing the role of quality requirements
Good RE is important since many errors arise already in this phase and can only be rectified
later at high cost. Typical symptoms of inadequate RE are missing and unclear requirements.
Typical reasons for inadequate RE are the wrong assumption of the stakeholders that much is self-evident and does not need to
be stated explicitly communication problems due to differences in experience and knowledge
the project pressure from the client to build a productive system rapidly.
The four main activities of RE are elicitation, documentation, validation/negotiation plus the
management of requirements. The activities can be scheduled in specific processes such as
recommended in the Standard ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2011. They often concern different levels of
requirements such as stakeholder requirements and system or software requirements.
Natural language is the most important means to communicate requirements. At the same time
it is particularly important to agree on a common terminology. Furthermore the communication
medium (written or spoken) plays a big role. When communicating, all participants must deal
consciously with focusing and simplification.
This is especially true for the most important role in RE: the requirements engineer. Besides
communication skills he or she must especially have the following skills: analytical thinking,
empathy, conflict resolution skills, moderation skills, self-confidence and the ability to convince.
Typically we differentiate between three kinds of requirements: functional requirements,
quality requirements and constraints.
The umbrella term “non-functional requirement” is often used for quality requirements and
constraints. Quality requirements must be documented explicitly. In particular the following
aspects need to be considered
Performance
Security
Reliability
Usability
Maintainability
Portability
More comprehensive quality models can be found in the requirements engineering literature
and in standards such as the Standard ISO/IEC25010:2011.
Even though quality requirements are mostly documented using natural language, their relation
to other statements have to be traceable and their validation has to be ensured by quantitative
assertions or made operational by transformation into additional functionality.
Terms: System Context, System Boundary, Context Boundary
Educational Objectives:
EO 2.1 Knowing system context, system boundary and context boundary
EO 2.2 Mastering and using system boundary and context boundary
EU 2.1 System, System Context and Boundaries (L1)
The source and so the justifications of the requirements for a system lie in the system context of
the planned system. The source consists of the set of all context aspects that initiated or
influenced the definition of the requirements. Among the potential aspects in the system context
are:
People (stakeholder or groups of stakeholders)
Systems in operation (technical systems, software and hardware)
Processes (technical or physical processes, business processes)
Events (technical or physical)
Documents (e.g. laws, standards, system documentation)
It is the function of the system boundary to define which aspects will be covered by the planned
system and which aspects are part of this systems environment. The context boundary
identifies the part of the environment that has a connection to the system to be developed.
EU 2.2 Determining System and Context Boundaries (L2)
Often the system boundary is only precisely defined towards the end of the requirements
process. Before that, the desired functions and qualities of the planned system are only
incompletely known or not known at all. Therefore there will be a grey zone in which the
possible system boundary lies. Besides a shifting of the system boundary within the grey zone,
the grey zone itself can also shift during the RE process, e.g. when, through a shifting of the
system boundary, further aspects of the environment become important.
Also the context boundary can change over time, e.g. when it turns out, contrary to expectations,
that a legal requirement, previously classified as relevant, has absolutely no impact on the
planned system, then the system context is reduced in this area.
The context boundary also has a grey zone. It comprises the identified aspects of the
environment for which, at a particular time, it is unclear whether these aspects have a relation to
the planned system or not.
Educational Objectives:
- Knowing various types of requirements sources
- Knowing the significance of requirements sources and the consequences of disregarded requirements sources
- Knowing the most important information of the stakeholder documentation
- Knowing important principles in dealing with stakeholders (stakeholder rights and duties)
- Mastering and using the content and significance of the Kano model
- Knowing influencing factors for the choice of elicitation techniques
- Knowing advantages and disadvantages of elicitation techniques
- Mastering and using the following types of elicitation techniques and examples for each: survey techniques, creativity techniques, document-centered techniques, observation techniques and supporting techniques
An important activity in RE activity is the elicitation of requirements for the system to be
developed. The foundations for the requirements elicitation comprise on the one hand the
system context and on the other hand the requirements sources. Various types of requirements
sources are differentiated. Possible requirements sources are, for example, stakeholders,
documents or existing systems.
It is the task of RE to collect the goals and requirements from the various requirements sources.
If sources are disregarded, this can have significant negative consequences on the entire course
of the project. The documentation of the requirements sources should, with respect to the
stakeholders, contain at least the following information:
name
function (role)
additional personal and contact data
temporal and spatial availability during the project progress
relevance of the stakeholder
their area and extent of expertise
their goals and interests regarding the project
Depending on the company culture it is appropriate, in agreement with the stakeholders, to
define verbally or by means of written documentation the tasks, responsibilities, authority, etc.
From the stakeholder agreements arise rights and duties for each stakeholder. Dealing with
stakeholders effectively guards against lack of motivation and conflicts. Stakeholders should be
involved in the project and not only affected by the project.
EU 3.2 Requirements Categorization according to the Kano Model (L2)
For the elicitation of requirements, it is crucial to know what importance the requirements have
for the satisfaction of the stakeholders. According to the model of Dr. Kano, this satisfaction can
be classified into three categories:
Basic factors (synonym: Dissatisfiers)
Performance factors (synonym: Satisfiers)
Excitement factors (synonym: Delighters)
EU 3.3 Elicitation Techniques (L2)
Elicitation techniques fulfill the purpose of finding out the conscious, unconscious and
subconscious requirements of stakeholders. Important factors influencing the choice of
elicitation technique are risk factors, human influences, organizational influences, functioncontent influences and the intended level of detail of the requirements. Various techniques are
needed for the various RE products:
Survey techniques (e.g. interviews, questionnaires)
Creativity techniques (e.g. brainstorming, brainstorming paradox, change of perspective,
analogy technique)
Document-centric techniques (e.g. system archaeology, perspective-based reading,
requirements reuse)
Observation techniques (e.g. field observation, apprenticing)
Support techniques (e.g. mind mapping, workshops, CRC cards, audio and video
recordings, use case modeling, prototypes)
The application of appropriate elicitation techniques is a project-critical key competence. The
best results are achieved with a combination of various elicitation techniques.
Terms: Requirements Document, Requirements Specification
Educational Objectives:
- Knowing key reasons for requirements documentation
- Knowing the three perspectives of functional requirements
- Knowing advantages and disadvantages of natural language requirements documentation
- Knowing the most important model-based requirements documentation form
- Knowing the advantages of mixed form of requirements documentation
- Knowing the advantages of standardized document structures
- Knowing widespread document structures
- Knowing important points for a tailored standard structure
- Knowing activities building on requirements documents
- Mastering and using quality criteria for requirements documents
- Mastering and using quality criteria for requirements
- Knowing the two most important style rules for requirements
- Mastering and using contents and importance of a glossary
- Mastering and using rules for handling the glossary
- Document Design (L1)
In RE it is necessary to document all important information. All forms of more or less formal
representation of requirements, from the description in prose up to diagrams with formal
semantics, are called documentation techniques. Many people are involved in the documentation
in the lifecycle of a requirements document. Documentation plays a goal-orientated supporting
function in communication. The following factors make this support necessary. Requirements
are long-lasting, legally relevant and should be accessible to all. Requirements documents are
complex.
EU 4.2 Documentation Types (L1)
Requirements documents include, amongst other things, functional requirements that normally
represent the following three different perspectives of a system.
Data perspective
Behavioral perspective
Functional perspective
All three perspectives can be documented by means of natural language requirements, whilst
conceptual model types are specialized for one of these perspectives. Effectively applicable
forms of the documentation are:
Natural language requirements documentation
Conceptual requirements models such as, for example use case diagrams, class diagrams,
activity diagrams or state diagrams (see also EU 6)
Combined forms of requirements documentation
EU 4.3 Document Structures (L1)
Central components of a requirements document are the requirements for the system being
considered. Besides the requirements, depending on the purpose of the document, the
requirements documents also contain information about the system context, acceptance
conditions or, for instance, characteristics of the technical implementation. In order to ensure
the manageability of requirements documents, such documents must be structured most
appropriately.
Reference structures for requirements documents propose a more or less complete and a more
or less flexible field-tested content structure. Common reference structures for requirements
documents are described amongst others in the Standard ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2011.
In practice it turns out that there are a lot of positive effects from using reference structures for
requirements documents. For instance, the use of reference structures simplifies the usage of the
requirements documents in subsequent development activities (e.g. in the definition of test
cases). Generally reference structures cannot be adopted one-to-one for a requirements
document, as the content structure frequently has to be adapted in detail for domain-, companyor project-specific circumstances.
EU 4.4 Use of Requirements Documents (L1)
Requirements documents serve as the basis for many activities during the project lifespan, such
as, for example
Planning
Architectural design
Implementation
Test
Change management
System usage and system maintenance
Contract management
In order to serve as a basis the subsequent development processes, the requirements document
must meet certain quality criteria. In particular this includes:
Unambiguity and consistency
Clear structure
Modifiability and extensibility
Completeness
Traceability
EU 4.6 Quality Criteria for Requirements (L2)
In addition, the individual requirement must satisfy certain quality criteria, in particular:
agreed
unambiguous
necessary
consistent
verifiable
feasible
traceable
complete
understandable
Besides the quality criteria for requirements there are two basic style rules for requirements in
natural language, which promote readability:
short sentences and paragraphs
formulate only one requirement per sentence
A frequent cause of conflicts, arising in RE, lies in the different understanding of terminology
among the involved people. To prevent this problem, it is necessary that all relevant terms are
defined in a glossary. A glossary is a collection of term definitions for:
context-specific technical terms
abbreviations and acronyms
everyday concepts that have a special meaning in the given context
synonyms
homonyms
The following rules should be observed when working with a glossary:
The glossary must be managed centrally
The responsibilities for maintaining the glossary must be defined
The glossary must be maintained over the course of the project
The glossary must be commonly accessible
Use of the glossary must be obligatory
The glossary should contain the sources of the terms
The stakeholders should agree upon the glossary
The entries in the glossary should have a consistent structure
It is beneficial to begin the development of the glossary as early as possible, in order to reduce
the alignment work later on
Terms: Requirements Template
Educational Objectives:
EO 5.1 Mastering and using the five transformational processes in the perception and writing
of natural language and their consequences on the formulation of requirements
EO 5.2 Mastering and using the five steps for formulating requirements using a requirements
template
EU 5.1 Language Effects (L2)
As natural language is often ambiguous and interpretable, it is necessary to pay special attention
to precisely this aspect when using language. During the processes of perception and writing, socalled “transformational processes” occur. The fact that these transformational processes follow
certain rules can be used by the requirements engineer to elicit exactly what the author of the
requirement really did mean. The five most relevant transformational processes for RE are:
Nominalization
Nouns without reference index
Universal quantifiers
Incompletely specified conditions
Incompletely specified process words
EU 5.2 Requirements Construction using Templates (L2)
Requirements templates are an easily learnable and applicable approach to reducing language
effects in the formulation of requirements. The requirements template effectively supports the
author of a requirement in creating high quality requirements.
The five steps to formulating requirements through a requirements template are:
Determine legal obligation
Determine the core of the requirement
Characterizes the activity of the system
Insert objects
Determine logical and temporal conditions
Educational Objectives
- Knowing the purpose and definition of attribute schemes
- Knowing important attribute types for requirements
- Mastering and using views on requirements
- Knowing methods for prioritizing requirements
- Mastering and using techniques for prioritizing requirements
- Knowing the benefits of requirements traceability
- Mastering and using classes of traceability relationships
- Mastering and using forms of representation for traceability relationships
- Mastering and using versioning of requirements
- Mastering and using the formation of requirements configurations
- Mastering and using the formation requirements baselines
- Knowing the importance of requirements changes
- Knowing the functions and members of a Change Control Board
- Mastering and using the elements of a requirements change request
- Mastering and using different classes of change requests
- Mastering and using a process to handle change requests
- Knowing the importance of requirements measurements