Compliance
Compliance is the degree to which a product, process, or organization conforms to specified standards, regulations, policies, or contractual requirements.
“Adherence of a work product to standards, conventions or regulations in laws and similar prescriptions.”
(Definition reproduced from the ISTQB Glossary. Copyright belongs to ISTQB.)
View the complete ISTQB GlossaryWhat is Compliance?
Compliance ensures that software and development activities satisfy applicable legal, industry, or organizational requirements before release or certification.
Regulatory requirements: Many industries require compliance with external regulations.
Internal standards: Organizations often define their own compliance requirements.
Testing role: Testing helps demonstrate compliance through objective evidence.
Real World Example
A regulated product team is preparing a release where Compliance appears in reviews, test design conversations, or defect triage rather than as an isolated glossary word.
The risk is that the team treats Compliance as interchangeable with nearby ISTQB terms. That makes test scope blurry and can lead to weak evidence for the release decision.
The tester anchors the discussion in the official definition, asks where the concept appears in the product, and designs examples that show the difference between Compliance and similar ideas.
The page becomes useful in practice because Compliance is connected to a specific testing decision, not memorized as a detached definition.
Practice Questions
Question 1
Which statement is TRUE of compliance?
Question 2
Which practice BEST supports compliance efforts?
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