TOP INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

MANUAL SOFTWARE TESTING

An Interviewer's Expectation

1: Communications
2: Basic analytical and Logical skills

3: Explain how the requirement is generated and how it reaches you?

requirement lifecycle.
4: Explain your role in your current project?

5: Justify your experience by answering some experienced based questions,

It could be any real time scenario.
Like : an average how many test cases you execute in a day? or how you
escalate the issues?
6: Write some some sample test cases for any object?
1: what is Software Testing?

Software testing is a practice of executing an

application under test (AUT) with an intention of
finding bugs and errors before application is deployed
in production environment.
2: why Testing is important?
Testing is important, to make sure that:

• All business requirements are implemented

• Functionalities are behaving as it is expected
• Application is secure enough against security threats

• Does not break under working circumstances

• Does not harm the business reputation

• Performs its functions within an acceptable time

• Works well on all supported OS, devices and screens
• To make sure that customer can trust and rely on your product
3: What is QA & QC?

“QA is a systematic and scientific approach of monitoring and

improving the software development process.”

“QC is a validation activity where the quality of the developed

product is evaluated with a benchmark or any competitive
program’s set standard to make sure that the software quality
is adhering the defined or expected quality.”
4: what is difference between QA & QC?

QUALITY ASSURANCE QUALITY CONTROL

QA is a verification process QC is a validation activity

QA is process oriented QC is product oriented

QA prevents the defect QC finds the defect

It improves the development process It improves the developed product quality

Requirement document, design review and Product testing is done as part of this activity
code reviews are done as part of this

Performed without the program execution Performed by executing the program

5: what is STLC?
“STLC stand for Software Testing Lifecycle. STLC is a set of
process which is executed in a systematic manner to achieve the
testing goal”
TEST PLANNING

TEST DESIGNING

TEST ENVIRONMENT

TEST EXECUTION

BUG REPORTING & MANAGEMENT

RTM (REQUIREMENT
TRACEABILITY MATRIX)

TEST REPORTING
6: What is Test Planning?

A test plan is the first phase of STLC where Test Planning document
is created, it describes that what and how to achieve quality in AUT.

● Analyze the business requirement

● Find the test objective
● Define a Test Strategy
● Analyze the risks (Tools, Resources and Time)
● Test Environment and Test Data preparation
● Define Entry & Exit Criteria
● Define a Traceability Matrix
● Schedule and Timeline
● Deliverable
7: What is Test Designing?
As part of test designing a test lead or senior tester writes the test
scenarios, Test Case and test procedures or test scripts are
prepared.
● Test Scenarios:
Test scenario meaning finding out that ‘what to be tested’ in any given
requirement. This is to make sure that end 2 end functionality is covered.
● Test Cases:
To test the Test scenarios, test cases are written which contains the each
possible function related to that requirement.
● Test scripts:
Are the phase where each it is written that how a test case will be executed. So
as part of this a tester writes the steps, activity and expected result for that
step will be written.
8: how you write Test scripts?

“In order to execute test cases a detailed procedure

needs to be written where the writer will mention all
the steps to be performed and what should be the
expected result for each activity”
9: What is Test Entry & Exit Criteria?

“Entry criteria is the prerequisites that must needs to be

fulfilled before test team can begin the testing.”
● A tester check for the critical functions before starting the full
testing process. It is known as performing Smoke / sanity
testing.

“Exit criteria are a condition that must be fulfilled by test

team before they can conclude their testing activities.”
● The test coverage should reach 100% of traceability matrix
● All the test deliverable are shared and many other things.
10: What is Test Environment?
Test Environment is the dummy configuration of software / hardware
where a tester executes their test cases.

Environments:
1: Development
2: QA
3: Staging
4: Product / Live
11: What is RTM (Requirement Traceability Matrix)?

The Requirement Traceability Matrix or RTM is a document that

maps the business requirement and test cases to trace the
coverage of testing at any given point of time and to ensure that no
requirement is missed as part of the testing.
12: what do you do when you are done with testing and left
with nothing to do?
1: Make SOPs :
SOP stands for ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ which is document created to train
new people that how to perform a task.

2: Upgrade Lesson Learnt Document:

Lesson learnt document is a document that is created and maintained to
document that what mistakes the team has done, or what gap the team had that
caused any problem. Every team member must go through the document so that
they are updated and they will not commit the same mistake again.

3: Skill enhancement:
Skill enhancement by self learning or participating in the corporate trainings
organized by the company.
13: what is SDLC?

“SDLC stands for Software Development Life Cycle. SDLC

defines the standard phases involved throughout the software
development.”
Requirement Analysis
Project planning
Project Designing
Development
Testing
Deployment
Maintenance
14: Can you name some SDLC models?

● Waterfall Model
● Spiral model
● Prototype Model
● Iterative and Incremental Model
● V -Model
● W-Model
● Agile Mode
15: what is waterfall model?
“Waterfall model is a sequential development model where each phase of
SDLC is executed one after another in a linear way so it’s also called linear
sequential model”
REQUIREMENT

DESIGN

DEVELOPMENT

TESTING

DEPLOYMENT

MAINTENANCE
16: Tell me something about V model?

“In V model of SDLC the real development phases and testing

plans goes side by side as It can be interpreted as in a 'V’
shape”

REQUIREMENT UAT (USER ACCEPTANCE

ANALYSIS TESTING)

HIGH LEVEL DESIGN SYSTEM TESTING

LOW LEVEL DESIGN INTEGRATION

or SPECIFICATION TESTING

CODING UNIT TESTING

17: Do you know what is Black Box Test Case Designing
Techniques
“Test Case designing technique is needed to get the maximum
coverage by using an optimal number of test cases.”

● Equivalence Class Partitioning

● Boundary Value Analysis
● Decision Table
● Use Case Testing
18: Do you know what is ECP (Equivalence Class
Partitioning)
“ECP is a testing technique that divides the input test data into partitions
of equivalent classes and from each class minimum one data must be tested
at least once.”
Scenario: Assume that there is an input field for age and it accepts the values from
1-100. So, if we follow the ECP concept then:

Invalid Class Valid Class Invalid Class

values below 1 values from values above 100
(0- anything) 1 -100 (101- anything)
Class A : Any value from valid input data domain : 1-100
Class B : Any value which is lower than lowest : 0,-1,-2..
Class C : Any value which is higher than Highest : 0,-1,-2..
Class D: Any alphanumeric : A1, B1, C1
Class E: Any decimal values: 1.1,1.2,1.3
19: Do you know what is BVA (Boundary Value Analysis)

“More application errors occur at the boundaries of input domain.

‘Boundary value analysis’ testing technique is used to identify errors
at boundaries instead of finding errors in center of input domain.”

Scenario: Assume that there is an input field for age and it accepts the values from
1-100. So, if we follow the ECP concept then:

one lower than Valid Boundary one higher than

lowest = 0 values 1 & 100 highest = 101

Boundary Value: 1 & 100

Invalid values for negative test cases: 0 & 101
20: Do you know what is Decision Table?

“Decision table technique is used in complex business scenarios

where the input data will be determined based on some conditions.”

Example:

Conditions 1 2 3
Cash Yes No No

Coupon N/A Yes No

Actions
Order Placed Yes Yes No
21: Do you know what is Use Case Testing

● Use Cases capture the interactions between 'actors' and the

'system'.

● A use case is a description of a particular use of the system by

an actor. Each use case describes the interactions the actor
has with the system in order to achieve a specific task.
22: Explain Testing Types?
23: Explain White Box Testing?

● Testing the code and internal structure comes under white box
testing.
● Code’s internal structure, design and implementation is tested as
part of white box testing.
● It is also known as ‘glass box testing’ or ‘Open box testing’ or
‘Structural Testing’.
UNIT TESTING:
Once the developer develops their piece of segment, each individual component is
tested independently in this testing for their expected outcomes.

INTEGRATION TESTING:
When two independent units of codes merged then checking that whether they
functioning together is called integration testing.
24: Explain Black Box Testing?

Black box testing is a testing type and as part of black box

testing the functional behaviour of requirement is tested.

Also known as Behavioural Testing or close box testing.

25: Explain Black Box Testing types?

▶ FUNCTIONAL TEST
◦ Smoke/Sanity
◦ Feature testing
◦ Regression testing
◦ System Testing
◦ UAT
▶ NONFUNCTIONAL TEST
◦ Performance (Load/stress/soak)
◦ Compatibility testing
◦ Usability testing
◦ GUI testing
26: Explain Gray Box Testing?

“Gray Box Testing is a combination of White box testing and black

box testing. The idea is to find the :
Improper structure and/or Improper usage of application”

● It is based on functional specification, UML Diagrams, Database

Diagrams or architectural view
● Grey-box tester handles can design complex test scenario more
intelligently
27: what is Integration Testing?

When two independent units of codes merged then checking

that whether they functioning together is called integration
testing.
28: what is Stub and Drivers?

Stubs and drivers are the dummy piece of code called in to

create an integrated environment where some work is not
completed yet or not available for testing.

▶ Stubs are used during top down integration approach

▶ Drivers are used In bottom up integration approach
29: what is the difference between Smoke and Sanity
Testing?
29: what is Functional and Regression Testing?
30: what is Retesting?

Once a bug is fixed then checking the same functionality again

to ensure that the bug fix is ok is called retesting. This testing
is done to ensure that bug fix is working ok and based on that
the bug status will be updated as fixed or reopened.
31: what is Exploratory Testing?

When there is a requirement or an application to test but with

no relevant document or details provided to tester the tester
explores the application and keep checking the features to
figure out the issues is known as Exploratory Testing.
32: what is System Testing?

● System testing is testing the whole system in integrated

environment with all necessary software and hardwares.
● Usually performed in E2E (End 2 End) environment

In complex business scenarios one system work with

collaboration of so many other systems, so testing your
application when it is integrated with all other applications is
called system testing.
33: what is User Acceptance Testing (UAT)?

● UAT stands for User Acceptance Testing

● Where the product is evaluated as per the end user’s
requirement
● Performed by the end users or stakeholders
● Product is evaluated that whether it matches with business
requirement or not and whether to accept or reject the
product
● Usually the last type of testing
● UAT has 2 types Alpha testing and Beta Testing
34: what is the difference between Alpha & Beta Testing?

Alpha Testing Beta Testing

Performed by testers in testing environment Performed by real end users in live environment

Alpha Testing performed at developer's site Beta testing is performed at client location or end
user of the product

Alpha testing comes before beta testing Beta testing is performed after alpha testing

Alpha testing involves both the white box and Beta Testing typically uses black box testing
black box techniques

Alpha testing is conducted within the organization Beta testing is conducted by the end users
and tested by representative group of end users
35: what is Performance Testing?

Performance testing is a test done to determine how a system

performs in terms of speed, load and stability under a particular
workload.

Performance testing types are:

▶ Load Testing
▶ Stress Testing
▶ Soak Testing
36: what is Compatibility Testing?

A snippet of Browserstack.com responsive test page

37: what is Software Bug?
Tell me the difference between Bug, Defect and a failure?

In general software testing language “During an application testing any

deviation in actual result and expected result is called a bug.”
whereas Bug and Defects has slightly difference:

BUG:
Bug is the general term used for all issues caught in testing environment.

DEFECT:
A defect is a deviation from the requirements. Defect word is used by the business
persons or stakeholder.

FAILURE:
Any issue which is passed to live users and impacting the applications motive is
called a product failure.
38: How to raise a Software Bug?
Tell me the steps to raise a bug?

Consider the below mentioned 10 point as a must to raise an effective

bug

1) Summary
2) Description
3) Component or Assigned to
4) Steps to reproduce with Test Data and URLs
5) Logs & screenshot
6) Requirement reference
7) Release Name /Build Number / Sprint name
8) Environment
9) Priority
10) Severity
39: Name some of the main Bug Management Tools?

● BugZilla
● Mantis
● Hp-QC or HP-ALM
● Jira
● Zoho
40: What is the difference between Priority & severity?
Tell me the steps to raise a bug?

Priority
The impact of the bug or function on business level is called priority.
Priorities are defined as : P1, P2 & P3

Severity
The impact of the bug or function on Application level is called priority.
Severities are defined as : Major, minor, critical, blocker
41: What is the Bug Life Cycle?
42: What is a Non Reproducible bug?

When a tester reports a valid bug but the same bug can not be reproduced
by others due to any reason is called a non-reproducible bug.
The reason could be :
1) Test Environment
2) Test locations
3) Test Data
4) System configuration
5) System of server cache memory
43: How to deal with a Non Reproducible bug?

● Provide proper story and not just steps

● Record a video or capture a screenshot for proof
● Provide the system log, application log and server logs
● Provide the time of execution
● Provide the location of test execution

Try to reproduce the bug by clearing the system cache memory

Try to clear the server side cache (to clear the server side cache put
?nocache=1 at the end of the URL and hit enter)
44: What is a Test Management Tool?

“Test Management tools are the tools required to manage whole testing
activity and reporting in an organized manner.”

1: Manage the build and versioning for test

2: To manage the Test scenarios, Test Case and Test scripts
3: To map the requirements and test scenarios, test cases
4: To update the test case status while executing

5: To update the test cases with a defect

6: To track the test progress
7: To generate the test report
8: To maintain the test history
45: Name some of the Test Management Tools?

● HP ALM (Application lifecycle management) or HP-QC (Quality

centre, is the older version of ALM)
● JIRA
● q-Test
● Testlink
● Zephyr
46: Do you know what is Agile Model?

● A SDLC model to build an application fast in very short span of

time
● Delivers workable modules after each release
● Development and Testing goes side by side
● A combination of iterative and incremental approach
47: Explain the Agile Model lifecycle?
4. Daily Scrum meets or
stand-ups

Sprint
1-4
weeks Shippable
product

1. Product 2. Sprint 3. Task 5. Sprint Review (Demo

Backlog Meeting Burndown product)

6. Sprint
Retrospective
Agile – scrum lifecycle
48: what is Automation Testing?

● Automating the manual testing process by using any tool is

automation testing.
● Using a tool to execute the test cases is automation testing.
● Test automation requires the significant amount of Money and
skills.
● Significant amount of time can be saved by automation
● Not everything can be automated
49: Do you know what is Continuous Integration Testing?

Continuous Integration (CI) is a development practice that requires

developers to integrate code into a shared repository several times a
day. Each check-in is then verified by an automated test build,
allowing teams to detect problems early.

By integrating regularly, you can detect errors quickly, and locate

them more easily.
50: Continuous integration Testing (CIT)
Architecture - in Agile model