Interview
Questions for QA Tester
These questions and answers are totally based on the interview I attended as a QA Tester. Finally, if you are attending an interview, you have to know these questions and answers by heart, must be very fluent in answering these questions. Practice in front of the mirror, loud and clear (talk to yourself). Most of the time, when we read the questions, we feel good and feel comfortable, but the reality is, at the time of the interview, even though we feel we have the knowledge, can’t express it well. It may sound a little rough, but this is my experience. When we come out the door, we regret. If you cannot remember these by heart, trust me, it may not work. Therefore, let’s not regret.HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS:
1. Can you tell me about yourself?
Answer: In my QA career, I have been working on various system platforms and operating systems like Windows 95, Windows 2000, Windows XP and UNIX. I have tested applications developed in Java, C++, Visual Basic and so on. I have tested Web-based applications as well as client server applications.As a QA person, I have written Test Plans, Test Cases, attended walkthrough meetings with the Business Analysts, Project Managers, Business Managers and QA Leads. I have attended requirement review meetings and provided feedback to the Business Analysts. I have worked in different databases like Oracle and DB2, wrote SQL queries to retrieve data from the database. As far as different types of testing is concerned, I have performed Smoke Testing, Functional Testing, Backend Testing, Black Box Testing, Integration Testing, Regression Testing and UAT (User Acceptance Testing) Testing. I have participated in Load Testing and Stress Testing.I have written defects as they are found using Clear Quest and Test Director. Once the defects were fixed, retested them and if the passed, closed them. If the defects were not fixed, then reopened them. I have also attended the defect assessment meetings as necessary.In the meantime, a continuous interaction with developers was necessary.This is pretty much what I have been doing as a QA person.2. What did you do in your last project?
Answer: In my last project, the application was a web-based application developed in Java platform. As a QA Person, I wrote Test Plans from the requirement documents and Use Cases. I performed Smoke Testing, Functional Testing, Backend Testing, Black Box Testing, Integration Testing, Regression Testing and UAT (User Acceptance Testing). I have participated in Load Testing and Stress Testing. I attended several walkthrough meetings for requirement reviews and provided feedback to the Business Analysts. Mostly, I was in the backend testing, which required writing SQL queries directly to the database.Besides these, I wrote defects using Clear Quest. Once the defects were fixed, retested them and if the passed, closed them. If the defects were not fixed, then reopened them. 3. Have you written Test Plan? What is a Test Plan? What does it include?
Answer: Yes. What is a Test Plan?
Answer: A Test Plan is a document that describes the scope, approach, resources, and schedule of intended testing activities. It identifies test items, the features to be tested, the testing tasks and who will do each task (roles and responsibilities) and any risks and its solutions.What does it include? Answer: A Test Plan includes Heading, Revision History, Table of Contents, Introduction, Scope, Approach, Overview, different types of testing that will be carried out, what software and hardware will be required, issues, risks, assumptions and sign off section. 4. Have you written Test Cases? Answer: Yes.
What is a Test Case? What does it include?
Answer: A Test Case is a document that describes step-by-step process how to test the application. A Test Case includes Test Case ID, Steps Description, Expected Output, Actual Output, Pass/Fail, and Remarks. (Remember, this is NOT a part of Test Plan. It is a separate document written using Excel. In some companies, they use Rational Test Manager or Test Director. But for companies, who do not have these tools, use Excel sheet. In t he example below, it is in the Excel sheet) Did you use any tools to write Test Cases?
Answer: Yes. I have used Test Director (now called Quality Center) and Rational Test Manager to write Test Cases. However, in most of the companies, I used Excel sheet. How many Test Cases did you write in your last project?Answer: I wrote about 1100 Test Cases in my last project. (The reasonable number of Test Cases varies from 500 to thousands. The number 1100 test cases can be completed in 6-month project duration). What document did you refer to write the Test Cases?
Answer: Requirement document. (NOTE: It can also be Use Cases, or Design Document. It depends company to company. In some company, they use Use Cases. In some companies, they use Requirement Documents and in companies, they use Design Document. However, in practical scenario, most of the companies have requirement document at least). 5. Did you have a situation where you did not have any documents (no requirement document, no Use Cases, or no Design Document) and you had to write the Test Cases? How did you write the Test Cases in this situation?
Answer: Yes. I have been to that kind of scenarios several times. There were companies where they had no documents at all. In that case, I had to discuss the application scenario and functionalities with the Business Analysts or developer. On the basis of that discussion, I prepared a document in consultation with Business Analysts and Developers and then started writing Plans and Test Cases. 6. What you worked with Use Cases before?
Answer: Yes. I have written Test Cases using Use Cases. Can you tell me what a Use Case is? Answer: A use case is a document that describes the user action and system response for a particular functionality.
7. What is SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle)?
Answer: SDLC
(Software Development Life Cycle) is the process of developing software through
business needs, analysis, design, implementation and maintenance. Software has
to go through various phases before it is born which are as follows:(i)Generating a Concept
– A concept comes from the users of the software. For example, a Pizza Hut may
need software to sell pizza. An Indian store may need software to sell its
newly arrived movies or grocery. The owner of the company feels that he needs
software that would help him in tracking his expenses and income as well as
enhance the selling process. This is how the concept is generated. The owner
will specifically tell the software company what kind of software he would
need. In other words, he will specify his requirements.
(ii) Requirements analysis – After the owner (user) knows his
requirements, then it is given to a software team (company) who will analyze
the requirement and prepare requirement document that will explain every
functionality that are needed by the owner. The requirement document will be
the main document for developers, testers and database administrators. In other
words, this is the main document that will be referred by everyone. After the
requirement documents, other detailed documents many be needed. For example,
the architectural design which is a blueprint for the design with the necessary
specifications for the hardware, software, people and data resources.
(iii) Development: After the detailed requirement documents
(some companies have design documents instead of requirement documents), the
developers start writing their code (program) for their modules. On the other
hand, the testers in the QA (Quality Assurance) Department start writing Test
Plans (one module=1 test plan), test cases and get ready for testing.
(iv) Testing: Once the code (programs) are ready, they are
compiled together and to make a build. This build is now tested by the software
testers (QA Testers)
(v) Production: After testing, the application (software) goes into production
(meaning, it will be handed over to the owner).
(vi) End: And one day, the owner will have say bye to the
software either because the business grows and this software does not meet the
demand or for some reason, the he does not need the software. That’s the end of
it. 8. What is Business Requirement Document (BRD)?
Answer: It
is a document that describes the details of the application functionalities
which is required by the user. This document is written by the Business
Analysts. 9. What is Business Design Document?
Answer: It
is the document that describes the application functionalities of the user in
detail. This document has the further details of the Business Requirement
Document. This is a very crucial step in Software Development Life Cycle
(SDLC). Sometimes the Business Requirement Document and Business Design
Document can be lumped together to make only one Business Requirement Document. 10. What is a Module?
Answer: A
‘Module’ is a software component that has a specific task. It can be a ‘link’,
which can go inside to its component detail. (This is NOT a very common question for the
interview. This is just for your knowledge, if you don’t know what a module
is.) 11. What is walk-through
meeting?
Answer: Once
the Business Analysts complete the requirement document, they call a meeting to
explain how the functionalities work, what the process is in the designed
application and other details. The Business Analysts explain the high level
functionalities of the application (software) that is going to the built. The
participant members in the meeting may provide feed back and various point of
views are expressed. This is walk-through meeting. 12. What is a Use Case and what does it include?
Answer: A
Use Case is a document that describes the user action and system response for a
particular functionality. It includes cover page, Revision History, Table of
Contents, Flow of Events (normal flow and alternative flow), Exceptions,
Special Requirements, Pre-conditions and Post-conditions.
13. What is Build?
Answer: When
each of the different modules of software is prepared, the Configuration
Management Team (CMT) puts them in a single folder and it is called the
‘Build’. . (This
is NOT a very common question for the interview. This is just for your
knowledge, if you don’t know what a build is.)
14. What does the Build Deployment mean?
Answer: When
the Build so prepared by the CMT (Configuration Management Team), it is
deployed (put) to different Test Environments, it is called the Build
Deployment. 15. What is Test Strategy?
Answer: A
Test Strategy is a document that describes the test efforts, test
configuration, testing tools to be employed, test environments, exit criteria
and entry criteria for testing, what different types of testing will be carried
out (for example, smoke test, regression, load test, functional test and so on)
types of testing to be carried out and system requirement. The Test Manager or
Lead writes it. (Remember,
the Tester does NOT write Test Strategy. A Tester writes Test Plans and Test
Cases)
16. Are Test Plan and Test Strategy same type of documents?
Answer: No,
they are different documents. A Test Plan is a document that collects and
organizes test cases by functional areas and/or types of testing in a form that
can be presented to the other teams and/or customer (see the definition on this page for Test
Plan) where as the Test Strategy (see the definition in the above question)
is the documented approach to testing. The tester prepares test Plan whereas
the Manager or lead prepares the Test Strategy. Both are important pieces of
Quality Assurance processes since they help communicate the test approach scope
and ensure test coverage while improving the efficiency of the testing effort. 17. What does Test Strategy include?
Answer: It
includes introduction, Test Objectives, Test Process, Test Methodology, Test
Scope, Release Criteria for Testing (exit criteria), Test Lab configuration,
resource and schedule for test activities, acceptance criteria, test
environment, test tools, test priorities, test planning, executing a test pass
and types of test to be performed. 18. What are different types of software testing and define them?
Answer: Different types of testing are:1) Unit testing
2) Shakeout testing
3) Smoke testing (Ad-hoc testing)
4) Functional testing
5) Integration testing
6) Regression testing
7) System testing
8) Load testing
9) Stress testing
10) Performance testing
11) User acceptance testing
12) Black box testing
13) White box testing
14) Alpha testing
15) Beta testing(Note: Except
the Shakeout testing and Unit testing (which are respectively done by the CMT
(Configuration Management Team) and Coder/Developer), all other testing are
done by the QA tester.)What is Unit testing? It is a test to check the code whether
it is properly working or not as per the requirement.What is Shakeout testing?
This test is basically carried out to check the networking facility, database
connectivity and the integration of modules. The Configuration Management team,
who prepare builds for test environments, normally does this test. They also
test whether the major components of the software are not broken. This test is
done BEFORE the build is deployed in the test environment. After the shake out
testing, the next step is smoke testing (which is done by the testers after the
build is deployed in the test environment)What is smoke testing? This test is done when the build is just
prepared (fresh build) and deployed in the test environments. This is basically
an AD hoc test to check roughly to
make sure the major functionalities are not broken. It is the preliminary a
test carried out by the QA tester. After the smoke test, the testers perform
functional testing.
What is Functional testing? It is a test to check whether each
and every function of that application is working as per the requirement (remember this work “as
per requirement document”-you must say this in the interview). It
is a major test where 80% of the tests are done. In this test, the Test Cases
are executed (or run).
What is Integration testing? It is a test to check whether all
the modules are combined together or not and working successfully as specified
in the requirement document. (Just for your information: Each developer works on different modules.
When they finish their code, the configuration management team puts them
together and prepares a build. We, as testers, need to make sure that these
modules, which are now combined, work as per requirement document)
What is System testing? When testers complete testing (The testers test the
application in the test environments, meaning they test with the test data
only, NOT with the real data), the application (software) has to be
tested in the real environment. What it means is, since the testers test it in
the test environment with the test data, we have to make sure that the
application works well in the real environment with the real data. In test
environment, some of the things cannot be simulated or tested. Al though the
test environment is very similar to the production (real) environment, we need
to make sure that we get a smooth delivery in the real system as well (As servers are different
and database is different, things may not work as expected when the application
is moved from test environment to production environment)
What is Load testing? It is a test to check the user’s
response time for number of users using any one scenario (single business process)
of the same application at the same time.
What is Performance testing? It is a test to check the user’s
response time for number of users using multiple scenarios (multiple business
process) of the same application at the same time.
(Did you notice
the difference between Load Testing and Performance testing? What is it? See
the highlighted bold letters)
What is Black box testing? It is test where a tester
performs testing without looking into the code. (OR it is a testing method where the
application under test is viewed as a black box and the internal behavior of
the program is completely ignored. Testing occurs based upon the external
specifications. Also known as behavioral testing, since only the external
behavior of the program is evaluated and analyzed.)
What is Alpha testing? In this type of testing, the users are
invited at the development center where they use the application and the
developers note every particular input or action carried out by the user. Any
type of abnormal behavior of the system is noted and rectified by the
developers.
19. What is the difference between Load Testing and Performance
Testing?
Answer: Basically
Load, Stress and Performance Testing are the same. However, Load
testing is the test to check the users’ response time of number of
users of any one scenario of the application whereas Performance
Testing is the test to check the user response time for multiple scenario
of the same application.
20. What was the process of QA testing in your company where you worked
for the last time? (Or As far as the QA process is involved, what was the
testing process in your company?)
Answer: The
QA testing process that was followed in my last company where I worked was as
follows:
First of all the Business Requirement Document was prepared as per the client’s
requirement (with the muck-up). Then on the basis of the requirement document,
QA Team wrote Test Plans, Test Cases and Test Strategies. The developers
started coding their modules (started programming). Once the developers
finished coding, the Configuration Management Team compiled the code together
and prepared a build. This Build is now deployed to different testing
environments where different types of testing were performed. Once the defects
were found, the testers would log the defect using the tools available (like Test Director, Clear
Quest and so on. For the companies who cannot afford these expensive tools,
they can use Excel sheet as well). Once the defects are logged,
then those defects would be discussed in the defect status meeting and would
take further actions (meaning, closing, reopening, retesting of defects etc).
21. What is Change Control?
Answer: It
is a document that describes the additional functionalities that are added
after the Business Requirement Document is signed off. It can be updated in the
old business requirement document or it can be a separate document. (For example, in the
Business Requirement Document, on the login page, there are User Name and
Password fields. The owner of the software wants to add, “If you do not have
User Name and Password, please click here.” This is a change. But this change
came after the document is signed off by the Project Managers. Now this is a
change control and comes as a separate document. (It is also called Change
Request, Modification Request).
22. Have you written Change Control?
Answer: Yes.
There was a situation where in one page of an application in my previous
project, when the user clicked “Contact” link, it would pop up a different
window (new separate window). But it was NOT the way it was described in the
requirement document. In the requirement document, when the user clicks
“Contact” link, then it should navigate to another page (Not a separate new
window. Then was it a problem? Functionality wise, it was NOT a problem,
however, on all the other pages, when the user clicked “Contact” link, the
system would navigate to next page (not a separate window). So, it was NOT
CONSISTENT with the other functionalities on the other pages. Therefore, it was
a consistency issue. I reported this as a bug. But the Project Manager asked me
to write it as a Change Control (because it requires more budget to fix this
issue) so that he can address this issue at a later time. So I wrote this as a
Change Control. (However,
it is NOT a job of a tester to write change control. It’s the business analyst’s
job)
23. What is Back-end Testing?
Answer: It
is a test to check whether the data displayed in the GUI front-end matches with
the particular data in the backend.
24. Have you done any Backend Testing and/or if you did, how did you do
it in your last project?
Answer: Yes.
I have done backend testing. When I was working in my last project, this was my
scenario of backend testing:I was working on Reports. It was
the scenario of testing one application used in the bank, where a customer
comes to a bank’s front desk, the bank teller is requested to open a Checking
Account. The associate then asks for the personal information about the
customer, which, are the primary data, such as: First Name, Last Name, Date of
Birth, Address and Social Security Number. The associate then puts these
primary data of that particular customer into the computer, which then
afterwards batch-processed (normally happens in the middle of the nigh). Now, after
the batch process, the information of that customer goes into the central
database in the XML format. The data now from the database goes to ETL
(Extract-Transform-Load). (ETL is a tool made by two companies ‘AbInitio’ and ‘Informatica’)
ETL now processes the job to create a file (output file) to produce the report.
The file is now displayed in the GUI Front End report with the help of Business
Object (or Crystal Reports. These are tools that display data in GUI format).
In the GUI Front End report, let us say, if for January, the deposit of that
person was displayed as $ 900.00. Then my job was to validate whether this $900
is correct or not. I validated this data by writing SQL queries directly to the
database. The data pulled from my SQL query should match to the data in the GUI
front end. In other words, my SQL query should also display $900. If it
matches, it is well and good. If it doesn’t, then it’s a bug. This is how I
have done my Back End Testing. How can you be sure that the query you wrote is correct? Or how do you
know that the data you pulled from the database is correct? Answer: I
write SQL query based on the requirement document. In the requirement document,
various conditions are given for the query. Based on those conditions, I write
SQL query. Therefore, anything different from the requirement document is
definitely a defect. 25. From you resume, I see that you have been working in one place for
a very short period of time. This raises me questions why. Can you explain why?
Answer: As
a consultant, I am hired for a certain period of time (for project duration
only), normally for 6 months to 1 year. Once the project is over, I needed to
move to another project. That’s why you see me in the resume jumping frequently
here and there. 26. What is done on the first day of the work?
Answer: On
the first day, the Manager will come to receive at the lobby. He/she will
welcome you; tell where you will be sitting. The next thing will be will show
you login name and password and they want to make sure that the login name and
password works so that you can use your computer. Then the Manager will tell
you where the documents are located in the network drive (or shared drive, or
ClearCase, or Sharepoint—different companies use different software for this
purpose). Once you find the documents, then you will ask them what you will be
working on what are the related documents that you should read. You start
reading the documents, which lasts normally one week or more. 27. What do you do on the job every day? What is the first thing you go
when you go to work on a day? (What is your routine job?)
Answer: Go
to work, have a cup of coffee (coffee is free in any work place), then check
emails. I will check in my calendar whether there is any meeting for the day.
If there is anything urgent work that needs to take care of, then I will start
with that job. Otherwise, I will start what is left from yesterday on a
priority basis.(This question
was asked to one of my friends while he was attending interview in one of the
companies. When they asked him this question, his answer was, he said, “I start
testing”. This was his wrong answer. The answer varies in which phase of
testing the application is. If the application is in very beginning
state-meaning that the coding has just begun, then the tester’s job will be to
analyze and read the requirement documents, write test plans and write test
cases. Probably attend walkthrough meeting and so on. However, the daily
routine job would be, as mentioned above, check emails, read documents, attend
meeting and so on. It’s not that as soon as you enter the office, you start
testing)
What do you do if you have
any questions to ask? Who do you ask?
At the beginning, we all panic,
what kind of questions to ask? What if they ask questions that I don’t know? Is
it OK to ask questions? What do I do if I don’t know how to do the job I am
assigned to? and so on.
As mentioned earlier, on the first day, your Manager will give you the system
(computer) (They normally call system, not computer), will tell you what the
User ID and Password is, where are the QA documents on the shared drive (or
Network drive) are and so on. They will definitely ask you to read a lot of
documents at the beginning (And you must read read and read those documents AS
MUCH AS POSSIBLE. At the beginning, allocate about 2 hours extra at home for
reading these documents. This habit will put you on the top of your job). These
documents are normally design specification document (DSD). Different companies
call it with different names, for example, Requirement Specification Document
(RSD) and so on. After reading the documents, you will be asked to write Test
Plans or Test Cases (Don’t panic. The Test Plans and Test Cases templates will
be give by your manager or test lead and they will tell you what to do and how
to do because different companies have different formats they follow. If they
don’t have one, then you can always prepare a sample from this website (see on
the right column) and give it to them. You will be hero)Who do you ask?
Now let’s say you did not understand something while reading documents. Who are
you going to ask? Answer-Business Analysts who wrote this document. If you have
any other questions that you don’t know, you will be asking that to you friend
first, if he/she is not able to answer, then ask this question to the Lead (or
Manager). Do not ask too many questions (some people get irritated). Therefore,
it is important to read read and read. That’s the only way to succeed.
If you have any questions in TestDirector, or QTP or any other automation tools,
then there is a HELP menu as well as tutorial. Please go through these, read
them before you ask any questions to anyone else.
What kind of questions should I ask in the meeting?
Nothing. My advice is, keep your mouth shut. Just listen. This is the best way
to handle the job until you are confident enough to speak and you know what you
are talking about. If they ask you some questions, then reply gently, wisely.
How to deal with your team members?
Most probably, you will not be the only tester in the team. There will be more
than you. Sometimes, dealing with you team members is frustrating, specially
when you are new. They try to ignore you. They want to show themselves smart.
Don’t worry. Don’t blame them. This part of the human nature. Try to cope with
it. Invite them when you go for coffee (in the coffee room in your office,
don’t go outside), try to share your feelings and so on. It is all how you
handle your friends. It is part of your daily activities, handle it gently.
This is part of the situation I have gone through, my friends have gone
through. I am just sharing this with you.
28. Have you used automation tools?
(Normally, when
some one asks this question, we tend to think about automation functional
testing tools, like WinRunner, LoadRunner, QTP (Quick Test Pro), Rational
Robot, Experian and so on. But the reality is, even a Manual Tester also uses
automation tools like bug tracking tools like TestDirector, ClearQuest, PVC
Tracker and so on. Therefore, your answer should be Yes) Answer: Yes.
I have used TestDirector and ClearQuest as defect tracking tools. (Your answer is based on
whether you have used automation tools specially for functional and load
testing. If you have NOT used, but read about these tools, then you may be
better off saying, “I know about the tools. I was involved in some of the
testing using these tools, but would need some brush up in order to work
independently.” I am saying this because these tools are difficult to tackle in
the interview and have to know in depth. In order to pass the interview on
functional automation tools, it may not be easy unless you really know the
stuff. But, since there is not much to learn in ClearQuest and TestDirector,
you only have to know what different types of fields are there in the defect
logging window when writing a defect.) 29. When you log a defect using TestDirector (or ClearQuest) what
fields do you see?
Answer: When
we log a defect, we see Defect ID (it shows later in TestDirector), Summary
(where we write short description of the defect), Description (long description
of the defect), Detected by (Person who found the defect, (it’s you), Severity
(meaning-is the defect critical? High? Medium? Or Low?), Date, Detected in
Version, Priority, Project, Status, Assigned to and so on.30. Are you better working
in a team or working alone? Answer: I
am a team player. I get along with team members very well. As far as the
working is concerned, I can be equally productive in team or working alone.
(Caution: Never
say, I like working alone. This could lead you to not getting a job as they are
always looking for people who can get along with other people.)31. Do you have any
situations in the past where you have some arguments with your team members?
Answer: No. I
never had that type of situation wherever I have worked.(Even if you had
one, it’s a good idea to say “No”. This could be a red flag, which might stop
you from getting the job)
32. What do you like about a Manager? And what don’t you like?
Answer: The
best thing I like about a Manager is that the Manager should be able to
coordinate with the other teams so that we can get the updated documents, for
example, updated requirements documents right away. A Manager who can
efficiently in distributes the work to the team, without being biased and
easily accessible and protective to his team for the right cause. As far as
“what I don’t like” is concerned, I don’t like a manager who keeps coming to
desk 10 times a day to check my work even if it is just a regular work. Once
the responsibility is given, the team member should be trusted and let his work
done. 33. Where do you see yourself in another 5 years?
Answer: I
see myself a QA Lead in another 5 years.(You can also
say “QA Manager”, but since the QA Manager is taking your interview most of the
time, they some times feel challenged. Therefore, it might be a good idea to
limit you to QA Lead) 34. Why are you in QA?
Answer: I am in QA because I like this job.
35. Why do you like this job?
Answer: I
like this job, because it is process oriented. Meaning that I get an
opportunity to work from analyzing the requirement documents to writing test
plans, test cases, testing the application, logging defects, retesting,
preparing reports and finally testing in production as well. Therefore, I am
involved from the very beginning to the end of the software development life
cycle (SDLC) process. I like this.
Another reason is I like to find defects. I enjoy logging defects. The more
defects I find, the happier I am. 36. How do you determine what to test in an application?
Answer: First
of all we have the test cases (or test scripts) that are written based on the
requirement document. This pretty much covers what functionalities to test.
Therefore, looking at the test cases tells us what to test in the application. 37. If you have no documentation about the product, how do you test an
application? Describe the process.
Answer: Well,
this is a situation where I have come across several times. Some of the
companies in my previous projects did not have any documents. In this case, I
went to the Business Analyst and some times to developers to find out how
exactly the functionalities work, how to navigate from one page to another page
and so on. After getting a clear vision, I write test cases based on the
conversation (which is a step by step procedure to test an application) and get
ready for testing.
What do you do once you find a defect?
Once you find a defect, this is what we need to do:1. Recreate the Defect:
Once you find a defect, we must try to recreate (meaning that we should be able
to reproduce it) at least 3 times so that we are sure that it is a defect. Some
times, once we find it log it without recreating, may put us in a false
situation (because sometimes the application does not behave in the same way).
Therefore, it is important to recreate the same defect several times.
2. Attach the Screen Shot (supporting document): Once we
confirm that it is a defect, and then it is a good idea to attach supporting
documents when we log (write) a defect. For example, screen shot, requirement
document etc. For instance, let us say that instead of “Continue” button on a
page, there is a typo “Contiinuee”. Now, we will make a screen shot of this
page (To make screen shot, press “Print Screen” button on the keyboard, and
open a Word document, and Click Edit on the Word document and “Past” it. You
will see the screen now) Now, a tester needs to write defects in easy and clear
language to make all the developers to understand easily.3. Log the Defect:
Now, the next step is, we need to log it. Depending on the company what kind of
tools they are using (for example, some companies use TestDirector to log
defects, some companies use Rational ClearQuest, some use PVC Tracker and so
on). If the company is small and cannot afford these expensive tools, then they
may simply use Excel sheet to log defects. We log the defect. 38. What are the basic elements you put in a defect?
Answer: Basic
elements we put in a defect are: SEVERITY, PRIORITY, CREATED BY, VERSION NO,
HEADER, DESCRIPTION OF THE DEFECT where we write how to recreate a defect, in
what module the defect is found, Status, and so on. 39. What is the biggest bug you have ever found?
Answer: Well,
there are many big defects I have found in various projects. For example, in
the last project, on a page, there was a button called “More Information”. Once
the user clicked that button, the system would open a new window (pop up).We could close the new window in 3
ways:
-By clicking X at the top right corner of the page
-By clicking “Close” button on the page
-By pressing combination keys (Alt+F4) on the key board
Although the combination key (Alt+F4) was not mentioned in the test case, I
just wanted to try how the application reacts when Alt+F4 is pressed. Then I
pressed Alt+F4. The result was a disaster-the application crashed (broke). The
application disappeared from the computer monitor. Since it was the last day of
testing for us, it brought chaos in our Managers, Leads and the whole teams.
Finally, the developers disabled Alt+F4 as a temporary solution and the
application went into production. 40. How do you make sure that it is quality software?
Answer: There
is a certain process how the quality of software is guaranteed (ensured). If is
defined by the ‘exit criteria’. (What it means is, a QA Manager writes a
document called Test Strategy. This Test Strategy defines the ‘exit criteria’.)
Exit Criteria gives the measurement, for example, in order to confirm the
quality, how many critical defects, high defects, medium defect and low defect
are acceptable? These are all defined in the exit criteria. (Normally in practice,
for a quality software, there should no critical defects (0 critical), no high
defect (0 high), no medium defect (0 medium) and may be 1 low defect) 41. As a QA Tester, can you tell me the situation when you felt the
most proud of it?
Answer: When
I find the defect that normally others don’t find, then I feel very proud. For
example, there were situations where I found bugs that crashed the whole system
at the end of testing phase. I tried the scenarios where the scenarios were NOT
mentioned in the test cases. For example, we can close the windows by clicking
X on the page, with “Close” button and so on. But there is another way that you
can close the window, by pressing Alt+F4 on the keyboard. Not many testers test
this scenario. I have done this in my last two projects. Both the time, the
application crashed which became a big issue. I felt proud. 42. What made you to choose testing career?
Answer: I
am a very detailed oriented person and I like process-oriented job. The way QA
process works is just the kind of work I like. For example, analyzing
requirement documents, attending walk-through meetings, writing test plans,
writing test cases, executing the test cases (or running the test cases)
testing the application, logging defects, retesting them and so on. I think I
really like the process and that’s why I chose this career. 43. When should testing start in a project? Why?
Answer: We
should start testing as soon as the following things are ready:
-Test Data are ready
-Build (all the developers have coded their code and merged them
together)
-Test Environment (servers, network etc) is set up and ready
-When the manager asks us to go ahead and start testing. 44. Let us say you have a web application to test. How do you go about
testing it? What is the process?
Answer: First
of all, I will look at the requirement documents (or design document in some
companies). The requirement document will tell us what the functionalities in
the application (software) are. Once I analyze the requirement documents (one
module=one requirement document). After that, I will write test plans for each
module (one module =one test plan). Then after the test plan is complete, I
will write test cases (One module can have hundreds, even thousands test
cases). Once the test cases are ready and the application is ready (or once the
build is ready), then I will start testing. Before I start testing, however, I
will make sure the test environments, test data and defect logging tools are in
place. This is how I will go about testing an application. 45. What is a “bug?”
Answer: A
bug is a bug is an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer code
(program) that prevents it from behaving as intended (e.g., producing an
incorrect result). (You
can also add this: When the expected results (accordingly to the requirement
documents) don’t match with the actual results (while testing), then it is
considered a bug) 46. How would you ensure that you have covered 100% testing?
Answer: The
testing coverage is defined by exit criteria (There is exit criteria and entry
criteria in the Test Strategy). For example, if the exit criteria says “The
software will be acceptable to the client only if there are no critical
defects, no high defects, no medium defects and only two low defects”, then all
the critical, high, medium should be zero. Only 2 low defects are acceptable.
Thus, 100% coverage is measured by the exit criteria. Also, 100% test cases
must be executed in order to cover 100% of testing. 47. What problems did you face in the past? How did you solve it?
(You will be OK
if you just give one of the problems below, not all of them) Answer: I
had many problems while testing applications in the past.As far as I remember one of them
(then describe one of them from below), this was the scenario:
(i) It was a web-based application. I was working on a module called
“Transaction Summary”. There was “Submit” button on that page. After entering
data in the all the fields, for example, First Name, Last Name, Social Security
Number, Date of Birth and so on, I clicked the Submit button. Once I clicked
Submit button, an error page displayed, “Page cannot be found…”. Since it was a
critical defect, I immediately informed the Test Lead. There was a chaos in the
room. All the developers, Database Administrators and Testers gathered in my
cube (room). No body could tell exactly what was wrong with it. Finally, one
smart guy checked into the database and found out that one of the files in the
database was closed. The status of all the files should be in the open status.
Once the status of the closed file was put in the “open” status, the application
worked fine.(ii) One of the problems was in the
Login window (page). When the user enters and Login Name and Password, then
Password should be encrypted. One of the Test Cases was that I needed to open
database and see whether the password is encrypted or not. I found out it was
not encrypted. I reported it as a bug (defect) and it was fixed in the next
release (build).(iii) Defects I have found in a
project was a defect to close a window (pop up).
For example, in the last project, on a page, there was a button called “More
Information”. Once the user clicked that button, the system would open a new
window (pop up).We could close the new window in 3 ways:
-By clicking X at the top right corner of the page
-By clicking “Close” button on the page
-By pressing combination keys (Alt+F4) on the key board
Although the combination key (Alt+F4) was not mentioned in the test case, I
just wanted to try how the application reacts when Alt+F4 is pressed. Then I
pressed Alt+F4. The result was a disaster-the application crashed (broke). The
application disappeared from the computer monitor. Since it was the last day of
testing for us, it brought chaos in our Managers, Leads and the whole teams.
Finally, the developers disabled Alt+F4 as a temporary solution and the
application went into production.(iv) Another problem was that a
user would search for branch location information of a bank. The user logs in
by using User Name and Password. After the log in, on the “Search Location”
page, the user enters and zip code of the location he wants to find, then
clicks Find button. After that the system (application) gives a number of
branch locations. The user now clicks “Request Information” for one of the
branches. As soon as the user clicks “Request Information” button, the
application breaks (displays “Page cannot be found” error). I logged this
defect as a critical defect. When the developers and database administrator
looked into it, then they found out that in one of the tables, the data was not
recorded. In all the tables (UserProfile table, ClientID table and SessionID
table), the data should be populated with the information entered by the user.
For some reason, in one of the tables, it was blank (null). Once they wrote a
small code to populate data (enter data) to the table, the application started
working.
(v) In my previous project, when the customer wants to upload a document, for
example, a copy of a monthly statement (in Word format), on the website, the
system should automatically change the Word document into .pdf format. Once the
document was uploaded, I saw that the fields in the .pdf document were
interchanged (misplaced). For example, the First Name displayed in the Last
Name section. Date of Birth displayed in the Social Security Number field and
so on. We found out that the problem was a mapping problem (remember this
word). Once the mapping was correct, I tested in the new build. It was fixed.(vi) The most common problem
that I have faced in my previous projects are the Java script errors, data
connectivity, error, HTTP 500 error (This error occurs when server is down),
HTTP 400 error (when file is not found) and so on.(vii) “Father” pop up
displayed when Print/Print Preview button clicked. (This was coded by the
developer to mark this coding portion (for his/her own purpose as a mark
to indicate where he/she made changes, however, forgot to remove it).
Once the developer fixed it, it still displayed the same thing (because it was
in the server’s memory and could not go). Now, I had to reset memory of
the server from my machine. Therefore, what I did is, I went to the
website I was testing (for example, http://mysite.app.org/My_profile) and added
reset.aspx at the end of the URL (Now the URL becomes
http://mysite.app.org/My_profile/reset.aspx and hit enter. It took me to the
server memory and I selected section and submitted the query and it was
cleared. Retested again and it is now OK.(viii) I was testing a web
application. On one page, I clicked Save & Continue button twice (my
mistake). Once this button is clicked twice, the system displayed an
error message, “Could not save the answers, please contact technical support”.
(When clicked only once, the button works fine.).Solution: Once the user
clicks the button once, the button was disabled later so that the user cannot
click twice.(ix) I was testing a
web-based application. Once all the fields are entered on the one of the
pages, we had Print Preview button. If the user clicks this button, we
were supposed see the same information in a new window in PDF format. While
looking at the data in PDF file, there were some fields missing, for example,
Date of Birth was missing in the PDF file. 48. Tell me about the worst boss you’ve ever had.
(Here, you should be careful not to say any negative words about the past boss. This will give a reflection that you cannot work with different nature of people. You should be able to show them that you can cope with any kind of boss. Therefore, just take an idea below how the answer should be.)
Answer: I
can hardly think of any Manager that was really bad. But when I compare, then I
remember of a Test Lead who was just made a lead from the developers team. She
used to feel that she has been very proud of her position and used to boss
around. Some times, she used to call home and check where I was and what I was
doing. Or have I completed my job before leaving and so on. I think, whatever
she did, was in the benefit of the company and myself in the long run which
would give me more confidence in future. 49. What do you like about QA?
Answer: The
best thing I like about QA is, I like the job which is more process oriented.
For example, we have to work right from reading the requirement documents,
providing feedback to the Business Analysts as necessary, writing test plans,
test cases, execute the test cases, interaction with different developers,
attend walk-through meeting and so on. I am a very detailed oriented person.
When I test applications, I try to get into the depth of functionality so that
I don’t miss out anything. Finally, I love logging defects. 50. What are all the basic elements in a defect report?
Answer: The
basic elements in a defect report are: Defect ID, Header, Description, Defect
Reported by, Date, Status, Version, Assigned to, Approved by, Module where the
defect was found and so on. 51. What is the difference between verification and validation?
Verification: Verification is a process to ensure that the software that is
made, matches the original design. In other words, it checks whether the
software is made according to the criteria and specification described in the
requirement document. It is to check whether you built the product right as per
design. It is a low level checking. (It is done in walk-through meetings
generally). It checked whether it is made accordingly to the design..Validation: Validation is a process
to check whether the product design fits the client’s need. It checks whether
you built the right thing. It checks whether it is designed properly. 52. How do you know it is sufficient testing?
Answer: Every
company has entry and exit criteria. When we test applications, we refer to
exit criteria. When we are about to finish testing, then the QA Team (QA
Manager) refers to the exit criteria (exit criteria tells the level of defect
that you can be comfortable with before it goes to production. For example,
there should be ZERO critical defect, ZERO high level defect, ZERO medium
defect, 1 Low level defect, all the test cases must be 100% executed etc). Once
the exit criteria meet the requirements, then the software is considered to be
sufficiently tested.
Every company has entry and exit criteria. When we test applications, we refer
to exit criteria. When we are about to finish testing, then the QA Team (QA
Manager) refers to the exit criteria (exit criteria tells the level of defect
that you can be comfortable with before it goes to production. For example,
there should be ZERO critical defect, ZERO high level defect, ZERO medium
defect, 1 Low level defect, all the test cases must be 100% executed etc). Once
the exit criteria meet the requirements, then the software is considered to be
sufficiently tested.
53. How to derive test
scenarios and use cases? What are the contents and format?
Answer:
Test scenarios are derived from requirement documents. We follow each and every
functionality (called business rules) mentioned in the requirement document.
One functionality can have multiple business rules. For example, let us say in
there is one requirement called “Login”. This “Login” may have various
scenarios. For example, one scenario is, enter the right User ID and wrong
password. The system should display an error message. Another scenario would be
to enter wrong User ID and right Password. The system should display an error
message. The third scenario could be to enter the right User Name and right
Password. The system should allow the user to get into the system. This is how
the test cases are derived from the requirement documents or from the Use
Cases.(For contents
for formats of test scenario, please refer to question 4 in qaquestions.com)
54. What are the types of
test cases that you write?
Answer:
We write test cases for smoke testing, integration testing, functional testing,
regression testing, load testing, stress testing, system testing and so on. 55. How to write Integration test cases?
Answer: I have never written separate Test Cases Integration Testing. Since
Integration Testing is a test to check whether the all the modules are
integrated together or not (meaning that when the developers compile all their
module and make a build, all modules should be working when they are combined
together and those modules when combined, should work as expected). If they are
not integrated (combined) in a nice way, then the application breaks.
Basically, when we do the functional testing, the integration testing is
automatically done. This is my experience. 56. How to write Regression test cases? What are the criteria?
Answer: Regression test cases are also based on the requirement documents. They
are written more into detail and with every release (build), the testers need
to do regression testing. The criteria for regression testing are; there should
be no major defects while we do our smoke test and functional testing. 57. Is there a format for a test case? Do you follow any methodology
for numbering test cases?
Answer: Yes. It depends upon the company how the company has followed the
numbering of test cases. However, normally, it is just a simple numbering in
most of the time (see question 4 of qaquestions.com). But some companies may
also relate this numbering to the requirement number. For example, if the
requirement for Login is “REQ-LOG-001”, then we can number the test cases like
REQ-LOG-001-001 and so on. 58. What is Test Harness?
Answer:
(Definition from www.wikipedia.org) “In software testing, a test harness or
automated test framework is a collection of software and test data configured
to test a program unit by running it under varying conditions and monitor its
behavior and outputs. It has two main parts: the test execution engine and the
test script repository.” 59. How to write User Acceptance Test plan & test cases?
Answer:
The way of writing Test Plan and Test Cases is the same in all the test phases.
However, specifically for User Acceptance Testing, the testers use data nearly
real data (meaning that the data is very much similar to the production data or
real data). For the format, please refer to question 3 and 4 in qaquestions.com.
60. What are the different
matrices that you follow?
Answer:
There are various reports we normally prepare in QA:
· Test summary Report – It is a report that has list of the total test cases,
list of executed test cases, remaining test case to be executed, executed date,
pass/fail
· Defect Report – In this report we normally prepare a list of defect in
spreadsheet e.g. defect # CQ12345 [ if you log a defect in the application
called Rational ClearQuest]
· Traceability Matrix [also called RTM (Requirement Traceability Matrix)]
Report – the document which shows the relationship between the functionalities
or the business rules and the test cases. So, with the help of Traceability
Matrix we make sure that we includes all the functionalities in our test cases
according to the requirement document. 61. Explain Bug Life Cycle?
Answer:
I would describe this as below:
A Tester finds a defect and logs it. (But before you log it, you must try to
recreate it for 3 or 4 times so that you are 100% sure that it is a bug)
The defect is now approved or disapproved by the Test Lead.
(If it is disapproved, then the test lead will come to you ask for more details
and you have explain to him why it is a bug)
After the Test Lead approves the bug, it is now assigned to a development Team
Lead (or Development Manager). He/she now assigns that bug to the concerned
developer. The developer now looks into the bug and fixes it. Once the fix is
ready, there will be another build ready to test. The tester now tests the
defect. It the defect is fixed, then the tester closes the defect, if not then
the test will reopen it and same cycle starts.
62. What will you do if
developer does not accept the bug?
Answer: If the developer does not accept the defect, then he will reject it.
Once it is rejected, then it comes back to the tester. Now, the tester will ask
for clarification with the developer why the defect is rejected. Since
everything is based on the requirement documents, both tester and developer
will have to look at the requirement document, validate it and then reopen it
if necessary or close. 63. What are the different tests that can be done for Client Server
Application and Web-based Application. Give details.
Answer:
For both client server and web based applications, the testing is the same
except one thing: We test web based applications in different browsers, for
example, Internet Explorer (will test in different versions like IE 5.0, IE
6.0, IE 7.0), Firefox, Safari (for Mac) and so on where as for client server,
we don’t need to test in the browsers. 64. What is an inspection?
Answer:
An inspection is a formal meeting, more formalized than a walkthrough and
typically consists of 3-10 people including a moderator, reader (the author of
whatever is being reviewed) and a recorder (to make notes in the document). The
subject of the inspection is typically a document, such as a requirements
document or a test plan. The purpose of an inspection is to find problems and
see what is missing, not to fix anything. The result of the meeting should be
documented in a written report. Attendees should prepare for this type of
meeting by reading through the document, before the meeting starts; most
problems are found during this preparation. Preparation for inspections is difficult,
but is one of the most cost-effective methods of ensuring quality, since bug
prevention is more cost effective than bug detection. 65. Give me five common problems that occur during software
development.
Answer:
Poorly written requirements, unrealistic schedules, inadequate testing, adding
new features after development is underway and poor communication. Requirements
are poorly written when requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general, or
not testable; therefore there will be problems. The schedule is unrealistic if
too much work is crammed in too little time.
Software testing is inadequate if none knows whether or not the software is any
good until customers complain or the system crashes. It’s extremely common that
new features are added after development is underway.
Miscommunication either means the developers don’t know what is needed, or
customers have unrealistic expectations and therefore problems are guaranteed 66. What is the role of documentation in QA?
Answer:
Documentation plays a critical role in QA. QA practices should be documented,
so that they are repeatable. Specifications, designs, business rules,
inspection reports, configurations, code changes, test plans, test cases, bug
reports, user manuals should all be documented. Ideally, there should be a
system for easily finding and obtaining of documents and determining what
document will have a particular piece of information. Use documentation change
management, if possible. 67. What if the software is so buggy it can’t be tested at all?
Answer:
In this situation the best bet is to have test engineers go through the process
of reporting whatever bugs or problems initially show up, with the focus being
on critical bugs. Since this type of problem can severely affect schedules and
indicates deeper problems in the software development process, such as
insufficient unit testing, insufficient integration testing, poor design,
improper build or release procedures, managers should be notified and provided
with some documentation as evidence of the problem.
68. How do you know when to
stop testing?
Answer:
This can be difficult to determine. Many modern software applications are so
complex and run in such an interdependent environment, that complete testing
can never be done. Common factors in deciding when to stop are…
Deadlines, e.g. release deadlines, testing deadlines;
Test cases completed with certain percentage passed;
Test budget has been depleted;
Coverage of code, functionality, or requirements reaches a specified point;
Bug rate falls below a certain level; or
Beta or alpha testing period ends. 69. What if there isn’t enough time for thorough testing?
Answer:
Since it’s rarely possible to test every possible aspect of an application,
every possible combination of events, every dependency, or everything that
could go wrong, risk analysis is appropriate to most software development
projects. Use risk analysis to determine where testing should be focused. This
requires judgment skills, common sense and experience. The checklist should
include answers to the following questions:
· Which functionality is most important to the project’s intended purpose?
· Which functionality is most visible to the user?
· Which functionality has the largest safety impact?
· Which functionality has the largest financial impact on users?
· Which aspects of the application are most important to the customer?
· Which aspects of the application can be tested early in the development
cycle?
· Which parts of the code are most complex and thus most subject to errors?
· Which parts of the application were developed in rush or panic mode?
· Which aspects of similar/related previous projects caused problems?
· Which aspects of similar/related previous projects had large maintenance
expenses?
· Which parts of the requirements and design are unclear or poorly thought out?
· What do the developers think are the highest-risk aspects of the application?
· What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity?
· What kinds of problems would cause the most customer service complaints?
· What kinds of tests could easily cover multiple functionalities?
· Which tests will have the best high-risk-coverage to time-required ratio? 70. What can be done if requirements are changing continuously?
Answer:
Work with management early on to understand how requirements might change, so
that alternate test plans and strategies can be worked out in advance. It is
helpful if the application’s initial design allows for some adaptability, so
that later changes do not require redoing the application from scratch.
Additionally, try to… · Ensure the code is well commented and well documented;
this makes changes easier
for the developers.
· Use rapid prototyping whenever possible; this will help customers feel sure
of their
requirements and minimize changes.
· In the project’s initial schedule, allow for some extra time to commensurate
with
probable changes.
· Move new requirements to a ‘Phase 2′ version of an application and use the
original
requirements for the ‘Phase 1′ version.
· Negotiate to allow only easily implemented new requirements into the project;
move
more difficult, new requirements into future versions of the application.
· Ensure customers and management understand scheduling impacts, inherent risks
and
costs of significant requirements changes. Then let management or the customers
decide if the changes are warranted; after all, that’s their job.
· Balance the effort put into setting up automated testing with the expected
effort
required to redo them to deal with changes.
· Design some flexibility into automated test scripts;
· Focus initial automated testing on application aspects that are most likely
to remain
unchanged;
· Devote appropriate effort to risk analysis of changes, in order to minimize
regression-
testing needs;
· Design some flexibility into test cases; this is not easily done; the best
bet is to minimize the detail in the test cases, or set up only higher-level
generic-type test plans;
· Focus less on detailed test plans and test cases and more on ad-hoc testing
with an understanding of the added risk this entails. 71. What if the application has functionality that wasn’t in the
requirements?
Answer:
It may take serious effort to determine if an application has significant
unexpected or hidden functionality, which it would indicate deeper problems in
the software development process. If the functionality isn’t necessary to the
purpose of the application, it should be removed, as it may have unknown
impacts or dependencies that were not taken into account by the designer or the
customer.
If not removed, design information will be needed to determine added testing
needs or regression testing needs. Management should be made aware of any
significant added risks as a result of the unexpected functionality. If the
functionality only affects areas, such as minor improvements in the user
interface, it may not be a significant risk. 72. How can software QA processes be implemented without stifling
productivity?
Answer:
Implement QA processes slowly over time. Use consensus to reach agreement on
processes and adjust and experiment as an organization grows and matures.
Productivity will be improved instead of stifled. Problem prevention will
lessen the need for problem detection. Panics and burnout will decrease and
there will be improved focus and less wasted effort. At the same time, attempts
should be made to keep processes simple and efficient, minimize paperwork,
promote computer-based processes and automated tracking and reporting, minimize
time required in meetings and promote training as part of the QA process.
However, no one, especially talented technical types, like bureaucracy and in
the short run things may slow down a bit. A typical scenario would be that more
days of planning and development will be needed, but less time will be required
for late-night bug fixing and calming of irate customers. 73. What is parallel/audit testing?
Answer:
Parallel/audit testing is testing where the user reconciles the output of the
new system to the output of the current system to verify the new system
performs the operations correctly. Let us say, for example, the currently
software is in the mainframe system which calculates the interest rate. The
company wants to change this mainframe system to web-based application. While
testing the new web based application, we need to verify that the web-based
application calculates the same interest rate. This is parallel testing. 74. What is system testing?
Answer:
System testing is black box testing, performed by the Test Team, and at the
start of the system testing the complete system is configured in a controlled
environment. The purpose of system testing is to validate an application’s
accuracy and completeness in performing the functions as designed. System
testing simulates real life scenarios that occur in a “simulated real life”
test environment and test all functions of the system that are required in real
life. System testing is deemed complete when actual results and expected
results are either in line or differences are explainable or acceptable, based
on client input.
Upon completion of integration testing, system testing is started. Before
system testing, all unit and integration test results are reviewed by Software
QA to ensure all problems have been resolved. For a higher level of testing it
is important to understand unresolved problems that originate at unit and
integration test levels. You CAN learn system testing, with little or no
outside help. Get CAN get free information. Click on a link! 75. What is end-to-end testing?
Answer:
Similar to system testing, the *macro* end of the test scale is testing a
complete application in a situation that mimics real world use, such as
interacting with a database, using network communication, or interacting with
other hardware, application, or system. 76. What is security/penetration testing?
Answer:
Security/penetration testing is testing how well the system is protected
against unauthorized internal or external access, or willful damage. This type
of testing usually requires sophisticated testing techniques. 77. What is recovery/error testing?
Answer:
Recovery/error testing is testing how well a system recovers from crashes,
hardware failures, or other catastrophic problems. 78. What is compatibility testing?
Answer:
Compatibility testing is testing how well software performs in a particular
hardware, software, operating system, or network environment.
79. What is comparison
testing?
Answer:
Comparison testing is testing that compares software weaknesses and strengths
to those of competitors’ products. 80. What is acceptance testing?
Answer:
Acceptance testing is black box testing that gives the client/customer/project
manager the opportunity to verify the system functionality and usability prior
to the system being released to production. The acceptance test is the
responsibility of the client/customer or project manager, however, it is
conducted with the full support of the project team. The test team also works
with the client/customer/project manager to develop the acceptance criteria. 81. What is a Test/QA Team Lead?
Answer:
The Test/QA Team Lead coordinates the testing activity, communicates testing
status to management and manages the test team. 82. What is software testing methodology?
Answer:
One software testing methodology is the use a three step process of…
1. Creating a test strategy;
2. Creating a test plan/design; and
3. Executing tests. This methodology can be used and molded to your
organization’s needs. Rob Davis believes that using this methodology is
important in the development and in ongoing maintenance of his customers’
applications. 83. What is the general testing process?
Answer:
The general testing process is the creation of a test strategy (which sometimes
includes the creation of test cases), creation of a test plan/design (which
usually includes test cases and test procedures) and the execution of tests. 84. How do you create a test strategy?
Answer:
The test strategy is a formal description of how a software product will be
tested. A test strategy is developed for all levels of testing, as required.
The test team analyzes the requirements, writes the test strategy and reviews
the plan with the project team. The test plan may include test cases,
conditions, the test environment, a list of related tasks, pass/fail criteria
and risk assessment. Inputs for this process:
· A description of the required hardware and software components, including
test tools. This information comes from the test environment, including test
tool data.
· A description of roles and responsibilities of the resources required for the
test and schedule constraints. This information comes from man-hours and
schedules.
· Testing methodology. This is based on known standards.
· Functional and technical requirements of the application. This information
comes from requirements, change request, technical and functional design
documents.
· Requirements that the system can not provide, e.g. system limitations.
Outputs for this process:
· An approved and signed off test strategy document, test plan, including test
cases.
· Testing issues requiring resolution. Usually this requires additional
negotiation at the project management level. 85. How do you create a test plan/design?
Answer:
Test scenarios and/or cases are prepared by reviewing functional requirements
of the release and preparing logical groups of functions that can be further
broken into test procedures. Test procedures define test conditions, data to be
used for testing and expected results, including database updates, file
outputs, report results. Generally speaking…
Test cases and scenarios are designed to represent both typical and unusual
situations that may occur in the application.
Test engineers define unit test requirements and unit test cases. Test
engineers also execute unit test cases.
It is the test team that, with assistance of developers and clients, develops
test cases and scenarios for integration and system testing.
Test scenarios are executed through the use of test procedures or scripts.
Test procedures or scripts define a series of steps necessary to perform one or
more test scenarios.
Test procedures or scripts include the specific data that will be used for
testing the process or transaction.
Test procedures or scripts may cover multiple test scenarios.
Test scripts are mapped back to the requirements and traceability matrices are
used to ensure each test is within scope.
Test data is captured and base lined, prior to testing. This data serves as the
foundation for unit and system testing and used to exercise system
functionality in a controlled environment.
Some output data is also base-lined for future comparison. Base-lined data is
used to support future application maintenance via regression testing.
A pretest meeting is held to assess the readiness of the application and the
environment and data to be tested. A test readiness document is created to
indicate the status of the entrance criteria of the release.
Inputs for this process:
Approved Test Strategy Document.
Test tools, or automated test tools, if applicable.
Previously developed scripts, if applicable.
Test documentation problems uncovered as a result of testing.
A good understanding of software complexity and module path coverage, derived
from general and detailed design documents, e.g. software design document,
source code and software complexity data.
Outputs for this process:
Approved documents of test scenarios, test cases, test conditions and test
data.
Reports of software design issues, given to software developers for correction. 86. How do you execute tests?
Answer:
Execution of tests is completed by following the test documents in a methodical
manner. As each test procedure is performed, an entry is recorded in a test
execution log to note the execution of the procedure and whether or not the
test procedure uncovered any defects. Checkpoint meetings are held throughout
the execution phase. Checkpoint meetings are held daily, if required, to
address and discuss testing issues, status and activities.The output from the
execution of test procedures is known as test results. Test results are
evaluated by test engineers to determine whether the expected results have been
obtained. All discrepancies/anomalies are logged and discussed with the
software team lead, hardware test lead, programmers, software engineers and
documented for further investigation and resolution. Every company has a
different process for logging and reporting bugs/defects uncovered during
testing.A pass/fail criteria is used to determine the severity of a problem,
and results are recorded in a test summary report. The severity of a problem,
found during system testing, is defined in accordance to the customer’s risk
assessment and recorded in their selected tracking tool.Proposed fixes are
delivered to the testing environment, based on the severity of the problem.
Fixes are regression tested and flawless fixes are migrated to a new baseline.
Following completion of the test, members of the test team prepare a summary
report. The summary report is reviewed by the Project Manager, Software QA
Manager and/or Test Team Lead.
After a particular level of testing has been certified, it is the
responsibility of the Configuration Manager to coordinate the migration of the
release software components to the next test level, as documented in the
Configuration Management Plan. The software is only migrated to the production
environment after the Project Manager’s formal acceptance. 87. What testing approaches can you tell me about?
Answer:
Each of the followings represents a different testing approach:
Black box testing,
White box testing,
Unit testing,
Incremental testing,
Integration testing,
Functional testing,
System testing,
End-to-end testing,
Sanity testing,
Regression testing,
Acceptance testing,
Load testing,
Performance testing,
Usability testing,
Install/uninstall testing,
Recovery testing,
Security testing,
Compatibility testing,
Exploratory testing, ad-hoc testing,
User acceptance testing,
Comparison testing,
Alpha testing,
Beta testing, and
Mutation testing. 88. How do you divide the application into different sections to create
scripts?
Answer: First of all, the application is divided in different parts when a business analyst writes the requirement document (or Use Cases or Design Document), he/she writes EACH requirement document for EACH module. Let us say, if there are 12 different modules in an application that a business analyst has written the requirements for, then a tester would write the test cases for each module, which means in 12 different sections. This is the standard practice. There might be scenarios where you might have to break down scripts into sub-categories. For example, if a tester is writing a script for Login Page, he/she might write one for positive and negative testing and another sub-set of test cases would be for error message when the wrong information is entered. In short, the test cases are divided according to the modules.(The following questions were asked to Padma in one of her interviews very recently) 89. What is your goal?
(This
question is asked to check how ambitious you are as far as your career is
concerned, whether you like the job you are doing and so on. Therefore,
no matter what, you should stick to your QA job at this point and say that you
love this so much and your goal is some thing similar to the one below)
Answer: My goal is to be QA Lead (or QA Manager) in near future.
90. What are you expecting from our company?
Answer: My expectation from you company would be I will have more
challenges and new things to learn and whatever the skills I have to
contribute, hopefully, I will be able to contribute if they are in any way
helpful to enhance productivity of the company.
91. What did you learn from your previous companies?
Answer: I learned a lot from the previous companies wherever I have
worked. Wherever I have worked, I found out the there is always something
to learn. Different companies have different ways of working. The
environment and technology always differ from one company to another
company. I have never found one company’s environment matching with
another company. For example, if one company is using documents called
requirement documents, then the other company might be using Use Cases and some
companies might be using Design Document and so on. Therefore, in my
experience, there are always new things to learn in every company and we can always
contribute these thing in the next company if they help to be more productive.
92. What do you want to be in next 2 years?
Answer: I want to be QA Lead in another two years.
Why QA Lead? Why not something else?
Answer: QA is the only thing I love doing it. I love this job and
want to progress in this sector. I want to know how to manage QA process,
how to handle different jobs and so on. Since the next step is the QA
Lead, that would preferably be one I will targeting for.
93. Why do you want to work for this company?
Answer: (This is a tricky question. They want to know what really
interests you and you have to be careful when you answer this question.
You must admire the line of that company. For example, if you are being
interviewed by a pharmaceutical company, then tell them that you are always
interested in the medical applications and the better part of your company is
that it has exciting products that I am really curious to learn. That’s
why I would feel really great if I am given the opportunity to work in your
company)
94. Did you get any compliments from your previous
employers? What were those situations?
Answer: Yes. I did. There were many
occasions where I had compliments. For example, I was testing an
application going a little bit off my test cases. After I finished executing my
test cases, I always think in a way what a real user would possibally click in
various parts of the application. So I was just clicking back and forth
and at one specific scenario, the application simply broke and displayed an
error message. That scenario was not in the test cases. The manager
really appreciated me and thanked for finding this kind of critical
defect. Answer: Yes. I did. There were many occasions
where I had compliments. For example, I was testing an application
going a little bit off my test cases. After I finished executing my test cases,
I always think in a way what a real user would possibally click in various
parts of the application. So I was just clicking back and forth and at
one specific scenario, the application simply broke and displayed an error
message. That scenario was not in the test cases. The manager really
appreciated me and thanked for finding this kind of critical defect.
What are your strengths?
Answer:
I am a very detailed oriented person. I have the sense of urgency. I can
prioritize my job according to the deadline. I am very much dedicated towards
my job. I am honest. I have the skills and expertise in QA process. These are
some of my strengths. What is your weakness?
Answer:
I think my weakness is that whenever I am given some responsibilities and there
is a deadline for it, I work day and night, 7 days a week. This is probably bad
for my family life, but I can’t sleep unless I am done with my assignments.
(Note: You should think of your weakness where because of your weakness (like
the one above), still the employer benefits. DON’T SAY anything negative thing,
like “I cannot work long hours, it is hard for me pick up things, it is difficult
for me to understand requirement documents etc)
What is your salary
requirement?
$70k (negotiable), or ($35 per hour)
Please provide information (an example) of your experience testing Linux and
UNIX environments (including type of system tested, how tested, actual commands
and steps used for test) Testing applications using Linux and UNIX.
Answer: I have tested applications using UNIX. For every backend
testing I have done in the past, I have used UNIX platform while performing
backend testing. For example, when the data is fed into the system in the front
end, that data goes to the database after the batch processing. From the
database, the data is now sent to the ETL system (in XML format) for data
manipulation as per our need (ETL is a software tool of Ab Initio company which
is used to manipulate data in the data warehouse). In the ETL system, we
manipulate those data according to our need), for example, it could be income
statement of the company, balance sheet, monthly reports, and so on. In order
to produce income statement, we need to run a job in ETL. To run this job, we
use UNIX. In the same way, different types of jobs are created for each need
(creating balance sheet is another job, creating reports is next job etc) then
I had to run different jobs in the ETL system. Once we run the job, the running
job finally creates an output file which is now validated by us tester. This
output file can be in text format or GUI format. Thus, this is the scenario
where I had to use UNIX. (I have used Linux much, however, since UNIX and Linux
are the same thing, I should have no problem in using Linux)
Some of the commands I used while testing using UNIX are;
Ls –l ———>to check the file list
Pwd———-> to see which directory I am in
Cd ———–>change the directory
Cd .. ———>change the directory one level up
Mkdir ———>make a directory
Rmdir ———>Delete the directory
setenv name v ——>Set environment
kill% ——–>Kill the running job
vi ———>editor Used to write scripts
more——-> to see the contents page by page
cat —–>list contents of the file
chmod ——–>change permission
cp ——–>copy
rm —–>delete a file
How do you do risk assessment? (This question was asked to Mona in
her interview)
Answer: (This is what Mona answered): The risks by understanding
the infrastructure of the application, hard drive and system capabilities etc.
Also added “Risk and Mitigation Strategy” column within the test plan. The
major risk for the company was system getting crashed upon receiving several
hits by the users . Company did not set any metrics at the development phase as
to what it can handle. I told him that i noted mitigation stretegy to deal with
each known risk within the test plan.
The following are the some of the things that a tester has to know
(but may not be asked in the interview)What is a cookie? (You must know
how to clean cookies)
A small text file of information that certain Web sites attach to a user’s hard
drive while the user is browsing the Web site. A Cookie can contain information
such as user ID, user preferences, archive shopping cart information, etc.
Cookies can contain Personally Identifiable Information.
Does a tester have to know about cookie?
Yes. A tester has to know HOW TO CLEAN cookies (Does not have to know the
difinition).
Why do we need to clean cookies?
A tester can clean cookies by opening Internet Explorer browser and Firefox
browser (whatever you are using). We need to clean cookies
BECAUSE:
When we get a new build (what is a build? See qaquestions.com), we must
clean cookies. (Remember, once the developers fix the defects, the
configuration team makes a build and this process continues until the product
(application) is ready to handover to the customer). If we don’t clean
cookies, then there is a possibility that we may get the same error which was
already fixed by the developer. Why? Because the error is sitting
inyour computer hard drive and the computer feels easy to get the same
information from the hard drive rather than going to the server and pulling new
thing for the same thing. For example, let us say, when you were testing
a page, there was a button called “OK”. The client decided that “OK” is NOT
the right button here, therefore, that button name was changed from “OK” to
“Continue”. Accordingly, you wrote a defect saying that “OK” button
should be changed to “Continue” button. Now, this defect is fixed (the
developer changed the “OK” button to “Continue”). Now, you started testing,
there is a possibility that you might see “OK” button again. Why?
Because you DID NOT clean your cookies.
Therefore, you must clean your cookies before you starting testing a new build.
How to clean cookies?
Cookies are cleaned in the browsers like IE (Internet Explorer), Firefox,
Safari (for MAC and windows both), Netscape and so on. However, the
mostly used (90%) browser is IE (Internet Explorer)
Here is how you clean cookies in IE (Internet Explorer):
1. Open IE (Internet Explorer)
2. On the menu, click Tools–>Internet Options–>Click
Delete button (It is in General Tab)
(You will see different buttons now, for example, Delete
Files, Delete Cookies, Delete History, Delete Forms, Delete Passwords,
Delete All).
3. Click Delete all button. Now the cookies are cleaned in IE.
Here is how you can clean cookies in Fire Fox:
1. Open Firefox Brower.
2. Click Tools.
3. Click Error Console.
4. Click Clear.
Now the cookies are cleaned in Firefox.
What are different types of protocols?
-Generally, a Tester does NOT necessarily have to know different types of
protocols. This is Network Engineers job. However, if you want to
know more for your knowledge, you can visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_network_protocols.
What is Web Architecture?
-A tester does not necessarily have to know this unless you are a very
Senior Tester testing networks and doing some kind of development. However,
if you want to know more about it, please visit: http://www.objs.com/survey/WebArch.htm
Does a Tester need SQL?
Answer: Yes. For a Tester, SQL is needed. I had the
same question in mind becore I came to the actual implication-what is SQL used
for? And now, I know that when we do the backend testing (see
qaquestions.com for details), we need to write SQL queries to retrieve the data
from the database and compare this data to the one with reports or
output. Another scenario is, if something goes wrong in the application,
for example, if there is an error, then we might have to write SQL queries to
retrieve the data from the database and check what went wrong. Let’s say,
we need to check in the Error Log table what went wrong. To check this,
we open the database, go to Error Log table and find out that happened.
In the Error Log table, there are many records, so which one is your error
then? To find out which one is yours, we need to write SQL queries.
Example, you logged in to the application with User ID=devin99 and
password=sn992jj. Now, to retrieve your record, you can write a query
some thing like this: select * from Error_Log where userID=devin99;
This query will retriev your record only so that you can see what happened.
What is a ‘Show Stopper’?
A show stopper is a defect or bug that stops the user for further action
(testing). It has no work around. In other words, it stops every
thing and the user cannot go any futher. This is called show stopper in
software industry languague. (This is not an interview questions, but you
have to know this terminology)
$70k (negotiable), or ($35 per hour)
Please provide information (an example) of your experience testing Linux and UNIX environments (including type of system tested, how tested, actual commands and steps used for test) Testing applications using Linux and UNIX.
Answer: I have tested applications using UNIX. For every backend testing I have done in the past, I have used UNIX platform while performing backend testing. For example, when the data is fed into the system in the front end, that data goes to the database after the batch processing. From the database, the data is now sent to the ETL system (in XML format) for data manipulation as per our need (ETL is a software tool of Ab Initio company which is used to manipulate data in the data warehouse). In the ETL system, we manipulate those data according to our need), for example, it could be income statement of the company, balance sheet, monthly reports, and so on. In order to produce income statement, we need to run a job in ETL. To run this job, we use UNIX. In the same way, different types of jobs are created for each need (creating balance sheet is another job, creating reports is next job etc) then I had to run different jobs in the ETL system. Once we run the job, the running job finally creates an output file which is now validated by us tester. This output file can be in text format or GUI format. Thus, this is the scenario where I had to use UNIX. (I have used Linux much, however, since UNIX and Linux are the same thing, I should have no problem in using Linux)
Some of the commands I used while testing using UNIX are;
Ls –l ———>to check the file list
Pwd———-> to see which directory I am in
Cd ———–>change the directory
Cd .. ———>change the directory one level up
Mkdir ———>make a directory
Rmdir ———>Delete the directory
setenv name v ——>Set environment
kill% ——–>Kill the running job
vi ———>editor Used to write scripts
more——-> to see the contents page by page
cat —–>list contents of the file
chmod ——–>change permission
cp ——–>copy
rm —–>delete a file
How do you do risk assessment? (This question was asked to Mona in her interview)
Answer: (This is what Mona answered): The risks by understanding the infrastructure of the application, hard drive and system capabilities etc. Also added “Risk and Mitigation Strategy” column within the test plan. The major risk for the company was system getting crashed upon receiving several hits by the users . Company did not set any metrics at the development phase as to what it can handle. I told him that i noted mitigation stretegy to deal with each known risk within the test plan.
The following are the some of the things that a tester has to know (but may not be asked in the interview)What is a cookie? (You must know how to clean cookies)
A small text file of information that certain Web sites attach to a user’s hard drive while the user is browsing the Web site. A Cookie can contain information such as user ID, user preferences, archive shopping cart information, etc. Cookies can contain Personally Identifiable Information.
Yes. A tester has to know HOW TO CLEAN cookies (Does not have to know the difinition).
A tester can clean cookies by opening Internet Explorer browser and Firefox browser (whatever you are using). We need to clean cookies BECAUSE:
When we get a new build (what is a build? See qaquestions.com), we must clean cookies. (Remember, once the developers fix the defects, the configuration team makes a build and this process continues until the product (application) is ready to handover to the customer). If we don’t clean cookies, then there is a possibility that we may get the same error which was already fixed by the developer. Why? Because the error is sitting inyour computer hard drive and the computer feels easy to get the same information from the hard drive rather than going to the server and pulling new thing for the same thing. For example, let us say, when you were testing a page, there was a button called “OK”. The client decided that “OK” is NOT the right button here, therefore, that button name was changed from “OK” to “Continue”. Accordingly, you wrote a defect saying that “OK” button should be changed to “Continue” button. Now, this defect is fixed (the developer changed the “OK” button to “Continue”). Now, you started testing, there is a possibility that you might see “OK” button again. Why? Because you DID NOT clean your cookies.
Therefore, you must clean your cookies before you starting testing a new build.
Cookies are cleaned in the browsers like IE (Internet Explorer), Firefox, Safari (for MAC and windows both), Netscape and so on. However, the mostly used (90%) browser is IE (Internet Explorer)
Here is how you clean cookies in IE (Internet Explorer):
1. Open IE (Internet Explorer)
2. On the menu, click Tools–>Internet Options–>Click Delete button (It is in General Tab)
(You will see different buttons now, for example, Delete Files, Delete Cookies, Delete History, Delete Forms, Delete Passwords,
Delete All).
3. Click Delete all button. Now the cookies are cleaned in IE.
Here is how you can clean cookies in Fire Fox:
1. Open Firefox Brower.
2. Click Tools.
3. Click Error Console.
4. Click Clear.
Now the cookies are cleaned in Firefox.
-Generally, a Tester does NOT necessarily have to know different types of protocols. This is Network Engineers job. However, if you want to know more for your knowledge, you can visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_network_protocols.
What is Web Architecture?
-A tester does not necessarily have to know this unless you are a very Senior Tester testing networks and doing some kind of development. However, if you want to know more about it, please visit: http://www.objs.com/survey/WebArch.htm
Does a Tester need SQL?
Answer: Yes. For a Tester, SQL is needed. I had the same question in mind becore I came to the actual implication-what is SQL used for? And now, I know that when we do the backend testing (see qaquestions.com for details), we need to write SQL queries to retrieve the data from the database and compare this data to the one with reports or output. Another scenario is, if something goes wrong in the application, for example, if there is an error, then we might have to write SQL queries to retrieve the data from the database and check what went wrong. Let’s say, we need to check in the Error Log table what went wrong. To check this, we open the database, go to Error Log table and find out that happened. In the Error Log table, there are many records, so which one is your error then? To find out which one is yours, we need to write SQL queries. Example, you logged in to the application with User ID=devin99 and password=sn992jj. Now, to retrieve your record, you can write a query some thing like this: select * from Error_Log where userID=devin99; This query will retriev your record only so that you can see what happened.
What is a ‘Show Stopper’?
A show stopper is a defect or bug that stops the user for further action (testing). It has no work around. In other words, it stops every thing and the user cannot go any futher. This is called show stopper in software industry languague. (This is not an interview questions, but you have to know this terminology)
|
Sl.No
|
Static Testing
|
Dynamic Testing
|
|
1
|
Static
testing is a form of software testing where the software isn’t actually used.
|
In
dynamic testing the software must actually be compiled and run.
|
|
2
|
It
is generally not detailed testing, but checks mainly for the sanity of the
code, algorithm, or document. It is primarily syntax checking of the code or
and manually reading of the code or document to find errors
|
Dynamic
analysis refers to the examination of the physical response from the system
to variables that are not constant and change with time
|
|
3
|
This
type of testing can be used by the developer who wrote the code, in
isolation. Code reviews, inspections and walkthroughs are also used.
|
Some
of dynamic testing methodologies include unit testing, integration testing,
system testing and acceptance testing.
|
|
4
|
This
is the verification portion of Verification and Validation
|
Dynamic
testing is the validation portion of Verification and
Validation.
|
|
5
|
These
are verification activities. Code Reviews, inspection and walkthroughs are
few of the static testing methodologies.
|
These
are the Validation activities. Unit Tests, Integration Tests, System Tests
and Acceptance Tests are few of the Dynamic Testing methodologies.
|
|
CMM(Capability Maturity Model):
is an industry-standerd model for
defining and measuring the maturity of a software company's development
process and for providing direction on what they can do to improve their
software quality.it was developed by the software development community along
with the software engineering institute(SEI).
CMM software Maturity Levels:
Level1:Initial: The s/w
development process at this level are adhoc and often chaotic.The project's
success depends on heroes and luck.There are no general practices for
planning monitoring or Controling the process.It's impossible to predict the
time and cost to develop the software.The test process is just as adhoc as
the rest of the process.
Level2:Repeatable: This maturity level
is best describled as project level thinking.Basic project management
processes are in place to track the cost shedule functionality and quality of
the product.Lessions learned from previous similar projects are applied.There
is a scense of descipline.Basic software testing practices such as test plans
and test cases are used.
Level3:Defined: Organizational not
just project specific thinking comes in to play at this level.Common
management and engineering activities are standerdized and documented.These
standerds are adapted and approved for use on different projects.The rules
are not thrown out when things get stressfull.Test documents and plans are
reviewed and approved before testing begins.The test group is independent
form developers.The test results are used to determine when the s/w is ready.
Level4:Managed: At this maturity
level the organizations process is under statistical control.Product quality
is specified quantitatively beforehand (for example this product wont release
until it has fewer than 0.5 defects per 1 000 lines of code) and the s/w
isn't released untill that goal is met.details of the development process and
the s/w quality are collected over the projects development and adjustments
are made to correct deviations and to keep the project on plan.
Level5:Optimizing: This level is called
optimizing (not optimized )because it's continually improving from level 4.
new technologies and processes are attempted the results are measured and
both incremental and revolutionary changes are instituted to achieve even
better quality levels.Just when everyone thinks the best has been
obtained.the crank is turned one more time and the next level of improvement
is obtained.
|
QA vs. TESTING
QA process is a complex process that starts early in the project life cycle, some companies support starting the QA process from the project initialization which I personally strongly support, QA team has a lot to contribute in all the life cycle of a product.
It is well known that most of the bugs start at the requirements of a product, a good QA person has the ability to remove a large amount of the bugs from the requirements and to increase the products quality.
QA process needs to cover many aspects of the product, its quality, usability, security, stability etc. most of the problems can be eliminated early in the products life cycle so the total cost of the project will be significantly reduced.
Now we have got to the "Testing" part of the QA team where the code quality will be tested, in case the QA team has started early in the products life cycle this faze will be shorter and less expensive.
So has we can see from this introduction the rolls of the QA team in a project is much more than just testing, and if it is not the case in your project start checking if you are using the full potential of this great resource...
