Top Software Testing Interview Questions and Answers

Software testing is a phase of the program development lifecycle that is used to ensure that the software is accurate and meets the requirements. Testing is a necessary component of every software development effort.

In essence, software testing seeks to address the following question: How does one guarantee that software performs as expected and does not perform in unexpected ways? The main objective of software testing is to gain sufficient confidence in the program's ability to generate the right output for a given input.

A critical point to remember while learning about software testing is that testing does not automatically enhance product quality. Or that a high level of testing does not always imply good quality software. Testing is a critical indication of software quality, giving critical input to the developers who developed the program, enabling them to take the required actions to correct any issues discovered during testing.

This article discusses the commonly asked interview questions for a Software Tester job by the interviewer. Here are the top 15 software interview questions and answers that you can look into.

Question 1. What is The Role of Testing in Software Development?

Software testing is used at various stages of the software development process according to the methodology being used. Waterfall and Agile are the two primary methods used in software development.

Requirements are collected initially in a conventional waterfall approach of software development. The information is then transformed into a specification document, which serves as the basis for the software's design and development. Finally, after the whole software system has been created, testers perform testing towards the completion of the software development life cycle.

Agile software development is iterative in nature. You test the program concurrently with its development. The developers create a small piece of functionality based on the requirements. The testers put it through its paces and collect customer feedback, which helps shape future development.

Question 2. How Much Testing Is Considered Adequate? Or is it Feasible to Test The Program Exhaustively?

It is difficult to test software exhaustively or to demonstrate the lack of errors, regardless of how precise your test method is.

An extensive test that uncovers hundreds of mistakes does not always mean that it has uncovered them all. Numerous more mistakes may have been overlooked by the test. The absence of errors does not imply that there are no mistakes or that the program is flawless. This may easily imply that testing is useless or incomplete. To demonstrate that a program works, all potential inputs and their combinations must be tested.

Consider a simple software that accepts a ten-character string as input. To test it against all potential inputs, you would need to enter 2610 names, which is impossible. Due to the impracticality of exhaustive testing, your best approach as a tester is to choose the test cases that are most likely to uncover errors. Testing is adequate when you have sufficient trust in the program to release it and presume it will function as anticipated.

Question 3. What Are The Various Kinds Of Testing Available?

You may test software in a variety of ways. Certain kinds of testing are performed by software developers, while others are performed by professional quality assurance personnel. The following are several distinct types of software testing, each with a short explanation.

• Unit Testing - A programmatic test that verifies the internal behavior of a single piece of code, such as a method or function.
• Integration Testing- Assures that when various components of a system are integrated to create a result, they function as anticipated.
• Regression Testing- Assures that previously working features/functionality is not broken as a result of new code modifications.
• System Testing- End-to-end testing is performed on the whole program to ensure that it performs as intended.
• Smoke Testing- A fast check to verify that the program operates correctly at the most fundamental level and does not crash upon startup. Its name derives from the hardware testing procedure in which you just plug the gadget in and see if smoke comes out.
• Performance Testing-Ensures that software meets user expectations by measuring reaction time and throughput under specified load and environment conditions.
• User Acceptance Testing-Ensures that the program satisfies the client's or user's needs. This is usually the last stage before the program is put into production, i.e. it is made live.
• Stress Testing-Ensures that software performance does not deteriorate as demand rises. Stress testing involves subjecting software to extreme pressures, such as a large number of requests or strict memory conditions, in order to determine if it functions properly.
• Usability Testing—Estimates the software's usability. This is usually done with a representative sample of end customers who use the program and give comments on how simple or difficult it is to use.
• Security testing- It is critical now more than ever. Security testing is attempting to circumvent a software's security safeguards in order to get access to sensitive data. Security testing is critical for web-based apps and any application that contains financial data.

Question 4. Why Should Developers Not Test Their Own Software?

Developers are ineffective testers. The following are some reasons why:

• They attempt to test the code in order to ensure that it works, rather than testing for all types of failure.
• They attempt to test the code in order to ensure that it works, rather than testing for all types of failure. Because they created the software, developers have a natural tendency to be overconfident in it and lack the necessary mindset for testing.
• Developers omit the more complex tests that a skilled tester would do in order to break the program. They take the fortunate route of executing the code from start to finish with the correct inputs, which is often insufficient to get confidence in shipping software to production.

This does not imply, however, that developers should not test software prior to submitting it to the tester. Developer testing aids in the discovery of many bugs caused by code errors. These are difficult to detect since testers do not always have access to the source code.

Question 5. What Characteristics Should A Software Tester Possess?

The objective of every software tester is to uncover as many bugs and problems as possible in the system so that the customers do not have to. As a result, a competent software tester should have an uncanny ability to notice little details. They should be familiar with the program they are testing and should push every element of it to its boundaries in order to discover problems that are difficult to find during normal usage.

It is critical to have domain expertise for the application. Without a comprehensive understanding of the particular issues that the program is attempting to address, a tester will be unable to test them properly.

When testing, a competent tester should have the end-user in mind. Empathy for the end-user enables the tester to verify that the program is useful and accessible. Simultaneously, the tester should possess fundamental programming abilities that enable them to think like a developer, allowing them to see typical programming errors such as null-references, out-of-memory errors, and so on.

A tester's ability to communicate, both written and verbally, is critical. A tester will often be required to communicate with both developers and management. They should be able to communicate to developers the defects and issues discovered during testing. A competent tester should submit a comprehensive bug report for each discovered problem, including all the information necessary for a developer to resolve the issue. They should be able to make a compelling argument to management if they are apprehensive about releasing the product due to unsolved problems.

Question 6. What Is Functional Testing And How Does It Differ From Other Types Of Testing?

Black-box testing is a subset of functional testing. As the name implies, it is concerned with the functional needs of the program rather than with its underlying implementation. A functional requirement is a specification of the system's necessary behavior in terms of its input and output.

It verifies software to functional needs or specifications but disregards non-functional characteristics such as performance, usability, and dependability.

Functional testing attempts to address the following specific questions:

• Is the program functionally sound?
• Is it a solution to the issues of its target users?

Question 7. What Are Some Of The Most Critical Testing Metrics?

Testing metrics offer a high-level overview of how the project is progressing and the next actions for management or engineers.

The following are some metrics generated from a log of tests and failures:

• The total number of defects discovered, sorted by severity
• The total number of bugs resolved
• The total number of issues caused by a source code mistake in comparison to configuration or other environmental variables
• Rate of bug discovery and correction with time
• Bugs classified by product/feature area
• The average time required for a bug to be discovered and repaired.
• Time spent developing new features vs time spent fixing bugs and failures
• Number of unresolved bugs prior to a release Bugs/failures reported by consumers vs those discovered by testers

Question 8. What is Test-Driven Development And How Does It Work?

Test-Driven Development (TDD) is a widely used software development method that was originally presented by Kent Beck in his 1999 book of the same name.

TDD requires a developer working on a feature to first create a failing test and then write just adequate code to pass that test. Once they've created a successful test, they add another failing test and then write just the code necessary to pass the failing test. This cycle is repeated until the developer has completed the functionality. If the code under test is dependent on external resources like a database, files, or the network, you may mock those resources to isolate the code.

Several benefits of TDD include the following:

• Writing tests first encourages you to consider the feature you're attempting to create, which aids in the production of better code.
• Due to the fact that you always have a functioning set of tests on hand, a failed test shows that the issue is with the newly introduced code, minimizing the amount of time spent debugging.
• Tests assist the developer in elucidating the requirements and specifications. It's difficult to design effective tests for a set of inadequate criteria.
• It's difficult to create high-quality software without the ability to test it after each modification. You can never be certain that your new code did not damage any previously functioning program. TDD instills confidence in you when it comes to adding new code since you already have a test in place.

Question 9. What Is Automated Testing and how does it differ from manual testing?

As the name implies, automated testing, often known as test automation, is the execution of tests programmatically. The tester writes code to accomplish the following activities using an automation tool or software such as Selenium.

• Automatically run the software.
• Provide the system with the input data.
• Contrast the output with the desired outcome.
• If the results do not match, the test is failed. Otherwise, pass the test.

Once a test is automated, it may be performed as often as desired to see whether any new code has broken it. It helps to increase efficiency to do additional high-value tests, such as exploratory testing, which aids in the discovery of bugs that an automated test might overlook.

Automated testing is advantageous for repeated testing with frequently changing inputs. Humans get fatigued and bored after repeatedly doing the same tasks and receiving the same results. When you're testing a feature for the twentieth time, it's easy to make errors. Software is much more adept at doing repeated operations without becoming fatigued or making errors than a human operator is.

Question 10. What Is A Software Bug?

A software bug is a mistake in the program that causes incorrect results to be produced. A software tester conducts tests on the program in order to identify bugs.

Bugs may be induced by a variety of factors, including poor design, careless programming, a lack of version control, or miscommunication. Hundreds or thousands of flaws are introduced into the system throughout development. The tester's objective is to uncover such bugs

Regardless of your position, you may discover a bug in a variety of ways. While developing the program, the developer may become aware of a bug in another module that was created by another developer or by themselves. As part of a regular testing procedure, the tester actively seeks for bugs. Finally, when the program is in production, users will be able to view the bugs.

All bugs, regardless of how they are discovered, are tracked in a bug tracking system. A triage team prioritizes the bugs and sends them to a software developer to be fixed. After resolving the issue, the developer checks in the code and marks the bug as ready for testing. Once a bug is ready for testing, it is sent to the tester, who verifies that the program has been repaired. If it is, then the case has been closed. If not, they assign it to the same developer along with detailed instructions on how to recreate the problem. Popular bug-tracking solutions include BugZilla, FogBugz, and others.

Trivia:

Admiral Grace Hopper identified the first software flaw on September 9, 1947. They discovered an insect trapped in a relay when they opened a faulty piece of gear.

Question 11. Create A List Of Frequent Mistakes That Result In Significant Issues.

Several frequent errors include the following:

• Ineffective Scheduling
• Underestimating
• Ignoring minor issues
• Not adhering to the exact procedure
• Inappropriate allocation of resources

Question 12. What Is A User Story?

Each software program has a certain user in mind. A user story elucidates the user's motives and the goals for which they are utilizing the product. Finally, it demonstrates how the user interacts with the program. It is unconcerned with the intricacies of design and execution.

A user story focuses on the value given to the end-user rather than on the precise inputs and anticipated results.

The tester develops user personas with actual names and attributes and attempts to replicate real-world interaction with the program in a user narrative. A user story often aids in the discovery of hidden issues that are frequently missed by more rigorous testing methods.

Question 13. What Is The Definition Of A Test Environment?

A test environment is a server/computer on which a tester conducts tests. It is distinct from a development machine in that it attempts to replicate the hardware on which the program will operate in production.

When a new variant of the software is made available, the tester automatically upgrades the test environment and runs the regression tests suite. Once it succeeds, the tester moves on to new functionality testing.

Question 14. Provide A Short Explanation Of Some Common Testing Tools/Frameworks.

• Selenium is a web browser automation tool that automates the testing of web browser-based applications.
• Protractor is a framework for testing Angular and AngularJS apps end-to-end. Protractor performs tests against your application while it is running in a real browser and interacts with it in the same way that a user would.
• Cypress is a state-of-the-art front-end testing tool designed specifically for the digital web. While it has some similarities with Selenium and Protractor, it is structurally distinct from both.
• Jasmine: This is a free and open-source JavaScript testing framework for writing behavior-driven tests.
• Unit testing frameworks JUnit and NUnit are available for the Java and C# programming languages, respectively.

Question 15. What is Static Software Testing?

Static testing is a method for evaluating software without running it. It includes doing code walkthroughs, code reviews, and peer reviews, as well as performing static analysis of the source code using advanced tools such as eslint and StyleCop. Static testing is often carried out throughout the software development process.

Conclusion

When addressing interview questions on software testing, don't forget to be precise. Answers that are concise yet high quality show expertise and knowledge.