Topic: 50 Latest Testing Interview Questions and Answers.

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1. What is a test engineer?

A: We, test engineers are engineers who specialize in testing.
We create test cases, test procedures, test scripts; execute test
procedures, and test scripts; generate test data and test results;
analyze standards of measurements; evaluate the results of testing,
system testing, integration testing, and regression testing.

We, software test engineers, create software test cases,
software test procedures, software test scripts; execute software test
procedures, and software test scripts; generate software test data, and
software test results; analyze standards of measurements; evaluate the
results of software testing, system testing, software integration
testing, system integration testing, software regression testing, and
system regression testing.

2. What is the role of test engineers?

A: We, test engineers, speed up the work of your development staff, and reduce the risk of your company's legal liability. We give your company the evidence that the software is correct and operates properly. We also improve your problem tracking and reporting. We maximize the value of your software, and the value of the devices that use it. We also assure the successful launch of your product by discovering bugs and design flaws, before users get discouraged, before shareholders loose their cool, and before your employees get bogged down. We help the work of your software development staff, so your development team can devote its time to build up your product. We also promote continual improvement. We provide documentation required by FDA, FAA, other regulatory agencies, and your customers. We save your company money by discovering defects EARLY in the design process, before failures occur in production, or in the field. We save the reputation of your company by discovering bugs and design flaws, before bugs and design flaws damage the reputation of your company.

3. What is a QA engineer?

A: We, QA engineers, are test engineers but we do more than just testing. Good QA engineers understand the entire software development process and how it fits into the business approach and the goals of the organization. Communication skills and the ability to understand various sides of issues are important. We, QA engineers, are successful if people listen to us, if people use our tests, if people think that we're useful, and if we're happy doing our work. I would love to see QA departments staffed with experienced software developers who coach development teams to write better code. But I've never seen it. Instead of coaching, we, QA engineers, tend to be process people.

4. What is quality?

A: Quality software is software that is reasonably bug-free, delivered on time and within budget, meets requirements and expectations and is maintainable. However, quality is a subjective term. Quality depends on who the customer is and their overall influence in the scheme of things. Customers of a software development project include end-users, customer acceptance test engineers, testers, customer contract officers, customer management, the development organization's management, test 
engineers, testers, salespeople, software engineers, stockholders and accountants. Each type of customer will have his or her own slant on quality. The accounting department might define quality in terms of profits, while an end-user might define quality as user friendly and bug free.

5. What is the difference between software fault and software failure?

A: Software failure occurs when the software does not do what the user expects to see. Software fault, on the other hand, is a hidden programming error.

A software fault becomes a software failure only when the exact computation conditions are met, and the faulty portion of the code is executed on the CPU. This can occur during normal usage. Or, when the software is ported to a different hardware platform. Or, when the software is ported to a different complier. Or, when the software gets extended.

6. What is the role of a QA engineer?

A: The QA engineer's role is as follows: We, QA engineers, use the system much like real users would, find all the bugs, find ways to replicate the bugs, submit bug reports to the developers, and provide feedback to the developers, i.e. tell them if they've achieved the desired level of quality.

7. What is software life cycle?

A: Software life cycle begins when a software product is first conceived and ends when it is no longer in use. It includes phases like initial concept, requirements analysis, functional design, internal design, documentation planning, test planning, coding, document preparation, integration, testing, maintenance, updates, re-testing and phase-out. 

8. How do you introduce a new software QA process?

A: It depends on the size of the organization and the risks involved. For large organizations with high-risk projects, a serious management buy-in is required and a formalized QA process is necessary. For medium size organizations with lower risk projects, management and organizational buy-in and a slower, step-by-step process is required. Generally speaking, QA processes should be balanced with productivity, in order to keep any bureaucracy from getting out of hand. For smaller groups or projects, an ad-hoc process is more appropriate. A lot depends on team leads and managers, feedback to developers and good communication is essential among customers, managers, developers, test engineers and testers. Regardless the size of the company, the greatest value for effort is in managing requirement processes, where the goal is requirements that are clear, complete and testable. 

9. What is the role of documentation in QA?

A: 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. 

10. Why are there so many software bugs?

A: Generally speaking, there are bugs in software because of unclear requirements, software complexity, programming errors, 

changes in requirements, errors made in bug tracking, time pressure, poorly documented code and/or bugs in tools used in 

software development.

 * There are unclear software requirements because there is miscommunication as to what the software should or shouldn't do.

 * Software complexity. All of the followings contribute to the exponential growth in software and system complexity: Windows 

interfaces, client-server and distributed applications, data communications, enormous relational databases and the sheer size 

of applications.

 * Programming errors occur because programmers and software engineers, like everyone else, can make mistakes.

 * As to changing requirements, in some fast-changing business environments, continuously modified requirements are a fact of 

life. Sometimes customers do not understand the effects of changes, or understand them but request them anyway. And the 

changes require redesign of the software, rescheduling of resources and some of the work already completed have to be redone 

or discarded and hardware requirements can be effected, too. 

11. What is a bug life cycle?

A: Bug life cycles are similar to software development life cycles. At any time during the software development life cycle errors can be made during the gathering of requirements, requirements analysis, functional design, internal design, documentation planning, document preparation, coding, unit testing, test planning, integration, testing, maintenance, updates, re-testing and phase-out.

Bug life cycle begins when a programmer, software developer, or architect makes a mistake, creates an unintentional software defect, i.e. bug, and ends when the bug is fixed, and the bug is no longer in existence.

What should be done after a bug is found? When a bug is found, it needs to be communicated and assigned to developers that can fix it. After the problem is resolved, fixes should be re-tested.

Additionally, determinations should be made regarding requirements, software, hardware, safety impact, etc., for regression testing to check the fixes didn't create other problems elsewhere.

If a problem-tracking system is in place, it should encapsulate these determinations. A variety of commercial, problem-tracking, management software tools are available. These tools, with the detailed input of software test engineers, will give the team complete information so developers can understand the bug, get an idea of its severity, reproduce it and fix it.

12. Give me five common problems that occur during software development.

A: Poorly written requirements, unrealistic schedules, inadequate testing, adding new features after development is underway and poor communication.

   1. Requirements are poorly written when requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general, or not testable; therefore 

there will be problems.

   2. The schedule is unrealistic if too much work is crammed in too little time.

   3. Software testing is inadequate if none knows whether or not the software is any good until customers complain or the 

system crashes.

   4. It's extremely common that new features are added after development is underway.

   5. Miscommunication either means the developers don't know what is needed, or customers have unrealistic expectations and therefore problems are guaranteed. 

13. Do automated testing tools make testing easier?

A: Yes and no.

For larger projects, or ongoing long-term projects, they can be valuable. But for small projects, the time needed to learn and implement them is usually not worthwhile.A common type of automated tool is the record/playback type. For example, a test engineer clicks through all combinations of menu choices, dialog box choices, buttons, etc. in a GUI and has an automated testing tool record and log the results. The recording is typically in the form of text, based on a scripting language that the testing tool can interpret.If a change is made (e.g. new buttons are added, or some underlying code in the application is changed), the application is then re-tested by just playing back the recorded actions and compared to the logged results in order to check effects of the change.

One problem with such tools is that if there are continual changes to the product being tested, the recordings have to be changed so often that it becomes a very time-consuming task to continuously update the scripts.

Another problem with such tools is the interpretation of the results (screens, data, logs, etc.) that can be a time-consuming task.

14. What is software configuration management?

A: Software Configuration Management (SCM) is the control and the recording of changes that are made to the software and documentation throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC).

SCM covers the tools and processes used to control, coordinate and track code, requirements, documentation, problems, change requests, designs, tools, compilers, libraries, patches, and changes made to them, and to keep track of who makes the changes.

Rob Davis has experience with a full range of CM tools and concepts, and can easily adapt to an organization's software tool and process needs.

15. What makes a good QA/Test Manager?

A: QA/Test Managers are familiar with the software development process; able to maintain enthusiasm of their team and promote a positive atmosphere; able to promote teamwork to increase productivity; able to promote cooperation between Software and Test/QA Engineers, have the people skills needed to promote improvements in QA processes, have the ability to withstand pressures and say *no* to other managers when quality is insufficient or QA processes are not being adhered to; able to
communicate with technical and non-technical people; as well as able to run meetings and keep them focused. 

16. What is a test plan?

A: A software project test plan is a document that describes the objectives, scope, approach and focus of a software testing effort. The process of preparing a test plan is a useful way to think through the efforts needed to validate the acceptability of a software product. The completed document will help people outside the test group understand the why and how of product validation. It should be thorough enough to be useful, but not so thorough that none outside the test group will be able to read it.

17. What is a test case?

A: A test case is a document that describes an input, action, or event and its expected result, in order to determine if a feature of an application is working correctly. A test case should contain particulars such as a...

    * Test case identifier;
    * Test case name;
    * Objective;
    * Test conditions/setup;
    * Input data requirements/steps, and
    * Expected results. 

Please note, the process of developing test cases can help find problems in the requirements or design of an application, since it requires you to completely think through the operation of the application. For this reason, it is useful to prepare test cases early in the development cycle, if possible.

18. What is configuration management?

A: Configuration management (CM) covers the tools and processes used to control, coordinate and track code, requirements, documentation, problems, change requests, designs, tools, compilers, libraries, patches, changes made to them and who makes the changes. Rob Davis has had experience with a full range of CM tools and concepts, and can easily adapt to your software tool and process needs. 

19. How do you know when to stop testing?

A: 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. 

20. How can software QA processes be implemented without stifling productivity?

A: 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. 

21. Why do you recommend that we test during the design phase?

A: Because testing during the design phase can prevent defects later on. We recommend verifying three things...

   1. Verify the design is good, efficient, compact, testable and maintainable.

   2. Verify the design meets the requirements and is complete (specifies all relationships between modules, how to pass 

data, what happens in exceptional circumstances, starting state of each module and how to guarantee the state of each 

module).

   3. Verify the design incorporates enough memory, I/O devices and quick enough runtime for the final product. 

22. What is black box testing?

A: Black box testing is functional testing, not based on any knowledge of internal software design or code. Black box testing   are based on requirements and functionality.

23. What is white box testing?

A: White box testing is based on knowledge of the internal logic of an application's code. Tests are based on coverage of code statements, branches, paths and conditions.

24. What is unit testing?

A: Unit testing is the first level of dynamic testing and is first the responsibility of developers and then that of the test engineers.
Unit testing is performed after the expected test results are met or differences are explainable/acceptable.

25. What is parallel/audit testing?

A: 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.

26. What is functional testing?

A: Functional testing is black-box type of testing geared to functional requirements of an application. Test engineers *should* perform functional testing.

27. What is usability testing?

A: Usability testing is testing for 'user-friendliness'. Clearly this is subjective and depends on the targeted end-user or customer. User interviews, surveys, video recording of user sessions and other techniques can be used. Programmers and developers are usually not appropriate as usability testers.

28. What is incremental integration testing?

A: Incremental integration testing is continuous testing of an application as new functionality is recommended. This may require that various aspects of an application's functionality are independent enough to work separately, before all parts of the program are completed, or that test drivers are developed as needed.Incremental testing may be performed by programmers, software engineers, or test engineers. 

29. What is integration testing?

A: Upon completion of unit testing, integration testing begins. Integration testing is black box testing. The purpose of integration testing is to ensure distinct components of the application still work in accordance to customer requirements.Test cases are developed with the express purpose of exercising the interfaces between the components. This activity is carried out by the test team.Integration testing is considered complete, when actual results and expected results are either in line or differences are 
explainable/acceptable based on client input.

30. What is system testing?

A: 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.

31. What is end-to-end testing?

A: 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.

32. What is regression testing?

A: The objective of regression testing is to ensure the software remains intact. A baseline set of data and scripts is maintained and executed to verify changes introduced during the release have not "undone" any previous code. Expected results from the baseline are compared to results of the software under test. All discrepancies are highlighted and accounted for, before testing proceeds to the next level.

33. What is sanity testing?

A: Sanity testing is performed whenever cursory testing is sufficient to prove the application is functioning according to specifications. This level of testing is a subset of regression testing.It normally includes a set of core tests of basic GUI functionality to demonstrate connectivity to the database, application servers, printers, etc.

34. What is performance testing?

A: Although performance testing is described as a part of system testing, it can be regarded as a distinct level of testing. Performance testing verifies loads, volumes and response times, as defined by requirements.

35. What is load testing?

A: Load testing is testing an application under heavy loads, such as the testing of a web site under a range of loads to determine at what point the system response time will degrade or fail.

36. What is installation testing?

A: Installation testing is testing full, partial, upgrade, or install/uninstall processes. The installation test for a release is conducted with the objective of demonstrating production readiness. 

37. What is security/penetration testing?

A: 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.

38. What is recovery/error testing?

A: Recovery/error testing is testing how well a system recovers from crashes, hardware failures, or other catastrophic problems.

39. What is compatibility testing?

A: Compatibility testing is testing how well software performs in a particular hardware, software, operating system, or network environment.

40. What is comparison testing?

A: Comparison testing is testing that compares software weaknesses and strengths to those of competitors' products.

41. What is acceptance testing?

A: 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.

42. What is alpha testing?

A: Alpha testing is testing of an application when development is nearing completion. Minor design changes can still be made as a result of alpha testing. Alpha testing is typically performed by a group that is independent of the design team, but still within the company, e.g. in-house software test engineers, or software QA engineers. 

43. What is beta testing?

A: Beta testing is testing an application when development and testing are essentially completed and final bugs and problems need to be found before the final release. Beta testing is typically performed by end-users or others, not programmers, software engineers, or test engineers.

44. What is a Test/QA Team Lead?

A: The Test/QA Team Lead coordinates the testing activity, communicates testing status to management and manages the test team.

45. What is a Test Configuration Manager?

A: Test Configuration Managers maintain test environments, scripts, software and test data. Depending on the project, one person may wear more than one hat. For instance, Test Engineers may also wear the hat of a Test Configuration Manager. 

46. What is software testing methodology?

A: 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 ongoing maintenance of his clients' applications.

47. What is the general testing process?

A: 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. 

48. How do you create a test plan/design?

A: 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. 

49. How do you execute tests?

A: 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. 

50. How do you create a test strategy?

A: 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. 

51. What is load testing?

A: Load testing simulates the expected usage of a software program, by simulating multiple users that access the program's services concurrently. Load testing is most useful and most relevant for multi-user systems, client/server models, including web servers.

For example, the load placed on the system is increased above normal usage patterns, in order to test the system's response at peak loads.

52. What is the difference between stress testing and load testing?

A: Load testing generally stops short of stress testing.

During stress testing, the load is so great that the expected results are errors, though there is gray area in between stress testing and load testing.

Load testing is a blanket term that is used in many different ways across the professional software testing community.

The term, load testing, is often used synonymously with stress testing, performance testing, reliability testing, and volume testing. 

Edited by poli - 07Jun2007 at 6:50am

Author	Message
poli Senior Member Joined: 03Apr2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 462	Topic: 50 Latest Testing Interview Questions and Answers. Posted: 07Jun2007 at 6:33am
	1. What is a test engineer? A: We, test engineers are engineers who specialize in testing. We create test cases, test procedures, test scripts; execute test procedures, and test scripts; generate test data and test results; analyze standards of measurements; evaluate the results of testing, system testing, integration testing, and regression testing. We, software test engineers, create software test cases, software test procedures, software test scripts; execute software test procedures, and software test scripts; generate software test data, and software test results; analyze standards of measurements; evaluate the results of software testing, system testing, software integration testing, system integration testing, software regression testing, and system regression testing. 2. What is the role of test engineers? A: We, test engineers, speed up the work of your development staff, and reduce the risk of your company's legal liability. We give your company the evidence that the software is correct and operates properly. We also improve your problem tracking and reporting. We maximize the value of your software, and the value of the devices that use it. We also assure the successful launch of your product by discovering bugs and design flaws, before users get discouraged, before shareholders loose their cool, and before your employees get bogged down. We help the work of your software development staff, so your development team can devote its time to build up your product. We also promote continual improvement. We provide documentation required by FDA, FAA, other regulatory agencies, and your customers. We save your company money by discovering defects EARLY in the design process, before failures occur in production, or in the field. We save the reputation of your company by discovering bugs and design flaws, before bugs and design flaws damage the reputation of your company. 3. What is a QA engineer? A: We, QA engineers, are test engineers but we do more than just testing. Good QA engineers understand the entire software development process and how it fits into the business approach and the goals of the organization. Communication skills and the ability to understand various sides of issues are important. We, QA engineers, are successful if people listen to us, if people use our tests, if people think that we're useful, and if we're happy doing our work. I would love to see QA departments staffed with experienced software developers who coach development teams to write better code. But I've never seen it. Instead of coaching, we, QA engineers, tend to be process people. 4. What is quality? A: Quality software is software that is reasonably bug-free, delivered on time and within budget, meets requirements and expectations and is maintainable. However, quality is a subjective term. Quality depends on who the customer is and their overall influence in the scheme of things. Customers of a software development project include end-users, customer acceptance test engineers, testers, customer contract officers, customer management, the development organization's management, test engineers, testers, salespeople, software engineers, stockholders and accountants. Each type of customer will have his or her own slant on quality. The accounting department might define quality in terms of profits, while an end-user might define quality as user friendly and bug free. 5. What is the difference between software fault and software failure? A: Software failure occurs when the software does not do what the user expects to see. Software fault, on the other hand, is a hidden programming error. A software fault becomes a software failure only when the exact computation conditions are met, and the faulty portion of the code is executed on the CPU. This can occur during normal usage. Or, when the software is ported to a different hardware platform. Or, when the software is ported to a different complier. Or, when the software gets extended. 6. What is the role of a QA engineer? A: The QA engineer's role is as follows: We, QA engineers, use the system much like real users would, find all the bugs, find ways to replicate the bugs, submit bug reports to the developers, and provide feedback to the developers, i.e. tell them if they've achieved the desired level of quality. 7. What is software life cycle? A: Software life cycle begins when a software product is first conceived and ends when it is no longer in use. It includes phases like initial concept, requirements analysis, functional design, internal design, documentation planning, test planning, coding, document preparation, integration, testing, maintenance, updates, re-testing and phase-out. 8. How do you introduce a new software QA process? A: It depends on the size of the organization and the risks involved. For large organizations with high-risk projects, a serious management buy-in is required and a formalized QA process is necessary. For medium size organizations with lower risk projects, management and organizational buy-in and a slower, step-by-step process is required. Generally speaking, QA processes should be balanced with productivity, in order to keep any bureaucracy from getting out of hand. For smaller groups or projects, an ad-hoc process is more appropriate. A lot depends on team leads and managers, feedback to developers and good communication is essential among customers, managers, developers, test engineers and testers. Regardless the size of the company, the greatest value for effort is in managing requirement processes, where the goal is requirements that are clear, complete and testable. 9. What is the role of documentation in QA? A: 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. 10. Why are there so many software bugs? A: Generally speaking, there are bugs in software because of unclear requirements, software complexity, programming errors, changes in requirements, errors made in bug tracking, time pressure, poorly documented code and/or bugs in tools used in software development. * There are unclear software requirements because there is miscommunication as to what the software should or shouldn't do. * Software complexity. All of the followings contribute to the exponential growth in software and system complexity: Windows interfaces, client-server and distributed applications, data communications, enormous relational databases and the sheer size of applications. * Programming errors occur because programmers and software engineers, like everyone else, can make mistakes. * As to changing requirements, in some fast-changing business environments, continuously modified requirements are a fact of life. Sometimes customers do not understand the effects of changes, or understand them but request them anyway. And the changes require redesign of the software, rescheduling of resources and some of the work already completed have to be redone or discarded and hardware requirements can be effected, too. 11. What is a bug life cycle? A: Bug life cycles are similar to software development life cycles. At any time during the software development life cycle errors can be made during the gathering of requirements, requirements analysis, functional design, internal design, documentation planning, document preparation, coding, unit testing, test planning, integration, testing, maintenance, updates, re-testing and phase-out. Bug life cycle begins when a programmer, software developer, or architect makes a mistake, creates an unintentional software defect, i.e. bug, and ends when the bug is fixed, and the bug is no longer in existence. What should be done after a bug is found? When a bug is found, it needs to be communicated and assigned to developers that can fix it. After the problem is resolved, fixes should be re-tested. Additionally, determinations should be made regarding requirements, software, hardware, safety impact, etc., for regression testing to check the fixes didn't create other problems elsewhere. If a problem-tracking system is in place, it should encapsulate these determinations. A variety of commercial, problem-tracking, management software tools are available. These tools, with the detailed input of software test engineers, will give the team complete information so developers can understand the bug, get an idea of its severity, reproduce it and fix it. 12. Give me five common problems that occur during software development. A: Poorly written requirements, unrealistic schedules, inadequate testing, adding new features after development is underway and poor communication. 1. Requirements are poorly written when requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general, or not testable; therefore there will be problems. 2. The schedule is unrealistic if too much work is crammed in too little time. 3. Software testing is inadequate if none knows whether or not the software is any good until customers complain or the system crashes. 4. It's extremely common that new features are added after development is underway. 5. Miscommunication either means the developers don't know what is needed, or customers have unrealistic expectations and therefore problems are guaranteed. 13. Do automated testing tools make testing easier? A: Yes and no. For larger projects, or ongoing long-term projects, they can be valuable. But for small projects, the time needed to learn and implement them is usually not worthwhile.A common type of automated tool is the record/playback type. For example, a test engineer clicks through all combinations of menu choices, dialog box choices, buttons, etc. in a GUI and has an automated testing tool record and log the results. The recording is typically in the form of text, based on a scripting language that the testing tool can interpret.If a change is made (e.g. new buttons are added, or some underlying code in the application is changed), the application is then re-tested by just playing back the recorded actions and compared to the logged results in order to check effects of the change. One problem with such tools is that if there are continual changes to the product being tested, the recordings have to be changed so often that it becomes a very time-consuming task to continuously update the scripts. Another problem with such tools is the interpretation of the results (screens, data, logs, etc.) that can be a time-consuming task. 14. What is software configuration management? A: Software Configuration Management (SCM) is the control and the recording of changes that are made to the software and documentation throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC). SCM covers the tools and processes used to control, coordinate and track code, requirements, documentation, problems, change requests, designs, tools, compilers, libraries, patches, and changes made to them, and to keep track of who makes the changes. Rob Davis has experience with a full range of CM tools and concepts, and can easily adapt to an organization's software tool and process needs. 15. What makes a good QA/Test Manager? A: QA/Test Managers are familiar with the software development process; able to maintain enthusiasm of their team and promote a positive atmosphere; able to promote teamwork to increase productivity; able to promote cooperation between Software and Test/QA Engineers, have the people skills needed to promote improvements in QA processes, have the ability to withstand pressures and say no to other managers when quality is insufficient or QA processes are not being adhered to; able to communicate with technical and non-technical people; as well as able to run meetings and keep them focused. 16. What is a test plan? A: A software project test plan is a document that describes the objectives, scope, approach and focus of a software testing effort. The process of preparing a test plan is a useful way to think through the efforts needed to validate the acceptability of a software product. The completed document will help people outside the test group understand the why and how of product validation. It should be thorough enough to be useful, but not so thorough that none outside the test group will be able to read it. 17. What is a test case? A: A test case is a document that describes an input, action, or event and its expected result, in order to determine if a feature of an application is working correctly. A test case should contain particulars such as a... * Test case identifier; * Test case name; * Objective; * Test conditions/setup; * Input data requirements/steps, and * Expected results. Please note, the process of developing test cases can help find problems in the requirements or design of an application, since it requires you to completely think through the operation of the application. For this reason, it is useful to prepare test cases early in the development cycle, if possible. 18. What is configuration management? A: Configuration management (CM) covers the tools and processes used to control, coordinate and track code, requirements, documentation, problems, change requests, designs, tools, compilers, libraries, patches, changes made to them and who makes the changes. Rob Davis has had experience with a full range of CM tools and concepts, and can easily adapt to your software tool and process needs. 19. How do you know when to stop testing? A: 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. 20. How can software QA processes be implemented without stifling productivity? A: 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. 21. Why do you recommend that we test during the design phase? A: Because testing during the design phase can prevent defects later on. We recommend verifying three things... 1. Verify the design is good, efficient, compact, testable and maintainable. 2. Verify the design meets the requirements and is complete (specifies all relationships between modules, how to pass data, what happens in exceptional circumstances, starting state of each module and how to guarantee the state of each module). 3. Verify the design incorporates enough memory, I/O devices and quick enough runtime for the final product. 22. What is black box testing? A: Black box testing is functional testing, not based on any knowledge of internal software design or code. Black box testing are based on requirements and functionality. 23. What is white box testing? A: White box testing is based on knowledge of the internal logic of an application's code. Tests are based on coverage of code statements, branches, paths and conditions. 24. What is unit testing? A: Unit testing is the first level of dynamic testing and is first the responsibility of developers and then that of the test engineers. Unit testing is performed after the expected test results are met or differences are explainable/acceptable. 25. What is parallel/audit testing? A: 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. 26. What is functional testing? A: Functional testing is black-box type of testing geared to functional requirements of an application. Test engineers should perform functional testing. 27. What is usability testing? A: Usability testing is testing for 'user-friendliness'. Clearly this is subjective and depends on the targeted end-user or customer. User interviews, surveys, video recording of user sessions and other techniques can be used. Programmers and developers are usually not appropriate as usability testers. 28. What is incremental integration testing? A: Incremental integration testing is continuous testing of an application as new functionality is recommended. This may require that various aspects of an application's functionality are independent enough to work separately, before all parts of the program are completed, or that test drivers are developed as needed.Incremental testing may be performed by programmers, software engineers, or test engineers. 29. What is integration testing? A: Upon completion of unit testing, integration testing begins. Integration testing is black box testing. The purpose of integration testing is to ensure distinct components of the application still work in accordance to customer requirements.Test cases are developed with the express purpose of exercising the interfaces between the components. This activity is carried out by the test team.Integration testing is considered complete, when actual results and expected results are either in line or differences are explainable/acceptable based on client input. 30. What is system testing? A: 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. 31. What is end-to-end testing? A: 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. 32. What is regression testing? A: The objective of regression testing is to ensure the software remains intact. A baseline set of data and scripts is maintained and executed to verify changes introduced during the release have not "undone" any previous code. Expected results from the baseline are compared to results of the software under test. All discrepancies are highlighted and accounted for, before testing proceeds to the next level. 33. What is sanity testing? A: Sanity testing is performed whenever cursory testing is sufficient to prove the application is functioning according to specifications. This level of testing is a subset of regression testing.It normally includes a set of core tests of basic GUI functionality to demonstrate connectivity to the database, application servers, printers, etc. 34. What is performance testing? A: Although performance testing is described as a part of system testing, it can be regarded as a distinct level of testing. Performance testing verifies loads, volumes and response times, as defined by requirements. 35. What is load testing? A: Load testing is testing an application under heavy loads, such as the testing of a web site under a range of loads to determine at what point the system response time will degrade or fail. 36. What is installation testing? A: Installation testing is testing full, partial, upgrade, or install/uninstall processes. The installation test for a release is conducted with the objective of demonstrating production readiness. 37. What is security/penetration testing? A: 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. 38. What is recovery/error testing? A: Recovery/error testing is testing how well a system recovers from crashes, hardware failures, or other catastrophic problems. 39. What is compatibility testing? A: Compatibility testing is testing how well software performs in a particular hardware, software, operating system, or network environment. 40. What is comparison testing? A: Comparison testing is testing that compares software weaknesses and strengths to those of competitors' products. 41. What is acceptance testing? A: 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. 42. What is alpha testing? A: Alpha testing is testing of an application when development is nearing completion. Minor design changes can still be made as a result of alpha testing. Alpha testing is typically performed by a group that is independent of the design team, but still within the company, e.g. in-house software test engineers, or software QA engineers. 43. What is beta testing? A: Beta testing is testing an application when development and testing are essentially completed and final bugs and problems need to be found before the final release. Beta testing is typically performed by end-users or others, not programmers, software engineers, or test engineers. 44. What is a Test/QA Team Lead? A: The Test/QA Team Lead coordinates the testing activity, communicates testing status to management and manages the test team. 45. What is a Test Configuration Manager? A: Test Configuration Managers maintain test environments, scripts, software and test data. Depending on the project, one person may wear more than one hat. For instance, Test Engineers may also wear the hat of a Test Configuration Manager. 46. What is software testing methodology? A: 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 ongoing maintenance of his clients' applications. 47. What is the general testing process? A: 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. 48. How do you create a test plan/design? A: 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. 49. How do you execute tests? A: 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. 50. How do you create a test strategy? A: 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. 51. What is load testing? A: Load testing simulates the expected usage of a software program, by simulating multiple users that access the program's services concurrently. Load testing is most useful and most relevant for multi-user systems, client/server models, including web servers. For example, the load placed on the system is increased above normal usage patterns, in order to test the system's response at peak loads. 52. What is the difference between stress testing and load testing? A: Load testing generally stops short of stress testing. During stress testing, the load is so great that the expected results are errors, though there is gray area in between stress testing and load testing. Load testing is a blanket term that is used in many different ways across the professional software testing community. The term, load testing, is often used synonymously with stress testing, performance testing, reliability testing, and volume testing. Edited by poli - 07Jun2007 at 6:50am Post Resume: Click here to Upload your Resume & Apply for Jobs

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AbhishekVaidya Newbie Joined: 23Jun2007 Location: India Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Posted: 23Jun2007 at 6:08am
	Hi i m new in this group. Any one can tell me. 1. What is V model? 2. What type of document would need for QA and QC Testing? 3. What is defect management? 4. What is Severity & Priority? 5. What is difference between sanity and smoke testing? 6.difference between load and stress testing? 7.difference between usecase, test case, test plan, test strategy, test scenario and their templates? 8. What is difference between testing client server application and web based application? 9.What is java testing? 10. How to write integration test plan? 11.Tracebility Matrix? 12.Give me examples 1. High Severity- High priority 2. High Severity-Low Priority 3.Low severity-High Priority 4. Low Severity-Low Priority 13.Types of bugs? 14.Localization & Globalization? 15. What are the different stsages involved in database testings? 16.what is way of writing testcase for database testing? My email id is : [email protected] Edited by AbhishekVaidya - 23Jun2007 at 6:13am
	abhi
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prakalya Newbie Joined: 02Jul2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Posted: 02Jul2007 at 3:38am
	Severity -Critical,major and minor.severity given by testers. priority-high,moderate and low.priority prefer by programmer
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Aman Kumar Newbie Joined: 02Jul2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Posted: 03Jul2007 at 12:08am
	. What is Severity & Priority? Severity is impact of the bug .It is decided by the tester.Which bug is more severe.It is related to the technical point of view. Priority is urgency of the bug.It is decided by the developer,Which bug is first to fix. It is related to the business point of view.
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asksam Newbie Joined: 18Sep2007 Location: India Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Posted: 27Sep2007 at 3:42am
	Hi aman u r right. Severity is impact of the bug .It is decided by the tester.Which bug is more severe.It is related to the technical point of view. where as Priority is urgency of the bug.It is decided by the TL or PM and some times decided by BA,Which bug is first to fix. It is related to the business point of view. Here the position changes from one company to other company.
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qualitypoint Groupie Joined: 12May2009 Online Status: Offline Posts: 45	Posted: 15May2009 at 5:41am
	Our blog has many posts related to testing. http://qualitypoint.blogspot.com/2009/05/all-links.html
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