Top Manual Testing Interview Questions & Answers

1. How does quality control differ from quality assurance?

• Quality Control: Quality control is a product-oriented approach, a “part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements”. It also runs a program to detect if there are any defects and it assures that the software meets all of the requirements put forth by the stakeholders.
• Quality Assurance: Quality assurance is defined as a process-oriented approach that is a “part of quality management and focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled”. It mainly focuses on assuring that the methods, techniques, and processes used to create quality deliverables are applied correctly.

2. What is Software Testing?

Software Testing is a process used to verify the correctness, identifying errors, completeness, and missing requirements versus the actual requirements and quality of developed software. For that, it contains a series of activities that are conducted to find errors in software and correct them before the product is released to the market. It checks all the requirements are working fine and available in it.

3. What different types of manual testing are there?

Different types of manual testing are-

• Black Box Testing
• White Box Testing
• Unit Testing
• Integration Testing
• System Testing
• Acceptance Testing

4. Explain what is SDLC.

This is an acronym for Software Development Life Cycle and encompasses all of the stages of software development, including requirement gathering and analysis, designing, coding, testing, deployment, and maintenance.

5. What is black box testing, and what are the various techniques?

When testers do not know the internal architecture or code structure. The techniques are:

• Equivalence Partitioning
• Boundary value analysis
• Cause-effect graphing

6. What is Acceptance Testing and explain the difference between alpha testing and beta testing.

Once testing within the organization is complete, the product is released to the client to test for acceptability. This part of testing occurs in a production-like environment where the client, or a limited number of end-users, uses the system and reports any discrepancies found.
Acceptance testing has the following types.

• Alpha Testing – This is a type of software testing performed to identify bugs before releasing the product to real users or the public. Alpha Testing is a type of user acceptance testing.
• Beta Testing – It is performed by real users of the software application in a real environment. Beta Testing is also a type of user acceptance testing.

7. How do severity and priority relate to each other?

• Severity: It represents the gravity/depth of a bug. It describes the application point of view.
• Priority: It specifies which bug should get fixed first. It defines the user’s point of view.

8. What is the negative and positive testing?

• Negative Testing: When you put an invalid input and receive errors is known as negative testing.
• Positive Testing: When you put in the valid input and expect some actions that are completed according to the specification is known as positive testing.

9. How would you test the login feature of a web application?

There are many ways to test the login feature of a web application:

• Sign in with a valid login, Close the browser, reopen it, and see whether you are still logged in or not.
• Sign in, then log out, and then go back to the login page to see if you are truly logged out.
• Log in, then go back to the same page, do you see the login screen again?
• Session management is important. You must focus on how we keep track of logged-in users, is it via cookies or web sessions?
• Sign in from one browser, and open another browser to see if you need to sign in again.
• Log in, change the password, and then log out, then see if you can log in again with the old password.

10. How do we test a web application? What are the types of tests we perform on the web application?

To test any web application such as Yahoo, Gmail, and so on, we will perform the following testing:

• Functional testing
• Integration testing
• System testing
• Performance testing
• Compatibility testing (test the application on various operating systems, multiple browsers, and different versions)
• Usability testing (check whether it is user-friendly)
• Ad-hoc testing
• Accessibility testing
• Smoke testing
• Regression testing
• Security testing
• Globalisation testing ( only if it is developed in different languages)

11. Why do we need to perform compatibility testing?

We might have developed the software in one platform, and the chances are that users might use it on different platforms. Hence, it could be possible that they may encounter some bugs and stop using the application, and the business might be affected. Therefore, we will perform one round of Compatibility testing.

12. How many test cases can we write in a day?

We can tell anywhere between 2-5 test cases.

• First test case → 1st day, 2nd day
• Second test case → 3rd day, 4th day
• Fourth test case → 5th day
• 9-10 test cases → 19th day

Primarily, we used to write 2-5 test cases, but in future stages, we write around 6-7 because, at that time, we have better product knowledge, and we start re-using the test cases, and the experience on the product.

13. How many test cases can we review per day?

It would be around 7 test cases we write so that we can review 7*3=21 test cases. We can say that there are 25-30 test cases per day.

14. How many test cases can we run in a day?

We can run around 30-55 test cases per day.
Always remember the ratio: x test cases we can write, 3x test cases we can review, and 5x test cases we can execute per day.

15. When do we stop the testing?

We can stop testing whenever we have the following:

• Once the functionality of the application is stable.
• When the time is less, then we test the necessary features, and we stop it.
• The client's budget.
• When the essential feature itself is not working correctly.

16. Mention the difference between Data data-driven testing and Retesting.

• Retesting: This is a process of checking bugs that are actioned by the development team to verify that they are fixed.
• Data Driven Testing (DDT): In the data-driven testing process, the application is tested with multiple test data. The application is tested with a different set of values.

17. What is a Test Suite?

Test Suite is a collection of test cases. The test cases are intended to test an application.

18. What is the difference between test scenarios, test cases, test data, and test scripts?

• Test Scenarios: A Test Scenario is any functionality that can be tested. Test Scenario gives the idea of what we have to test. Test Scenario is like a high-level test case. A test scenario is derived from a use case. It's used to test an application's features from beginning to end. Multiple test cases can be accommodated by a single test scenario. When there is a time constraint during testing, scenario testing comes in handy.
• Test Cases: Test cases are the set of positive and negative executable steps of a test scenario which has a set of pre-conditions, test data, expected result, post-conditions, and actual results. It is a document that contains the steps that have to be executed; it has been planned earlier.
• Test Data: Test data is information that is used to test software with various inputs and determine whether the resulting output matches the intended result. This data is generated based on the needs of the company.
• Test Script: An automated test case created in any programming or scripting language is known as a test script. It is written in a programming language and it’s a short program used to test part of the functionality of the software system.

19. What is a Test Bed?

An environment configured for testing. The test bed consists of hardware, software, network configuration, an application under test, and other related software.

20. What is a Test Environment?

The test Environment is the combination of hardware and software on which the Test Team performs testing.

Example:

Application Type: Web Application
OS: Windows
Web Server: IIS (Internet Information Services)
Database: MS SQL Server
Browser: IE/Firefox/Chrome

21. What is Smoke Testing?

Smoke Testing is done to make sure that the build we received from the development team is testable or not. It is also called the “Day 0” check. It is done at the “build level”. It helps not to waste the testing time by simply testing the whole application when the key features don’t work or the key bugs have not been fixed yet.

22. What is Sanity Testing?

Sanity Testing is done during the release phase to check for the main functionalities of the application without going deeper. It is also called a subset of Regression testing. It is done at the “release level”. At times due to release time constraints rigorous regression testing can’t be done to the build, sanity testing does that part by checking main functionalities.

23. What is Retesting?

To ensure that the defects that were found and posted in the earlier build were fixed or not in the current build. Say, Build 1.0 was released. The test team found some defects (Defect Id 1.0.1, 1.0.2) and posted them. Build 1.1 was released, and now testing the defects 1.0.1 and 1.0.2 in this build is retesting.

24. What is Regression Testing?

Repeated testing of an already tested program, after modification, to discover any defects introduced or uncovered as a result of the changes in the software being tested or in other related or unrelated software components.

Usually, we do regression testing in the following cases:

• New functionalities are added to the application
• Change Requirement (In organizations, we call it CR)
• Defect Fixing
• Performance Issue Fix
• Environment change (E.g., Updating the DB from MySQL to Oracle)

25. What are the two parameters that can be useful to know the quality of test execution?

To know the quality of test execution, we can use two parameters-

• Defect reject ratio
• Defect leakage ratio

Defect Rejection Ratio = No. of defect rejected / Total defects raised*100

Defect Leakage Ratio = No. of defects missed / Total defects of software*100

26. Explain what the testing type is and what is the commonly used testing type.

To get an expected test outcome, a standard procedure is followed which is referred to as Testing Type.

Commonly used testing types are

• Unit Testing: Test the smallest code of an application
• API Testing: Testing API created for the application
• Integration Testing: Individual software modules are combined and tested
• System Testing: Complete testing of the system
• Install/Uninstall Testing: Testing is done from the point of client/customer view
• Agile Testing: Testing through the Agile technique

27. What is agile testing and what is its importance?

Agile testing evaluates software from the perspective of the customer. Its importance is that it does not require the development team to complete coding to start QA. Instead, testing and coding go hand in hand. However, it may require continuous customer interaction.

28. What is a latent defect? How is it different from a Masked defect?

A latent defect is also called a hidden defect. It is an existing defect in the system that might cause failure or malfunction but is not discoverable through general inspection.
A masked defect is a defect that exists but has not caused a failure yet as another defect prevents that part of the code from being executed.

29. What are functional testing and non-functional testing?

Functional testing is defined as testing the ‘functionality’ of software or an application. The software is examined as per client requirements. A document called the requirement specification or software specification is used as a guide to testing the application.
When an application works as per the user’s expectation, efficiently and smoothly under any condition, then it is a reliable application. It is critical to test the parameters based on the quality; this process is called non-functional testing.

30. What is a test deliverable?

Test deliverables are a set of tools, documents, and components that are maintained and developed in support of testing. There are different test deliverables at every phase of the software development lifecycle: Before Testing, During Testing, and After the Testing

31. List the risks that commonly lead to project failure.

These are some risks that commonly lead to project failure:

• Incomplete or ambiguous requirements
• Not having enough human resource
• Miscommunication between team members
• Limited Budget
• Time Limitations

32. What is a test plan?

A test plan is a formal document that specifies the scope of testing, the method to be used, the resources needed, and the estimated time to complete the testing process. It is derived from the specifications (Software Requirement Specifications).

33. What is GUI Testing?

Graphical User Interface Testing is to test the interface between the application and the end user.

34. Tell some examples of Bug Severity and Bug Priority.

High Priority & High Severity: Submit button is not working on the login page and customers are unable to login to the application

Low Priority & High Severity: Crash in some functionality which is going to deliver after a couple of releases

High Priority & Low Severity: Spelling mistake of a company name on the homepage
Low Priority & Low Severity: The FAQ page takes a long time to load

35. What is Exploratory Testing?

Usually, this process will be carried out by domain experts. They perform testing just by exploring the functionalities of the application without knowing the requirements.

36. What is Usability Testing?

To verify whether the application is user-friendly or not and was comfortably used by an end-user or not. The main focus of this testing is to check whether the end-user can understand and operate the application easily or not. An application should be self-exploratory and must not require training to operate it.

37. What is Adhoc Testing?

Ad-hoc testing is quite the opposite of formal testing. It is an informal testing type. In ad hoc testing, testers randomly test the application without following any documents and test design techniques. This testing is primarily performed if the knowledge of testers in the application under test is very high. Testers randomly test the application without any test cases or any business requirement document.

38. What is Cross-Browser Testing?

Cross-browser testing is a type of non-functional test that helps us ensure that our website or web application works well in various browsers.
Web applications rely on browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari to function. Even though they all support web standards to some extent, there are still slight differences between them.

39. What is Boundary Value Analysis?

Boundary value analysis (BVA) is based on testing the boundary values of valid and invalid partitions. Every partition has its maximum and minimum values and these maximum and minimum values are the boundary values of a partition.
Assume we have to test a text field (Name) that accepts a length between 6-12 characters.

• The minimum boundary value is 6
• The maximum boundary value is 12
• Valid text length is 6, 7, 11, 12
• Invalid text length is 5, 13
• Test case 1: Text length of 5 (min-1) = Invalid
• Test case 2: Text length of exactly 6 (min) = Valid
• Test case 3: Text length of 7 (min+1) = Valid
• Test case 4: Text length of 11 (max-1) = Valid
• Test case 5: Text length of exactly 12 (max) = Valid
• Test case 6: Text length of 13 (max+1) = Invalid

40. What is Equivalence Class Partition?

Equivalence Partitioning is also known as Equivalence Class Partitioning. In equivalence partitioning, inputs to the software or system are divided into groups that are expected to exhibit similar behavior, so they are likely to be proposed in the same way. Hence selecting one input from each group to design the test cases.
Assume, we have to test a field that accepts a Mobile Number of ten digits.

• Valid input: 10 digits
• Invalid Input: 9 digits, 11 digits
• Valid Class: Enter 10-digit mobile number = 9876543210
• Invalid Class Enter the mobile number which has less than 10 digits = 987654321
• Invalid Class Enter the mobile number which has more than 11 digits = 98765432109

41. What is Decision Table testing?

The Decision Table is aka Cause-Effect Table. This test technique is appropriate for functionalities that have logical relationships between inputs (if-else logic). In the Decision table technique, we deal with combinations of inputs.

Take the example of transferring money online to an account that is already added and approved.
Here the conditions to transfer money are ACCOUNT ALREADY APPROVED, OTP (One Time Password) MATCHED, and SUFFICIENT MONEY IN THE ACCOUNT.
The actions performed are TRANSFER MONEY, SHOW A MESSAGE AS INSUFFICIENT AMOUNT, BLOCK THE TRANSACTION IN CASE OF SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTION.

42. What is State Transition?

Using state transition testing, we pick test cases from an application where we need to test different system transitions. We can apply this when an application gives a different output for the same input, depending on what has happened in the earlier state.
Take an example of the login page of an application that locks the user name after three wrong attempts of password.

43. Can you do System testing at any stage of SDLC?

We can do System Testing only when all the units are in place and working properly. It can only be done before User Acceptance Testing (UAT).

44. What is Use Case Testing?

Use case testing is a functional testing technique that helps testers identify test scenarios based on the functionality of the software from start to finish.
In use case testing, the tester works through each step in a scenario, or use case, to ensure that the software behaves as expected. A use case is a description of how a user interacts with the software to achieve a goal.

For example, consider a scenario where a user wants to buy a product from an online store. The steps in this scenario would be:

• The user browses the store and adds the product to their shopping cart.
• The user goes to the checkout page and enters their payment information.
• The user confirms their order and clicks the “submit” button.
• The software processes the order and displays a confirmation message to the user.
• To test this scenario using use case testing, the tester would carry out each step in the scenario and check that the software behaves as expected at each step.
• Use case testing is a powerful technique for finding functional defects in software. It is especially useful for testing complex applications with many user interactions.

45. What is the pesticide paradox? How to overcome it?

According to the pesticide paradox, if the same tests are carried out over and over again, then an outcome of this, the same test cases will no longer be able to find new bugs.

Methods to prevent pesticide paradox are the following:

• To continually write a whole new and different set of test cases to exercise different parts of the software.
• To regularly review the existing test cases and add a new test case to them.

46. What do you mean by Defect Triage?

Defect triage is a procedure in which defects are prioritised depending on a variety of characteristics such as severity, risk, and the amount of time it will take to fix the fault. The defect triage meeting brings together several stakeholders - the development team, testing team, project manager, BAs, and so on – to determine the order in which defects should be fixed.

47. What is a cause-effect graph?

A cause-effect graph testing technique is a black-box test design technique that uses a graphical representation of the input (cause) and output (effect) to construct the test. This method employs a variety of notations to describe AND, OR, NOT, and other relationships between the input and output conditions.

48. What is Integration Testing? What are its types?

Integration Testing is defined as a type of testing where software modules are integrated logically and tested as a group.
Application has 3 modules called ‘Login Page’, ‘Mailbox’, and ‘Delete emails’ and each of them is integrated logically.
Here do not concentrate much on the Login Page testing as it’s already been done in Unit Testing. But check how it’s linked to the Mailbox Page.
Similarly Mail Box: Check its integration to the Delete Mails Module.
Test Case 1 -After Login, the user must be directed to the Mailbox.
Test Case 2- From Mailbox selects the email and clicks a delete button then selected email should appear in the Deleted/Trash folder.

Types of Integration Testing

• Big Bang Approach: Big Bang Testing is an Integration testing approach in which all the components or modules are integrated at once and then tested as a unit. This combined set of components is considered an entity while testing. If all of the components in the unit are not completed, the integration process will not execute. In short, after all of the modules have been merged, big bang integration testing begins.
• Incremental Approach: Testing is done by integrating two or more modules that are logically related to each other and then testing for the proper functioning of the application. Then the other related modules are integrated incrementally and the process continues until all the logically related modules are integrated and tested successfully.
• Top-down Integration Testing: In top-down integration, testing and integration begin at the top and work their way down.
• Bottom-up Integration Testing: In bottom-up integration testing, lower-level modules are tested before moving up the hierarchy to higher-level modules.
• Hybrid Integration Testing: Hybrid integration testing combines top-down and bottom-up integration testing techniques. The integration with this approach starts at the middle layer, and testing is done in both directions.

49. What is the difference between static testing and dynamic testing?

Static testing is a type of testing performed without executing the code of a software application. Instead, it includes reviews, inspections, and walkthroughs.
Dynamic testing is a type of testing that involves executing the code of a software application to determine the results of certain functions and operations. It includes unit testing, integration testing, and acceptance testing.

50. What are the types of performance testing?

Performance testing: Performance testing is a testing technique that determines the performance of the system such as speed, scalability, and stability under various load conditions. The product undergoes performance testing before it gets live in the market.

1. Load testing:

Load testing is a testing technique in which a system is tested with an increasing load until it reaches the threshold value.
Note: An increasing load means an increasing number of users.
The main purpose of load testing is to check the response time of the system with an increasing amount of load.
Load testing is non-functional testing means that only non-functional requirements are tested.
Load testing is performed to make sure that the system can withstand a heavy load

2. Stress testing:

Stress testing is a testing technique to check the system when hardware resources are not enough such as CPU, memory, disk space, etc.
In the case of stress testing, software is tested when the system is loaded with the number of processes and the hardware resources are less.
The main purpose of stress testing is to check the failure of the system and to determine how to recover from this failure is known as recoverability.
Stress testing is non-functional testing means that only non-functional requirements are tested.

3. Spike testing:

Spike testing is a subset of load testing. This type of testing checks the instability of the application when the load is varied.
There are different cases to be considered during testing:

• The first case is not to allow the number of users so that the system will not suffer a heavy load.
• The second case is to provide warnings to the extra joiners, and this would slow down the response time.

4. Endurance testing:

Endurance testing is a subset of load testing. This type of testing checks the behavior of the system.
Endurance testing is non-functional testing means that only non-functional requirements are tested.
Endurance testing is also known as Soak testing.
Endurance testing checks the issues such as memory leaks. A memory leak occurs when the program does not release its allocated memory after its use. Sometimes the application does not release its memory even after its use and this unusable memory causes memory leak. This causes an issue when the application runs for a long duration.
Some of the main issues that are viewed during this testing are:

• Memory leaks occurred due to an application.
• Memory leaks occurred due to a database connection.
• Memory leaks occurred due to third-party software.

5. Volume testing:

Volume testing is a testing technique in which the system is tested when the volume of data is increased.
Volume testing is also known as flood testing.
Volume testing is non-functional testing means that only non-functional requirements are tested.
For example: If we want to apply volume testing then we need to expand the database size, i.e., add more data into the database table and then perform the test.

6. Scalability testing

Scalability testing is a testing technique that ensures that the system works well in proportion to the growing demands of the end users.
The following are the attributes checked during this testing:

• Response time
• Throughput
• Number of users required for performance test
• Threshold load
• CPU usage
• Memory usage
• Network usage