If I give you a project, What you will do? How do you approach towards testing?

-  I will do requirement analysis, use-case analysis

-  Identify gaps between requirements and use-cases.

-  Develop a high level test plan

-  Develop test cases and test scripts.

-  Develop traceability matrix between requirements and test cases to ensure adequate test coverage.

-  Execute test scripts and conduct integration, system, functional, GUI, performance testing.

-  Identify defects found and report them to developers

-  Once we get a fix, conduct regression testing and close the defect if it gets fixed.

-  Conduct smoke tests when ever we get a new build or version

-  Maintain test logs and test summary reports

If you have less time for testing, what you will do?

I will do Risk Analysis, identify high risk areas and test them first. If I have time, I will then test the low level risk areas.

What are the important fields in a defect report?

Defect No, Severity, Priority, status, assigned to, description and steps to reproduce.

What is a Unix Shell Script and what are the types of shells you worked with?

A unix shell script is nothing but a group of unix commands. I worked with Korn, Bourne and C shells.

Where do you write unix shell scripts? Why do you write shell scripts?

In VI-Editor, We develop shell scripts to automate the tasks.

Querying tools for databases

Oracle – SQL*Plus, TOAD, SQL*Navigator

SQL Server – Query Analyzer, Enterprise Manager

Sybase – Sybase Anywhere

AS/400 – STRSQL command in command line or DBU the file

Mainframes – QMF or SPUFI

When does a tester comes into play in a SDLC? What are the responsibilities of tester in SDLC?

Tester is participated from early stages of SDLC.

- In requirements phase – tester does requirement analysis

- In design Phase – tester does use-case analysis and start drafting a Test Plan

- In development phase – tester start developing test cases and test scripts and finalize the test plan

- In testing phase – conduct various types of tests, maintain logs and test summary reports

- In deployment phase – prepare training documentation, lessons learned etc

- In support phase – test the production issues.

Important things that you test in a web application

-  Check application on various browsers (Cross Browser testing)

-  Check the application GUI and application functionality

-  Check the hyperlinks of the application

-  Check the performance of the application

-  Check the usability of the application, Navigation and graphical interfaces

-  Check the database integrity

-  Check the applications on different environments (Win 98, 00, NT, XP, Linux, Unix)

Important things that you test in a Client-Server application

-  Test the client components (GUI, Functionality)

-  Test the server components

-  Test the network between them

SDLC: Software development life cycle or System development life cycle (Water Fall Model)

-  Requirements Phase – Requirements documents (FSD, SRS) – Requirements will be given by users or clients

-  Analysis & Design – Use-Cases, Design specifications, Technical Specs, Flow Charts – Business Analyst or Technical Architects or System Analysts

-  Development – Developed code and programs – Developers or Programmers

-  Testing – Test Plan, Test Cases, Test Scripts, Test Logs and Test Summary reports –Testers or QA Analysts

-  Deployment – User Manuals, Support Docs, Training Docs

-  Support – Maintenance of programs

RUP: Rational Unified Process is a software engineering process which is a miniatures of water fall model and it has 4 phases and 9 disciplines.

- Phases: Inception, Elaboration, Construction and Transition

Each Phase may have any number of iterations

- Disciplines: Business Modeling, Requirements, Design, Development, Test, Deployment, Configuration management, Change management and project management

It defines what are the disciplines, flows in each discipline, artifacts and roles and responsibilities in each discipline.

CMM: CMM is a capability maturity model developed by SEI (Software engineering institute) at Carnegie melon university and it has 5 levels:

Level – 1 – Initial

Level – 2 – Repeatable (6 KPA) – Key Process Areas

Level – 3 – Defined (7 KPA)

Level – 4 – Managed (2 KPA)

Level – 5 – Optimizing (3 KPA)

What are the Qualities of a QA Engineer or Tester

-  Good Analysis Skills

-  Test to break attitude

-  Test Planning, Test Case development and Test script execution skills

-  Attention to detail, documentation skills and motivation towards quality.

-  Tact and diplomacy in working with developers and team members

What is a Test Plan? (Test Plan or Test Strategy or Test Approach)

A Test Plan is a high level living document that contains:

1. Document Control

2. Document History

3. Approvals

3.1 Author Signature(s)

3.2 Approvers

4. Purpose

5. Scope

6. Exclusions

7. Definitions/Acronyms

8. Testing Objectives

9. Testing Phases

10. Testing Approach

10.1 Test Case Specification

10.2 Test Resources

10.3 Automated Test Tools

10.4 Test Environment

10.5 Test Execution Schedule

10.6 Defect Tracking

10.7 Testing Summary

10.8 Completion of Testing

10.9 After Production Rollout

11. Limitations and Assumptions

12. References

13. Risks

Appendix A - Artifacts

What is a Test Case?

We develop test cases for each functionality by putting various test conditions or test scenarios

What is a Test Case Procedure?

A group of test cases or test scripts

What is a Test Script?

A test script is a step-by-step execution by comparing expected and actual results.

Or

For each condition in a test case, we develop a corresponding test script by comparing expected and actual results.

Bug or Defect reporting process

In most companies:

- Tester Assigns the defect to Development Manager.

- Development Manager assigns it to Developer

- Developer fixes the issue and assigns it back to tester

- If the defect gets fixed, it is closed by tester

- If the defect is not fixed, Tester Re-Assigns it back to Developer.

In some companies:

- Tester Assigns the defect to QA Lead or Manager

- QA Lead or Manager Assigns the defect to Development Manager.

- Development Manager assigns it to Developer

- Developer fixes the issue and assigns it back to tester

- If the defect gets fixed, it is closed by tester

-  If the defect is not fixed, Tester Re-Assigns it back to Developer

What is White-Box Testing?

Testing program internals and it is code based

Unit Testing: Tested individual units or modules of code is called unit testing. It is always done by developers.

Integration Testing: When individual modules of code are integrated into single components, the testing which is performed at that time is called integration testing. It is done by developers and testers.

Two types of integration testing: Bottom-Up integration and Top-Down integration.

What is Black-Box Testing?

Testing program externals and it is requirements based

System Testing: Testing the entire system as a whole in test environment is called system testing.

User Acceptance Testing: Tests that are conducted by users to make sure requirements are met is called UAT.

Regression Testing: We do regression testing to make sure the defect got fixed or not and also to make sure the fix didn’t introduce any new errors.

Smoke Testing: Smoke tests are conducted at each build to make sure all important functionality is existing.

Functional Testing: Tested the application functionality based on requirements is called functional testing

Study Performance, Load, Stress, Conformance testing

How do you know when testing is complete

-  When all test cases and scripts have been executed successfully

-  When all severity 1 & 2 issues have been resolved

What are you strengths

-  Test to Break Attitude

-  Motivation towards Quality

-  Continuous process improvement

-  Good Test Planning, Test Case development and Test script execution skills.

What are your weeknesses

I don’t have any weakness in particular, but some times I get exhausted when I am running in tight schedule. But I have over come that.

Have you worked independently or in a team environment?

I have experience testing the projects independently as well as in a team environment

Do you have any problem with any of your team members or developers in your previous projects?

Yes, I have faced some problems. But I resolved them with tact and diplomacy

Why are you suitable fit for this position?

- I have good test planning, test case development and test script execution skills.

- I have test to break attitude and motivation towards quality

- I have extensive experience with Rational or Mercury tools

- Add some more points that they are looking for.