Basic questions asked in any Software Testing Interview

1. What is Testing ?
Testing is finding out how well something works. But the proper definition is "Testing is the process of executing a set of instructions or steps to know how well a Software application or any product adheres to the product specifications"

Testing is the process of finding defects in a software application , reporting it & making sure the defects or bugs are fixed by the development. Once the development does the fixes for the reported defects Testing team is again responsible to verfiy the fixes & making sure the new fix has not broken any previously working functionality of the product.

2. What is a Defect or a Bug or a Product issue ?
Any deviation from the specifications mentioned in the product functional specification document is a [b]Defect[/b]. A defect or a bug is a mistake in the software application or AUT[Application Under Test] considering the details mentioned in the detailed specification document.

So if some feature or functionality of a Software application is varying from what it is supposed to be[with regard to its expectations mentioned in the Specification documents] it is considered a bug or a Defect. Some companies use the term CR: Change Request for a bug.

3. What will you do when you find a Defect in the product that you are Testing ?
Different companies follow different processes or methods in this case but generally when we find a bug or defect we report it following the bug logging process or Defect Reporting . But it is also the job of a Testing Engineer to make sure it is a real product bug & not any setup or testcase issue before filing a defect report [Bug Logging]

4. How do you log a bug & what software you use for this process ?
We use Bugzilla which is an opensource software for logging bug. While logging a bug we need to give detailed information about the whole steps i've done when i encountered this bug or defect.

When we hit a defect i mean while executing some testcase if we encounter a bug , we need to inform the developers & also concerned like Program manager,Development Lead,Test Lead etc. Bug reporting is a process of such communication. The main aim of a bug report is to let the developers know the details of the failure & to help them to find a resolution for the issue . So it is very important to give detailed information so that whoever is reading the bug report or trying to reproduce the bug can do so easily . The bug report is a document that explains the gap between the expected result and the actual result and detailing on how to reproduce the scenario.

5. Describe in detail what you should do after Finding the Bug?

Write the bug report just when you are sure that you have found a bug, not after the end of test or at the end of the day. It might be possible that you might miss out on many crucial points if you are delaying the write up for bug filing . Worse, you might miss the bug itself.
Put necessary time to diagnose the defect you are reporting. Think of the possible causes. You might land up uncovering more defects if there are any . Mention your discoveries in your bug report. The programmers will only be happy seeing that you have made their job easier. Take some time off before reading your bug report. You might feel like re-writing it.

6. What are the factors you consider while writing Defect Summary or bug synopsis ?

The summary of the bug report is the readers first glance with your bug report. The fate of your bug heavily depends on how well you compress yet describe the summary of your bug report. The rule is that every bug should have a one line summary some reporting softwares call it as Bug Synopsis. A good summary will not be more than 50 to 60 characters.

Keep reading for more common Testing questions & their answers

How to get job in Software Testing

Many ask this question & answers vary but some outline remains the same.

1. Software Application Testing is the easiest route. But it is not too easy be prepared to put enough study.

2.Start learning Testing Concepts like : What is Testing, Testing Process, Testing Life Cycle, Testing terminologies.

3. Do not forget SDLC(Software Development Life Cycle) and SDLC models - they are also very essential

4. Learn How a Bug Life Cycle is managed in an Enterprise ( Defect Tracking Process)

5.Start learning a project in detail - if you get a chance to work on any Software Application Testing project that will be a big advantage.

6.Know about the technical domain like : Networking, Operating Systems, Programming like J2EE and Application Server.

7. Know how a Development team interacts with a Testing team within a company & know all the essential things about Servers, Installation & Configuration of Hardware servers as well as Software Servers like : Web Server, Application Server, proxy Server, Calendar Server, Portal Server

8. Know a Linux based Operating System well - Preferable RHEL5(Red Hat Enterprise Linux) or Solaris 10 or SLES10(Suse Linux Enterprise Server)

9.Know how you can test your application in MS-Windows environment & how to test in Linux environment.

10. Know how will be a Release Engineering , Product Release Cycle , Product Development process & where QA Team (Testing team) comes into picture.

Keep reading this blog & u will find more articles being written everyday.
Anyone interested in personalised training on Software Testing Concepts email roger.smithson@gmail.com