Table of contents
1.
Introduction
1.1.
What is a Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC)?
2.
Beginner Level Software Testing Interview Questions
2.1.
1. What is Static and Dynamic testing?
2.2.
2. What is Use case Testing?
2.3.
3. What do you mean by Verification?
2.4.
4. What is the Validation process?
2.5.
5. What are the different test levels?
2.6.
6. What is Integration testing?
2.7.
7. What is black box texting?
2.8.
8. What are the practical procedures for resolving problems during testing?
2.9.
9. What is a Latent defect?
2.10.
10. What is mutation testing?
2.11.
11. What are the STLC phases?
2.12.
12. What are the functions of the Requirement Analysis phase?
2.13.
13. What are the outcomes of the Requirement Analysis phase?
3.
Intermediate Level Software Testing Interview Questions
3.1.
14. What do you mean by Traceability matrix?
3.2.
15. What is Test planning?
3.3.
16. List the Activities in Test Planning.
3.4.
17. Explain the Test Designing phase.
3.5.
18. List the Activities in the Test Execution phase.
3.6.
19. What are the outcomes of the Text Execution Phase?
3.7.
20. What is Test Cycle Closure?
3.8.
21. What is the difference between SDLC and STLC?
3.9.
22. What kinds of SRS issues can be found during the requirements review?
3.10.
23. What serves as the test closure phase's objective?
3.11.
24. How would you determine when testing is complete, and the Test Closure phase should begin?
3.12.
25. What do you mean by equivalence partitioning?
3.13.
26. What do you verify during white box testing?
4.
Advanced Level Software Testing Interview Questions
4.1.
27. What various black box testing methods are there?
4.2.
28. What distinguishes system testing from user acceptance testing (UAT)?
4.3.
29. What distinguishes test cases, test scripts, and test scenarios?
4.4.
30. What purpose does the "phantom" software testing tool serve?
4.5.
31. What is shift-level testing?
4.6.
32. What do you mean by Defect Cascading?
4.7.
33. What do you mean by the workbench concept?
4.8.
34. What do you mean by defect life cycle?
4.9.
35. What do you mean by static software testing? 
4.10.
36. What do you mean by dynamic software testing? 
4.11.
37. What role is played in a test environment in software testing?
4.12.
38. How do we measure the test coverage?
4.13.
39. What is test-driven development?
4.14.
40. What is risk-based testing?
5.
STLC MCQs
5.1.
1. What is the first phase in the Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC)?
5.2.
2. Which document is created in the Test Planning phase?
5.3.
3. During which phase are test cases executed?
5.4.
4. What is the main goal of the Test Closure phase?
5.5.
5. Which phase involves setting up the hardware and software for testing?
5.6.
6. In which phase are the test cases and test scripts reviewed?
5.7.
7. What happens during the Requirement Analysis phase of STLC?
5.8.
8. Which phase ensures that all planned tests have been executed?
5.9.
9. What is prepared during the Test Case Development phase?
5.10.
10. When are defects typically identified during STLC?
6.
Frequently Asked Questions
6.1.
What questions to ask in an interview in software testing?
6.2.
What are QA skills for software testing?
6.3.
What are the 7 principles of software testing?
6.4.
What is basic software testing?
7.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Sep 16, 2024
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STLC Interview Questions

Author Nidhi Kumari
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Introduction

The Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) plays a critical role in ensuring the quality and reliability of software products. If you're preparing for an interview related to software testing, understanding the STLC is essential. Interviewers often ask about the different phases, activities, and best practices involved in the STLC process.

STLC Interview Questions

In this article, we will discuss the most important Software Testing Interview Questions. Continue reading the blog to learn the types of questions that can be asked in your next interview.

What is a Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC)?

The Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) is a systematic process followed during software testing to ensure the quality of the software product. It involves several distinct phases, each focused on specific activities that help detect, report, and resolve bugs or issues in the software.

The STLC is an essential part of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and is designed to improve the effectiveness of testing. It starts from the planning stage and continues until the closure of testing, ensuring that the product meets the required standards.

Beginner Level Software Testing Interview Questions

1. What is Static and Dynamic testing?

Ans: Static Testing: The software documentation is used to conduct static testing. It does not include the execution of any code.
Dynamic testing: The Code must be in an executable form to conduct this testing.

2. What is Use case Testing?

Ans: Use cases are used to define and carry out the functional requirements of an application from beginning to end, and the methods employed to do this are referred to as "Use Case Testing."

3. What do you mean by Verification?

Ans: Verification is a procedure for testing software while it is still in the development stage. It assists you in determining whether the outcome of a specific application complies with the demands made.

4. What is the Validation process?

Ans: After the development phase, the software is evaluated to see if it satisfies the client's needs. This process is known as validation.

5. What are the different test levels?

Ans: An interviewer may ask this fundamental question in stlc interview questions.
The test levels mainly of four groups:

  1. Unit testing.
  2. Integration testing.
  3. System testing.
  4. Acceptance testing.
     

6. What is Integration testing?

Ans: Individual components of an application are joined and tested as part of the integration testing stage of the Software Testing process. Usually, it is carried out following unit and functional testing.

7. What is black box texting?

Ans: It is one of the most commonly asked stlc interview questions. 
The software testing technique known as "black box testing" is used to test software without knowing about the internal structure of the code or program. Typically, this testing is carried out to evaluate an application's usability.

8. What are the practical procedures for resolving problems during testing?

Ans:  Record: Log and address any issues that arise.
Report: Inform a higher-level manager of the problems.
Control: Outline the procedure for handling issues.

9. What is a Latent defect?

Ans: A latent defect is an existing flaw in the system that does not fail because the precise combination of circumstances has never been present.

10. What is mutation testing?

Ans: By purposefully introducing different code changes (bugs) and retesting with the original test data/cases to see if the issues are still present, mutation testing is a technique for determining whether a collection of test data or test cases is helpful.

11. What are the STLC phases?

Ans: The most common phases of STLC are:
Requirements Analysis.
Test Planning.
Test Designing.
Test Environment Setup.
Test Execution.
Test Closure.
 

STLC phases

12. What are the functions of the Requirement Analysis phase?

Ans: The testing team reviews the requirements document at this phase. They look at both functional and non-functional details.
The QA team may arrange a meeting with the clients and other stakeholders (such as the technical leads, business analysts, system architects, clients, etc.) in case there is any confusion to clear any concerns.

13. What are the outcomes of the Requirement Analysis phase?

Ans: The outcomes of this phase are:
a) The Requirement Traceability matrix.
b) The Automation Feasibility Report.

Intermediate Level Software Testing Interview Questions

14. What do you mean by Traceability matrix?

Ans: The traceability matrix can be referred to as a type of document that is used for tracing and mapping the client's needs with the test cases. traceability is the process of appropriately revising the test cases and going through if there are any other requirements. It can be performed in both forward and backward ways. Therefore, It is used for doing test coverage.

15. What is Test planning?

Ans: It is the second phase of STLC. The QA manager or lead will create the test plan and strategy documents during this phase. They will also develop estimations of the testing effort based on these papers.

16. List the Activities in Test Planning.

Ans: You can answer this type of stlc interview questions based on your experience. The following is an example.
Activities of the test planning phase are:
a) Calculating the testing effort.
b) Choosing a testing strategy.
c) The creation of test strategy and plan documents.
d) Planning resources and giving them tasks and responsibilities.
e) Choosing a testing tool.
 

17. Explain the Test Designing phase.

Ans: The Activities of the test planning phase are:
a) Development of test cases.
b) Creation of test scripts.
c) Test cases and automation script verification.
 

18. List the Activities in the Test Execution phase.

Ans: The Activities of the test planning phase are:
a) Executing the test cases
b) Reporting test outcome data.
c) Recording defects for the test cases that failed.
d) Retesting and verification of the flaw.
e) Repair of flaws.
 

19. What are the outcomes of the Text Execution Phase?

Ans: The results of this phase are:
a) Report on test execution.
b) The Bug Report.
c) Modified Test cases with reports.
 

20. What is Test Cycle Closure?

Ans: The QA team will gather during the Test Cycle phase to discuss the testing artifacts. The discussion's overall goal is to draw lessons from unethical behaviour. This will be useful for further projects.

21. What is the difference between SDLC and STLC?

Ans: This question is one of the commonly asked stlc interview questions. The Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) and the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) are similar.

  1. A section, subset, or component of the SDLC is the STLC.
  2. The software development project is planned using the SDLC, whereas the STLC's scope is restricted to testing operations.
  3. The activities are finished one after the other in both STLC and SDLC.
  4. Entry and exit criteria must be met before beginning or ending a phase in the STLC and SDLC.

     

22. What kinds of SRS issues can be found during the requirements review?

Ans: You can answer some of the basic needs of the software in this stlc interview Anything that does not meet the standards of good requirements, including the following:

  1. Testable (verifiable).
  2. Simple and clear.
  3. Complete.
  4. Feasible.
  5. Independent.
  6. Atomic.
  7. Consistent.
  8. Traceable.
  9. Implementation-free.
     

23. What serves as the test closure phase's objective?

Ans: Activities for test closure have many objectives, including:
a) Make sure the testing is finished.
b) Assemble and deliver test objects.
c) Retrospective meetings should be held to generate lessons learned.
 

24. How would you determine when testing is complete, and the Test Closure phase should begin?

Ans: In an stlc interview questions round, the interviewer can ask these questions to check your dev skills.
The exit criteria are defined during the test planning phase, which are things that can indicate that testing operations have concluded.

  1. Test cases can adequately cover the requirements.
  2. The phase's planned test cases have all been completed.
  3. All urgent and severe bugs have been repaired and validated.
  4. It is addressed and thoroughly examined in high-risk areas.
  5. The acceptance test was successful.
     

25. What do you mean by equivalence partitioning?

Ans: Equivalence partitioning testing separates the application input test data into each partition at least once with comparable data to create test cases. It cuts down on time needed for software testing by using this method.
 

26. What do you verify during white box testing?

Ans: The processes below are confirmed during white box testing.

  1. Check the code for security flaws.
  2. Verify the code's faulty or incomplete routes.
  3. Verify the structure's flow by the document's specifications.
  4. Check the anticipated results.
  5. Check the code's conditional loops to ensure the program is fully functional.

Check the line-by-line coding and perform a complete test.

Advanced Level Software Testing Interview Questions

27. What various black box testing methods are there?

Ans: In black box testing, when the tester tests software, the tester is not aware of the implementation details of the particular system. The various black box testing methods are:

  1. Equivalence Partitioning
  2. Boundary value analysis
  3. Desicion Table Testing
  4. State Transition Testing
     

28. What distinguishes system testing from user acceptance testing (UAT)?

Ans: System Testing: It is commonly referred to as end-to-end testing, which is the process of identifying flaws in a system. Such testing is detrimental to the application from start to finish.
UAT: It is the process of putting a product through a series of tests to see if it will satisfy the needs of its consumers.

29. What distinguishes test cases, test scripts, and test scenarios?

Ans: The distinction between test cases and test scenarios is that

  1. Test Scenarios: Any capability that may be tested falls under the category of a test scenario. It is also known as a test possibility or test condition.
     
  2. Test Scripts: The test script is a short program written in a programming language. It is used to evaluate a portion of the software system's operation.
    In other words, a list of instructions that must be manually followed.
     
  3. Test Cases: This document lists the actions that must be taken and that have been previously planned.
     

30. What purpose does the "phantom" software testing tool serve?

Ans: Phantom is a freeware scripting language for Windows GUI automation. It performs automatically and gives us control over windows. It can mimic any set of keystrokes and mouse clicks in addition to menus, lists, and other things.

31. What is shift-level testing?

In shift-level testing, the testing practices are brought earlier in the software development lifecycle. This means that within the early stages of developing the product, the testers are involved. They have to work closely with developers, which helps in the early detection of any possible defects. By practicing shift-level testing, the product quality is improved and helps reduce the cost, as the defects are identified early, which in turn reduces the fixing cost.

32. What do you mean by Defect Cascading?

Defect cascading occurs by another defect, this means that one defect is triggering another defect. Therefore, we can call it defect propagation, i.e., a single error contributing to multiple errors. You can also refer to it as a chain reaction. For example, you can also visualize it as the domino effect. Due to this, multiple components are affected. We can deal with them by doing comprehensive test coverage and serious debugging. We must identify the problem-causing elements in the development cycle itself. This would prevent the further spread.

33. What do you mean by the workbench concept?

Workbench refers to documentation belonging to a specific activity. In the workbench concept, the proper structuring of testers' work is done. The workbench consists of phases, steps, and tasks. Every workbench has five tasks: input, execute, check, production output, and rework.

34. What do you mean by defect life cycle?

The defect life cycle is also known as a bug life cycle. During the lifetime of a defect, it propagates through various stages. This cycle starts when we are identified with a defect or when a tester reports it It ends when the tester ensures that the issue has been resolved and that the defect won't appear in the future. This is an essential step that makes sure the application will run effectively. There are various steps involved in the defect life cycle: new/open, assigned, in progress, fixed, ready for a retest, retest, and closed. 

35. What do you mean by static software testing? 

In static software testing, the testing is done without executing the code. Software testing mainly focuses on examining static properties like documentation, design, etc. In static software testing, we generally walk through the code and do code-peer reviews. Tools like StyleCop and eslint are used for doing static analysis.

36. What do you mean by dynamic software testing? 

In dynamic software testing, the software application’s behavior is executed and observed in real time. This means that the functionality is tested while it runs actively. The functional and non-functional parts are evaluated. In dynamic testing, we usually provide the input to the software. Further, it executes multiple operations. The real output and behavior are analyzed to verify the performance.

37. What role is played in a test environment in software testing?

Test environments consist of software, hardware, and network configurations for exciting the test cases. It enables us to run test cases associated with the needs of the user. The quality of the software is checked in the test environment. The main goal of the test environment is to make sure that there are appropriate testing situations and that appropriate results are provided. Potential bugs and their solutions are identified in the testing environment. 

38. How do we measure the test coverage?

For calculating the test coverage, we can divide the number of lines covered by a particular test by the total lines in the test code of an application. Therefore consider the following steps:

  1. Finding total lines in a software quality piece, say A
  2. Finding The number of lines of code the test cases are currently executing, say, B
     

then test coverage percentage is:

(A/B)*100

39. What is test-driven development?

The software development practice of writing the code before actually implementing it is referred to as test-driven development. First, we generally write down the tests and analyze what we actually desire in its behavior and then finally implement the code. We must ensure high code quality. 

40. What is risk-based testing?

There are certain risks associated with the software, so in risk-based testing, we implement those tests first, which are based on risk factors This type of testing is based on the likelihood of risks. The principles of risk management are applied to the testing activities. There can be both positive and negative risks. The test resources (various tools and models) are allocated accordingly. In risk-based testing, we identify the potential risks and analyze how they can impact. 

STLC MCQs

Here are 10 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) on the Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) to help you prepare for interviews.

1. What is the first phase in the Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC)?

  • A) Test Planning
  • B) Requirement Analysis
  • C) Test Execution
  • D) Test Closure

Answer: B) Requirement Analysis

2. Which document is created in the Test Planning phase?

  • A) Test Strategy
  • B) Test Report
  • C) Test Cases
  • D) Test Closure Report

Answer: A) Test Strategy

3. During which phase are test cases executed?

  • A) Test Design
  • B) Test Planning
  • C) Test Execution
  • D) Requirement Analysis

Answer: C) Test Execution

4. What is the main goal of the Test Closure phase?

  • A) Identify new test cases
  • B) Review testing results and close the testing process
  • C) Define test data
  • D) Analyze requirements

Answer: B) Review testing results and close the testing process

5. Which phase involves setting up the hardware and software for testing?

  • A) Test Planning
  • B) Test Environment Setup
  • C) Test Case Development
  • D) Requirement Analysis

Answer: B) Test Environment Setup

6. In which phase are the test cases and test scripts reviewed?

  • A) Test Closure
  • B) Test Execution
  • C) Test Planning
  • D) Test Case Development

Answer: D) Test Case Development

7. What happens during the Requirement Analysis phase of STLC?

  • A) Test cases are written
  • B) Requirements are evaluated for testing
  • C) Test environment is set up
  • D) Tests are executed

Answer: B) Requirements are evaluated for testing

8. Which phase ensures that all planned tests have been executed?

  • A) Test Closure
  • B) Test Planning
  • C) Test Execution
  • D) Requirement Analysis

Answer: A) Test Closure

9. What is prepared during the Test Case Development phase?

  • A) Test Strategy
  • B) Test Reports
  • C) Test Cases and Test Data
  • D) Environment Setup

Answer: C) Test Cases and Test Data

10. When are defects typically identified during STLC?

  • A) Test Environment Setup
  • B) Test Case Development
  • C) Test Execution
  • D) Test Closure

Answer: C) Test Execution

Frequently Asked Questions

What questions to ask in an interview in software testing?

What testing methodologies are you familiar with? Difference between black-box and white-box testing? How do you prioritize test cases?

What are QA skills for software testing?

Quality Assurance (QA) skills for software testing include attention to detail, analytical thinking, clear communication, test automation proficiency, adaptability, and the ability to design effective test cases and strategies to identify and report defects in software.

What are the 7 principles of software testing?

The 7 principles of software testing are: 1) Testing reveals defects, not quality. 2) Exhaustive testing is impossible. 3) Start testing early. 4) Defect clustering occurs. 5) Pesticide paradox. 6) Testing is context-dependent. 7) The absence of errors doesn't guarantee quality.

What is basic software testing?

Basic software testing involves fundamental activities like checking if the software works as intended (functional testing), ensuring updates don't break it (regression testing), verifying user interface, performance, compatibility, security, and usability.

Conclusion

We have covered the most commonly asked Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC) interview questions to help you prepare effectively. By understanding the key concepts and phases of STLC, you're now well-equipped to tackle interview questions with confidence.

We hope this blog helps you increase your knowledge of STLC Interview Questions. Check out some more interesting articles:

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