Software Testing QA, Tutorial For Mobile Native Application Testing, Appium and Selendroid

Flipkart (Native App) Automation Script - Using Selendroid For Android

2014-12-24T01:17:00.000-08:00

Script I :

package Flipkart_Complete_Partap;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import org.testng.annotations.BeforeClass;
import org.testng.annotations.AfterClass;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Properties;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import io.selendroid.SelendroidCapabilities;
import io.selendroid.SelendroidConfiguration;
import io.selendroid.SelendroidDriver;
import io.selendroid.SelendroidLauncher;
import io.selendroid.device.DeviceTargetPlatform;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;

@Test
public class Test_Case
{
String username;
String password;
String SearchProduct;
String objCommon;
Common_Methods _objCommon = new Common_Methods();
private static SelendroidLauncher selendroidServer = null;
private static WebDriver _driver = null;

@BeforeClass
public void setUp() throws FileNotFoundException, IOException
{
Properties prop = new Properties();
prop.load(new FileInputStream("PropFile_Flipkart_Ankit.prop"));
username = prop.getProperty("UserName");
System.out.println(username);
password = prop.getProperty("Password");
System.out.println(password);
}

@Test
public void test() throws InterruptedException
{
_objCommon.login(_driver, username, password);
_objCommon.captureScreenshot(_driver);
_driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
_objCommon.Search_Product(_driver);
_objCommon.captureScreenshot(_driver);
_objCommon.addtocart(_driver);
_objCommon.captureScreenshot(_driver);
_objCommon.add_address(_driver);
_objCommon.captureScreenshot(_driver);
}

@BeforeClass
public static void startSelendroidServer() throws Exception
{
if (selendroidServer != null)
{
selendroidServer.stopSelendroid();
}
SelendroidConfiguration config = new SelendroidConfiguration();
config.addSupportedApp("com.flipkart.android:2.5.2");
selendroidServer = new SelendroidLauncher(config);
selendroidServer.launchSelendroid();
SelendroidCapabilities caps = new SelendroidCapabilities("com.flipkart.android:2.5.2");
/*caps.setPlatformVersion(DeviceTargetPlatform.ANDROID17);
caps.setSerial("QO4417C05204")*/;
_driver = new SelendroidDriver(caps);
}

@AfterClass
public static void stopSelendroidServer() throws InterruptedException
{
if (_driver != null)
{
Thread.sleep(30000);
_driver.quit();
}
if (selendroidServer != null)
{
selendroidServer.stopSelendroid();
}
}
}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Library Class

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

package Flipkart_Complete_Partap;

import org.testng.annotations.Test;

import org.testng.annotations.BeforeClass;

import org.testng.annotations.AfterClass;

import java.io.FileInputStream;

import java.io.FileNotFoundException;

import java.io.IOException;

import java.util.Properties;

import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

import io.selendroid.SelendroidCapabilities;

import io.selendroid.SelendroidConfiguration;

import io.selendroid.SelendroidDriver;

import io.selendroid.SelendroidLauncher;

import io.selendroid.device.DeviceTargetPlatform;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;

@Test

public class Test_Case

{

String username;

String password;

String SearchProduct;

String objCommon;

Common_Methods _objCommon = new Common_Methods();

private static SelendroidLauncher selendroidServer = null;

private static WebDriver _driver = null;

@BeforeClass

public void setUp() throws FileNotFoundException, IOException

{

Properties prop = new Properties();

prop.load(new FileInputStream("PropFile_Flipkart_Ankit.prop"));

username = prop.getProperty("UserName");

System.out.println(username);

password = prop.getProperty("Password");

System.out.println(password);

}

@Test

public void test() throws InterruptedException

{

_objCommon.login(_driver, username, password);

_objCommon.captureScreenshot(_driver);

_driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

_objCommon.Search_Product(_driver);

_objCommon.captureScreenshot(_driver);

_objCommon.addtocart(_driver);

_objCommon.captureScreenshot(_driver);

_objCommon.add_address(_driver);

_objCommon.captureScreenshot(_driver);

}

@BeforeClass

public static void startSelendroidServer() throws Exception

{

if (selendroidServer != null)

{

selendroidServer.stopSelendroid();

}

SelendroidConfiguration config = new SelendroidConfiguration();

config.addSupportedApp("com.flipkart.android:2.5.2");

selendroidServer = new SelendroidLauncher(config);

selendroidServer.launchSelendroid();

SelendroidCapabilities caps = new SelendroidCapabilities("com.flipkart.android:2.5.2");

/*caps.setPlatformVersion(DeviceTargetPlatform.ANDROID17);

caps.setSerial("QO4417C05204")*/;

_driver = new SelendroidDriver(caps);

}

@AfterClass

public static void stopSelendroidServer() throws InterruptedException

{

if (_driver != null)

{

Thread.sleep(30000);

_driver.quit();

}

if (selendroidServer != null)

{

selendroidServer.stopSelendroid();

}

Usecase Test Scenorio and Test Cases

2014-08-21T02:58:00.008-07:00

Usecase:
The functions performed by different entities(Customer, Staff, Manager) is mentioned in Usecase. a) Staff enters customer information .

1. Use case:
It will be developed by Business Analyst based on the requirement specification.
It is a detailed description of the Specification in a simplified version with realtime scenarios.
Based on Use case, test cases will be written by the testers.

Test Scenario:
Test cases are written based on scenario. Test scenarios are very brief.
a)Staff enters customer information
b)Customer returns a book

While writing a test case for a module, you write different tests for that module say, Creating a user.
There may be several ways to create a user like, creating a user thru wizard or thru uploading set of users.
These are all the things we can call as a scenario. This is the literal meaning.

Test Cases:
Test cases are derived from scenarios. They are step by step instructions. They are very detailed and also contains actual results and expected results along with other fields
a. Enter customer information(Name, address, ph no)
b. Click on save.

What are all the steps we should follow for creating a user using a wizard and
What are all the steps we should follow for creating a user using upload are called as test case.

Use Case:

Use case are the documents that are made by the business analyst. In this document business analyst describes all the requirements on the basis of business needs.

Test scenario:

Test scenario specify all the functionality of the application that need to be tested

Test Case:

Test case specify all the steps that are need to test the functionality

Test Suite:

Group of test cases are called test suite.

Requirement : It is the changing need of the stakeholders which is tried to fulfill by the development team at the time of developing the product

Use case : After the requirements are clear, then the use cases can be designed/decided which will clear the overall flow of the system to developers first and then they can design the system accordingly. Once the flow is clear to them, then it becomes somehow simple to test the system by QA.

Scenario : It is the real life situation in which the end-user/customer uses/interacts with the system and came across various failures(if there are any). Hence we generally used to say Real world scenario.

Example: For a particular project the requirements are first being made clear by the Business Analyst. In the documentation and SRS part the Use cases can be found out and the development tasks can be alloted to various developers according to that. When user uses the system, then it becomes a scenario.

Test Case: A software test case is a set of steps and expected results used to test an application. It is created from the software requirements. Well-written test cases can make the testing cycle smooth and efficient. It is imperative to write clear, understandable test cases that can be run against new functionality and regression testing, as well. A good test case is easy to run, consistent in the time it takes to run, and it is easy to maintain.

Use Case: In software engineering, a use case is a technique for capturing the potential
requirements of a new system or software change. Each use case provides one or more scenarios that convey how the system should interact with the end user or
another system to achieve a specific business goal. Use cases typically avoid
technical jargon, preferring instead the language of the end user or domain expert.
Use cases are often co-authored by Business Analysts and end users.

Test Plan Vs Test Strategy

2014-08-21T02:58:00.005-07:00

Test Plan
The Test Plan document is derived from the Product Description, Software Requirement Specification SRS, or Use Case Documents.
The Test Plan document is usually prepared by the Test Lead or Test Manager and the focus of the document is to describe what to test, how to test, when to test and who will do what test.

It is not uncommon to have one Master Test Plan which is a common document for the test phases and each test phase have their own Test Plan documents.

There is much debate, as to whether the Test Plan document should also be a static document like the Test Strategy document mentioned above or should it be updated every often to reflect changes according to the direction of the project and activities.
My own personal view is that when a testing phase starts and the Test Manager is “controlling” the activities, the test plan should be updated to reflect any deviation from the original plan. After all, Planning and Control are continuous activities in the formal test process.

· Test Plan id

· Introduction

· Test items

· Features to be tested

· Features not to be tested

· Test techniques

· Testing tasks

· Suspension criteria

· Features pass or fail criteria

· Test environment (Entry criteria, Exit criteria)

· Test deliverable

· Staff and training needs

· Responsibilities

· Schedule

Test Strategy
A Test Strategy document is a high level document and normally developed by project manager. This document defines “Software Testing Approach” to achieve testing objectives. The Test Strategy is normally derived from the Business Requirement Specification document.

The Test Strategy document is a static document meaning that it is not updated too often. It sets the standards for testing processes and activities and other documents such as the Test Plan draws its contents from those standards set in the Test Strategy Document.

Some companies include the “Test Approach” or “Strategy” inside the Test Plan, which is fine and it is usually the case for small projects. However, for larger projects, there is one Test Strategy document and different number of Test Plans for each phase or level of testing.

Components of the Test Strategy document

· Scope and Objectives

· Business issues

· Roles and responsibilities

· Communication and status reporting

· Test deliverability

· Industry standards to follow

· Test automation and tools

· Testing measurements and metrices

· Risks and mitigation

· Defect reporting and tracking

· Change and configuration management

· Training plan

Test Plan is a document which describes the scope, approach and schedule of testing activities or you can also say that it contains "what we will test in software", "how we will test it", "when we test it as timing of testing" and "who will perform testing". It is the responsibility of test lead to develop this document.

Usually a test plan contains following things.
(1) Scope of testing
(2) Testing approach
(3) Time frame
(4) Objectives of testing
(5) What will be the environment
(6) What will be the deliverables
(7) Risk factors
(8) Features to be tested

Test strategy is also a document and it is the responsibility of the project manager to develop it. It contains which techniques we will use and what will be the module to test. Here technique means type of testing. As different testing techniques can be applied to test software based on our goals. For example stress and load testing is applied on web based applications. We have to decide which testing approach we will use to test a module as following testing approaches can be used.

(1)Black Box Testing (2) White Box Testing (3) Ad-hoc testing (4) Acceptance Testing (5) Recovery testing (6) Sanity testing (7) Smoke testing (8) Regression testing (9) End to End Testing (10) System Testing (11) Functional Testing (12) Unit Testing (13) Alpha Testing
(14) Beta Testing (15) Exploratory Testing etc.

Entry Criteria :

Entry criteria is the minimum eligibility or the minimum set of conditions that should be met in order to start the testing work . Entry criteria are documented and signed off during the test planning phase and is included in the relevant test plans.

Typical entry criteria may include the following:

· All test hardware platforms must have been successfully installed , configured, and functioning properly.

· All the necessary documentation, design, and requirements information should be available that will allow testers to operate the system and judge the correct behavior.

· All the standard software tools including the testing tools must have been successfully installed and functioning properly.

· All personnel involved in the testing effort must be trained in the tools to be used in the testing process.

· Proper test data is available.

· The test environment such as, lab, hardware, software, and system administration support should be ready.

If any of the conditions specified in the Entry criteria ( that is already documented and signed off) cannot be met due to some reasons, an approval is needed from all the stakeholders that were involved during the signing off.

Exit Criteria:

Exit criteria is the minimum eligibility or the set of conditions that should be met in order to close a particular project phase. Exit criteria are documented and signed off during the test planning phase and are included in the relevant test plans.

Typical Exit criteria may include the following:

· All Test plans have been run.

· A certain level of requirements coverage has been achieved.

· No high priority or severe bugs are left outstanding.

· All high-risk areas have been fully tested, with only minor residual risks left outstanding.

· Cost – when the budget has been spent.

· The schedule has been achieved.

Exit criteria should have been agreed as early as possible in the SDLC cycle; however, it may get subjected to controlled changes as the details of the project become more clear.

Due to the increasing complexity and size of the project that we see nowadays, the need for Entry and Exit criteria is mandatory for the success of any project.

Software Testing Estimation Techniques

2014-08-21T02:58:00.002-07:00

Software Testing Estimation Techniques

In order to be a successful in estimating, the software test project and proper execution are significant as the software development life cycle. Software testing estimation techniques play a very important role in making the good reputation with the client while bidding the project for testing.

Each developed software application is unique in its own domain, and it is inconceivable to estimate software accurately at first attempt. Even if the scope is understood and requirements are clear, it is still arduous to estimate a complex system that is going to be built with the finite requirements.

One of the most important factors while estimating testing efforts is the experience on varied projects for the software test life cycle. Apparently one cannot just put some number of days for any task or taking the old time formula of one third of the development effort. This is one of the most widely used estimation technique by the companies offering software testing services. It is merely due to the fact that this method is not based on any scientific principle or technique. Unfortunately the development versus testing effort method has given many failures in the software projects, thereby compromising the efforts on quality.

For any software testing estimation technique, it is highly recommended that following factors should be taken into account:

1. Domain Knowledge and core requirements

2. Risks and complexity of the application

3. Team Knowledge on the subject/skills

4. Historical data for the previous estimation for improvement and accuracy

5. Estimation should include buffer time

6. Bug cycles for the project

7. Resources availability (Like vacations, holidays, and sick days can have a great impact on your estimates)

However the techniques just provide the means for estimating but rely heavily on the team productivity variations, individual skills, complexity of the unknown factors like system environment and downtime.

In the recent years there were many techniques that have been developed for estimating the software testing. These techniques are: 3-Point Software Testing Estimation Technique, Use-Case Point Method and Wide Band Delphi Method.

Following are the different popular test estimation techniques:-

i) 3-Point Software Testing Estimation Technique

ii) Use – Case Point Method:

iii) Work Breakdown Structure

iv) Wideband Delphi technique

v) Function Point/Testing Point Analysis

vi) Percentage of development effort method

vii) Percentage distribution

viii) Best Guess

ix) Ad-hoc method

x) Experience Based

1) 1)3-Point Software Testing Estimation Technique:

3-Point Software Testing Estimation Technique is based on statistical methods in which each testing task is broken down into sub tasks and then three types on estimation are done on each tasks.

The formula used by this technique is:

Test Estimate = P + (4*N) + E / 6

Whereas

P = Positive Scenarios or Optimistic Estimate (Best case scenario in which nothing goes wrong and all conditions are optimal.)

§ N = Negative Scenarios or Most Likely Estimate (most likely duration and there may be some problem but most of the things will go right.)

§ E = Exceptional Scenarios or Pessimistic Estimate (worst case scenario which everything goes wrong.)

Standard deviation for the technique is calculated as,

Standard Deviation (SD) = (N – E)/6

2) Use – Case Point Method:

Use-Case Point Method is based on the use cases where we calculate the unadjusted actor weights and unadjusted use case weights to determine the software testing estimation.

Use case is a document which well specifies different users, systems or other stakeholders interacting with the concerned application. They are named as ‘Actors’. The interactions accomplish some defined goals protecting the interest of all stakeholders through different behavior or flow termed as scenarios.

The formula used for this technique is:

§ Unadjusted actor weights = total no. of actors (positive, negative and exceptional)

§ Unadjusted use case weight = total no. of use cases.

§ Unadjusted use case point = Unadjusted actor weights + Unadjusted use case weight

§ Determine the technical/environmental factor (TEF) ( if not available take as 0.50)

§ Adjusted use case point = Unadjusted use case point * [0.65+ (0.01 * TEF]

§ Total Effort = Adjusted use case point * 2

3) Work Breakdown Structure:

It is created by breaking down the test project into small pieces. Modules are divided into sub-modules. Sub modules are further divided into functionalities and functionalities are divided in sub-functionalities.

Review all the requirements from Requirement Document to make sure they are added in WBS. Now you figure out the number of tasks your team needs to complete. Estimate the duration of each task.

4) Wideband Delphi technique:

Same as above WBS. In Wideband Delphi Method, work breakdown structure is decomposed for each task and is distributed to a team comprising of 3-7 members for re-estimating the task. The final estimate is the result of the summarized estimates based on the team consensus. This method speaks more on experience rather than any statistical formula. This method was popularized by Barry Boehm to emphasize on the group iteration to reach to a consensus where the team visualized on the different aspects of the problems while estimating the test effort.

5) Function Point/Testing Point Analysis:

The FP technique is a direct indicator of the functionality of software application from the user's perspective. This is the most accepted technique used to estimate the size of a software project.

This technique is a part of TMap. Base of this technique is function point technique. Here we convert function points into test points. In Test Point analysis, we usually carry out the following:

§ Dynamic Test Points

§ Static Test Points

§ Environmental Factor

§ Productivity Factor

§ Primary Test Hours

§ Control Factor

§ Total Test Hours

In Testing, This estimation is based on requirement specification document, or a previously created prototype of the application. To calculate FP for a project, some major components are required.

The major components are:

Unadjusted Data Function Points: i) Internal Files, ii) External Interfaces

Unadjusted Transaction Function Points: i) User Inputs, ii) User Outputs & iii) User Inquiries
Capers Jones basic formula:
Number of Test cases = [Number of Function Points] x 1.2
Total Actual Effort, TAE = (Number of Test cases) * (Percentage of development effort /100)

This method is done in a case when a detailed low level design document or requirement document is available (i.e measure of function point is available) & Previous data for development and testing is available. But now a days, when we are using agile and iterative methodologies to deliver projects, so most of the times all this documentation is not available.

6) Percentage of development effort method:

Here the assumption is that a more complex business application may require more testing effort. The test effort required is a direct proportionate or percentage of the development effort.

Note: The development effort can be estimated using line of code (LOC) or function point (FP) which is not in the our scope.
Example:
If a previous project with 500 FPs required 50 man hours for testing, the percentage of testing effort is calculated as:
P = (50 / 500) * 100 =10%
For the current project with a development effort, say 1500 FPs, the testing effort is:
Total Actual Effort, TAE = 1500 * (P/100) = 1500 * (10/100) = 150 man hours.

7) Percentage distribution:

Here all the phases of SDLC are divided in parts and assigned effort in %. Like –

Project management 7%
Requirements 9%
Design 16%
Coding 26%
Test (all test phases) 27%
Documentation 9%
Installation and training 6%
Now testing % is further distributed into all testing phases:

All phases	%
Component testing	16
Independent testing	84
Total	100

Independent testing	%
Integration testing	24
System testing	52
Acceptance testing	24
Total	100

System testing	%
Functional system testing	65
Non-functional system testing	35
Total	100

Test Planning and Design Architecture	50%
Review phase	50%

8. Best Guess:

This technique is purely guesswork and based on the some sort of experience.

The method is very common, but since it is based on your gut feeling, its uncertainty contingency is probably around 200% or even higher.

9. Ad-hoc method:

The test efforts are based on tentative timeframe. The timeline set by managerial or marketing personnel or by client without any guess/experience. Alternatively, it is done until the budgeted finances run out.

This is very common practice in extremely immature organizations and has error margins of over 100% at times.

10. Experience Based:

Analogies and experts:

§ Metrics collected from previous tests.

§ You already tested similar application in previous project.

§ Inputs are taken from Subject Matter experts who know the application (as well as testing) very well.

Following Rules should be remembered while estimating a testing project:

1st Rule: Estimation should be always based on the software requirements

All estimation should be based on what would be tested, i.e., the software requirements.

Normally, the software requirements were only established by the development team without any or just a little participation from the testing team. After the specification have been established and the project costs and duration have been estimated, the development team asks how long would take for testing the solution. The answer should be said almost right away.

Then, the software requirements shall be read and understood by the testing team, too. Without the testing participation, no serious estimation can be considered.

2nd Rule: Estimation should be based on expert judgment

Before estimating, the testing team classifies the requirements in the following categories:

¨ Critical: The development team has little knowledge in how to implement it;

¨ High: The development team has good knowledge in how to implement it but it is not an easy task;

¨ Normal: The development team has good knowledge in how to implement.

The experts in each requirement should say how long it would take for testing them. The categories would help the experts in estimating the effort for testing the requirements.

3rd Rule: Estimation should be based on previous projects

All estimation should be based on previous projects experience/ knowledge. If a new project has similar requirements from a previous one, the estimation is based on that project.

4th Rule: Estimation should be based on metrics

Organization should be create an OPD, Organization Process Database, where the project metrics are recorded.

5th Rule: Estimation should never forget the past

The testing team continues using the old process and the spreadsheet. After the estimation is done following the new rules, the testing team estimates again using the old process in order to compare both results.

Normally, the results from the new estimate process are cheaper and faster than the old one in about 20 to 25%. If the testing team gets a different percentage, the testing team returns to the process in order to understand if something was missed.

6th Rule: Estimation should be recorded

All decisions should be recorded. It is very important because if requirements change for any reason, the records would help the testing team to estimate again. The testing team would not need to return for all steps and take the same decisions again. Sometimes, it is an opportunity to adjust the estimation made earlier.

7th Rule: Estimation should be supported by tools

A spreadsheet containing metrics should be created that help to reach the estimation quickly. The spreadsheet calculates automatically the costs and duration for each testing phase.

The template could contain some sections such as: cost table, risks, and free notes to be filled out. This tool could show the different options for testing that can help the customer decides which kind of test he needs.

8th Rule: Estimation should always be verified

All estimation should be verified. Another spreadsheet for recording the estimations should be created. The estimation is compared to the previous ones recorded in a spreadsheet to see if they have similar trend. If the estimation has any deviation from the recorded ones, then a re-estimation should be made.

9th Rule: Estimation should cover risk factors

Estimation should cover all kind of risk like resource availability, product down time, skill improvements, learning capability etc.

Following Scenarios will give good understanding effects by resource availability

Scenario:
Suppose you have a project that you estimate will take a 10 person team 300 days to complete. (3000 workdays - Sunny day scenario)

Knowing that there are 265 working days in a year (52 weeks x 5 days), without holidays, means that the project, at best, will take 1.13 years or 13.6 months to complete

Suppose the average year includes 12 days company holidays (total impact = 12x10 people = 120 daysx1.13years = 136 days)

Suppose also that the average employee takes 4 sick days and 3 comp days off a year (total impact = 7 x 10 people = 70 x 1.13 = 79)

Suppose also that the average employee takes 7 work days of vacation a year (total impact = 7 x 10 people = 70 x 1.13 = 79)

Suppose also that each employee loses 3 days out of each year for training (30 days)

Total duration change due to employee holidays, sick time, vacation and training = 136+79+79+30=324

Total workdays for the project is now 3000+324 = 3324 or a 10.8% increase in duration (300 day schedule is now 333 days or 15.1 months.)

Smoke Vs Sanity Testing

2014-08-21T02:57:00.005-07:00

SMOKE TESTING: Smoke testing originated in the hardware testing practice of turning on a new piece of hardware for the first time and considering it a success if it does not catch fire and smoke.
- Smoke Testing is usually Scripted or Automated
- In software industry, smoke testing is a shallow and wide approach whereby all areas of the application without getting into too deep, is tested.
- A Smoke test is designed to touch every part of the application in a cursory way. It’s shallow and wide.
- Smoke testing is conducted to ensure whether the most crucial functions of a program are working, but not bothering with finer details. (Such as build verification).
- Smoke testing is normal health check up to a build of an application before taking it to testing in depth.
SANITY TESTING:
- A sanity test is a narrow regression test that focuses on one or a few areas of functionality. - Sanity testing is usually narrow and deep.
- A sanity test is usually unscripted.
- A Sanity test is used to determine a small section of the application is still working after a minor change.
- Sanity testing is a cursory testing, it is performed whenever a cursory testing is sufficient to prove the application is functioning according to specifications. This level of testing is a subset of regression testing.
- Sanity testing is to verify whether requirements are met or not, checking all features breadth-first.

Difference between Regression and Retesting

1-Retesting is done to make sure that bug is fixed and failed functionality is working fine or not, This is kind of verification method followed in testing field for the fixed bugs. Whereas, Regressionis re-execution of the test cases for unchanged part to see that unchanged functionality is working fine are not.

2- Retesting is a planned testing while Regression is know as the generic testing.

3- Retesting is only done for failed Test cases while Regression is done for passed test cases.

4- We should always keep this in mind, Re-testing has higher priority than the regression testing. But in bigger projects Retesting and Regression is done in parallel effort.But never forget importance of both in the success of the project.

Below are the differences between Regression Testing and Retesting.

a) Retesting is carried out to verify defect fix / fixes. Regression testing is done to check if the defect fix / fixes have not impacted other functionality of the application that was working fine before applying the code changes.

b) Retesting is planned based for the defect fixes listed in Build Notes. Regression testing is generic and may not be always specific to any defect fix or code change and can be planned as regional or full regression testing.

c) Retesting involves executing test cases that were failed earlier and regression testing involves executing test cases that were passed earlier build i.e., functionality that was working in earlier builds.

d) Retesting will involve rerunning failed test cases that are associated with defect(s) fixes being verified. Regression testing does not involve verifying defect fix but only executing regression test cases.

e) Retesting always takes higher priority over Regression testing i.e., Regression testing is done after completing Retesting. In some projects where there are ample testing resources, Regression testing is carried out in parallel with retesting.

f) Though Retesting and regression testing have different objectives and priorities, they equally important for project’s success.

As the main intention of testing is to ensure the quality of the final product, understanding of various testing types is crucial for a tester. In this article we will see the main difference between two testing types- retesting and regression testing.

Retesting:
In this type of testing, the tester re tests the application which was earlier reported as a bug and now fixed by the developer. This bug can be due to functionality issues as well as design issues. Retesting the functionality of a button which was previously not working or testing the alignment issues of a page etc can be listed as examples for retesting.

Regression testing:
Regression testing is done to test whether the changes made on the site have any impact on other modules which were earlier working fine. New requirement change, implementation of new functionality are some of the scenarios where regression testing is effective. Regression testing can be automated using effective automated tools such as Selenium, Quick Test Professional etc.

Refer the given example for further understanding:

For example, we have a image uploading field which supports only certain image formats say JPG, PNG etc. Suppose one of the image formats failed (say JPG) and the developer fixed it. Testing the functionality, after fixing this bug is retesting. Here, testing and ensuring whether this new change (fixes) has not altered the working of other fields on that page is regression testing.

In normal cases, regression testing is carried out only after retesting of the application. But there are exceptions where both testing are carried out simultaneously. While testing a website, make sure that the application have undergone both retesting and regression testing.

Regression Testing	Retesting
Regression testing is a type of software testing that intends to ensure that changes like defect fixes or enhancements to the module or application have not affecting unchanged part.	Retesting is done to make sure that the tests cases which failed in last execution are passing after the defects against those failures are fixed.
Regression testing is not carried out on specific defect fixes. It is planned as specific area or full regression testing.	Retesting is carried out based on the defect fixes.
In Regression testing, you can include the test cases which passed earlier. We can say that check the functionality which was working earlier.	In Retesting, you can include the test cases which failed earlier. We can say that check the functionality which was failed in earlier build.
Regression test cases we use are derived from the functional specification, the user manuals, user tutorials, and defect reports in relation to corrected problems.	Test cases for Retesting cannot be prepared before start testing. In Retesting only re-execute the test cases failed in the prior execution.
Automation is the key for regression testing. Manual regression testing tends to get more expensive with each new release. Regression testing is right time to start automating test cases.	You cannot automate the test cases for Retesting.
Defect verification is not comes under Regression testing.	Defect verification is comes under Retesting.
Based on the availability of resources the Regression testing can be carried out parallel with Retesting.	Priority of Retesting over Regression testing is higher, so it is carried out before regression testing.

In the Regression Testing test cases are extracted from functional test cases to ensure that no new defects should be included & check whether original features and functionality is working as expected and make sure no new defect has been introduced. Once the regression test suite is created you can automate test cases using automation tool but same is not applicable for Retesting.

Difference between Regression and Retesting

2014-08-21T02:57:00.002-07:00

Difference between Regression and Retesting

2- Retesting is a planned testing while Regression is know as the generic testing.

3- Retesting is only done for failed Test cases while Regression is done for passed test cases.

Below are the differences between Regression Testing and Retesting.

f) Though Retesting and regression testing have different objectives and priorities, they equally important for project’s success.

Refer the given example for further understanding:

Regression Testing	Retesting
Regression testing is a type of software testing that intends to ensure that changes like defect fixes or enhancements to the module or application have not affecting unchanged part.	Retesting is done to make sure that the tests cases which failed in last execution are passing after the defects against those failures are fixed.
Regression testing is not carried out on specific defect fixes. It is planned as specific area or full regression testing.	Retesting is carried out based on the defect fixes.
In Regression testing, you can include the test cases which passed earlier. We can say that check the functionality which was working earlier.	In Retesting, you can include the test cases which failed earlier. We can say that check the functionality which was failed in earlier build.
Regression test cases we use are derived from the functional specification, the user manuals, user tutorials, and defect reports in relation to corrected problems.	Test cases for Retesting cannot be prepared before start testing. In Retesting only re-execute the test cases failed in the prior execution.
Automation is the key for regression testing. Manual regression testing tends to get more expensive with each new release. Regression testing is right time to start automating test cases.	You cannot automate the test cases for Retesting.
Defect verification is not comes under Regression testing.	Defect verification is comes under Retesting.
Based on the availability of resources the Regression testing can be carried out parallel with Retesting.	Priority of Retesting over Regression testing is higher, so it is carried out before regression testing.

Root Cause Analysis - Tracing a Problem to its Origins

2014-08-21T02:56:00.006-07:00

Root Cause Analysis

Tracing a Problem to its Origins

In medicine, it's easy to understand the difference between treating symptoms and curing a medical condition. Sure, when you're in pain because you've broken your wrist, you WANT to have your symptoms treated – now! However, taking painkillers won't heal your wrist, and true healing is needed before the symptoms can disappear for good.

But when you have a problem at work, how do you approach it? Do you jump in and start treating the symptoms? Or do you stop to consider whether there's actually a deeper problem that needs your attention?

If you only fix the symptoms – what you see on the surface – the problem will almost certainly happen again... which will lead you to fix it, again, and again, and again.

If, instead, you look deeper to figure out why the problem is occurring, you can fix the underlying systems and processes that cause the problem.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a popular and often-used technique that helps people answer the question of why the problem occurred in the first place.

Root Cause Analysis seeks to identify the origin of a problem. It uses a specific set of steps, with associated tools, to find the primary cause of the problem, so that you can:

1. Determine what happened.

2. Determine why it happened.

3. Figure out what to do to reduce the likelihood that it will happen again.

RCA assumes that systems and events are interrelated. An action in one area triggers an action in another, and another, and so on. By tracing back these actions, you can discover where the problem started and how it grew into the symptom you're now facing.

You'll usually find three basic types of causes:

1. Physical causes – Tangible, material items failed in some way (for example, a car's brakes stopped working).

2. Human causes – People did something wrong, or did not do something that was needed. Human causes typically lead to physical causes (for example, no one filled the brake fluid, which led to the brakes failing).

3. Organizational causes – A system, process, or policy that people use to make decisions or do their work is faulty (for example, no one person was responsible for vehicle maintenance, and everyone assumed someone else had filled the brake fluid).

Root Cause Analysis looks at all three types of causes. It involves investigating the patterns of negative effects, finding hidden flaws in the system, and discovering specific actions that contributed to the problem. This often means that RCA reveals more than one root cause.

You can apply Root Cause Analysis to almost any situation. Determining how far to go in your investigation requires good judgment and common sense. Theoretically, you could continue to trace root causes back to the Stone Age, but the effort would serve no useful purpose. Be careful to understand when you've found a significant cause that can, in fact, be changed.

The Root Cause Analysis Process

Root Cause Analysis has five identifiable steps.

Step One: Define the Problem

· What do you see happening?

· What are the specific symptoms?

Step Two: Collect Data

· What proof do you have that the problem exists?

· How long has the problem existed?

· What is the impact of the problem?

You need to analyze a situation fully before you can move on to look at factors that contributed to the problem. To maximize the effectiveness of your Root Cause Analysis, get together everyone – experts and front line staff – who understands the situation. People who are most familiar with the problem can help lead you to a better understanding of the issues.

A helpful tool at this stage is CATWOE . With this process, you look at the same situation from different perspectives: the Customers, the people (Actors) who implement the solutions, the Transformation process that's affected, the World view, the process Owner, and Environmental constraints.

Step Three: Identify Possible Causal Factors

· What sequence of events leads to the problem?

· What conditions allow the problem to occur?

· What other problems surround the occurrence of the central problem?

During this stage, identify as many causal factors as possible. Too often, people identify one or two factors and then stop, but that's not sufficient. With RCA, you don't want to simply treat the most obvious causes – you want to dig deeper.

Use these tools to help identify causal factors:

· Appreciation – Use the facts and ask "So what?" to determine all the possible consequences of a fact.

· 5 Whys – Ask "Why?" until you get to the root of the problem?

· Drill Down – Break down a problem into small, detailed parts to better understand the big picture.

· Cause and Effect Diagrams – Create a chart of all of the possible causal factors, to see where the trouble may have begun.

Step Four: Identify the Root Cause(s)

· Why does the causal factor exist?

· What is the real reason the problem occurred?

Use the same tools you used to identify the causal factors (in Step Three) to look at the roots of each factor. These tools are designed to encourage you to dig deeper at each level of cause and effect.

Step Five: Recommend and Implement Solutions

· What can you do to prevent the problem from happening again?

· How will the solution be implemented?

· Who will be responsible for it?

· What are the risks of implementing the solution?

Analyze your cause-and-effect process, and identify the changes needed for various systems. It's also important that you plan ahead to predict the effects of your solution. This way, you can spot potential failures before they happen.

One way of doing this is to use Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). This tool builds on the idea of risk analysis to identify points where a solution could fail. FMEA is also a great system to implement across your organization; the more systems and processes that use FMEA at the start, the less likely you are to have problems that need Root Cause Analysis in the future.

Impact Analysis is another useful tool here. This helps you explore possible positive and negative consequences of a change on different parts of a system or organization.

Another great strategy to adopt is Kaizen , or continuous improvement. This is the idea that continual small changes create better systems overall. Kaizen also emphasizes that the people closest to a process should identify places for improvement. Again, with Kaizen alive and well in your company, the root causes of problems can be identified and resolved quickly and effectively.

Key Points

Root Cause Analysis is a useful process for understanding and solving a problem.

Figure out what negative events are occurring. Then, look at the complex systems around those problems, and identify key points of failure. Finally, determine solutions to address those key points, or root causes.

You can use many tools to support your Root Cause Analysis process. Cause and Effect Diagrams and 5 Whys are integral to the process itself, while FMEA and Kaizen help minimize the need for Root Cause Analysis in the future.

As an analytical tool, Root Cause Analysis is an essential way to perform a comprehensive, system-wide review of significant problems as well as the events and factors leading to them.

QA Interview Questions

2014-08-21T02:56:00.002-07:00

QA Interview Questions

1. Can you tell me about yourself?

Answer: In my QA career, I have been working on various system platforms and operating systems like Windows 95, Windows 2000, Windows XP and UNIX. I have tested applications developed in Java, C++, Visual Basic and so on. I have tested Web-based applications as well as client server applications.

As a QA person, I have written Test Plans, Test Cases, attended walkthrough meetings with the Business Analysts, Project Managers, Business Managers and QA Leads. Attended requirement review meetings and provided feedback to the Business Analysts. I have worked in different databases like Oracle and DB2, wrote SQL queries to retrieve data from the database.

As far as different types of testing is concerned, I have performed Smoke Testing, Functional Testing, Backend Testing, BlackBox Testing, Integration Testing, Regression Testing and UAT (User Acceptance Testing) Testing. I have participated in Load Testing and Stress Testing.

I have written defects as they are found using ClearQuest and TestDirector. Once the defects were fixed, retested them and if the passed, closed them. If the defects were not fixed, then reopened them. I have also attended the defect assessment meetings as necessary.

In the meantime, a continuous interaction with developers was necessary.

This is pretty much what I have been doing as a QA person.

2. What did you do in your last project?

In my last project, the application was a web-based application developed in Java platform. As a QA Person, I wrote Test Plans from the requirement documents and Use Cases. I performed Smoke Testing, Functional Testing, Backend Testing, BlackBox Testing, Integration Testing, Regression Testing and UAT (User Acceptance Testing). I have participated in Load Testing and Stress Testing. I attended several walkthrough meetings for requirement reviews and provided feedback to the Business Analysts. Mostly, I was in the backend testing, which required writing SQL queries directly to the database.

Besides these, I wrote defects using ClearQuest. Once the defects were fixed, retested them and if the passed, closed them. If the defects were not fixed, then reopened them.

3. Have you written Test Plan? What is a Test Plan? What does it include?

Yes.

What is a Test Plan?

A Test Plan is a document describing the scope, approach, resources, and schedule of intended testing activities. It identifies test items, the features to be tested, the testing tasks and who will do each task (roles and responsibilities) and any risks and its solutions.

What does it include? A Test Plan includes Heading, Revision History, Table of Contents, Introduction, Scope, Approach, Overview, different types of testing that will be carried out, what software and hardware will be required, issues, risks, assumptions and sign off section.

Click here to see how a complete Test_Plan_Sample looks like.

4. Have you written a Test Case?

Yes.

What is a Test Case? What does it include?

A Test Case is a document that describes step by step process how to test the application. A Test Case includes Test Case ID, Steps Description, Expected Output, Actual Output, Pass/Fail, Remarks.

Click here to see how a complete Test Case looks like.

5. How many Test Cases did you write in your last project?

Answer: I wrote about 1100 Test Cases in my last project. (The reasonable number of Test Cases varies from 500 to thousands. The number 1100 test cases can be completed in a 6 month project duration).

6. What document did you refer to write the Test Cases?

Requirement document. (NOTE: It can also be Use Cases, or Design Document)

(Note: It depends company to company. In some companies, they use Use Cases. In some companies, they use Requirement Documents and in some companies, they use Design Document. However, in practical scenario, most of the companies have requirement document at least). This is the sample Requirement Document for Mercury Tours.

7. Did you have a situation where you did not have any documents (no requirement document, no Use Cases, or no Design Document) and you had to write the Test Cases? How did you write the Test Cases?

Yes. I have been to that kind of scenarios several times. There were companies where they had no documents at all. In that case, I had to discuss the application scenario and functionalities with the Business Analysts or developer. I kind of prepared a document in consultation with Business Analysts and Developers and then started writing Test Cases.

8. Have you worked with the Uses Cases before?

Yes. I have written Test Cases using Use Cases.

Can you tell me what a Use Case is?

A use case is a document that describes the user action and system response for a particular functionality. (you can also include, For example, in the Use Case given below, is a Use Case for login system for a company called Auto Parts One. This application is being developed by Digital Systems, Inc. The project name is Auto Parts One. However, the business owner (user) is a company called American Auto Parts of the North (imaginary name). Or

What is a Use Case and what does it include?

A Use Case is a document that describes the user action and system response for a particular functionality. It includes cover page, Revision History, Table of Contents, Floe of Events (normal flow and alternative flow), Exceptions, Special Requirements, Pre-conditions and Post-conditions.

Please see the Use Case: Click this link: 2. Use_Case_SampleThis is how it looks (Next Page) (coming soon)For the complete Use Case sample, click here. (coming soon)

Now, Let us write Test Cases based on this Use Case. Remember, one Use Case can have many Test Cases. For example, look below:

For a complete Test Case for www.digitalsystemsllc.com, please click here.

9. What is Software Development Life Cycle?

The systems (or software) development life cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an information system development project, from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application.

It includes the following different stages:

1. Requirement phase

2. Design phase

3. Coding (programming)

4. Testing

5. Release (Production)

6. Maintenance (Support)

10. What is Business Requirement Document (BRD)?

It is a document that describes the details of the application functionalities which is required by the user. This document is written by the Business Analysts.

What is Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC)?

The testing of software has its own life cycle. It starts with study and analyzing the requirements. Here is the software testing life cycle:

1. Requirement Study

2. Test Planning

3. Writing Test Cases

4. Review the Test Cases

5. Executing the Test Cases

6. Bug logging and tracking

7. Close or Reopen bugs

To see the diagram click here.

What is Business Design Document?

It is the document which describes the application functionalities of the user in detail. This document is the further details of the Business Requirement Document. This is a very crucial step in the SDLC. Sometimes the Business Requirement Document and Business Design Document can be lumped together to make only one Business Requirement Document.

What is Code Generation or Program?

Coding is the process of translating the Business Design Document into the machine readable form. If the design is done in detailed manner, the Code Generation can be done without much application. Programming tools like Compilers, Interpreters and Debuggers are used to generate the code thru different high level language like C, C++, Pascal, Java.

11. What is a Module?

A ‘Module’ is a software component that has a specific task. It can be a ‘link’ which can go inside to its component detail.

12. What is meant by Walk-thru meeting?

Before start working in a module and/or after accomplishing the testing of a module, the tester calls a meeting to disseminate his findings or to share his queries to other tester or leads of the company working on the same application that is called the Walk-thru meeting.

13. What is Build?

When each of the different modules of software is prepared, they are put in a single folder by the Configuration Management Team (CMT) and it is called the ‘Build’. In other word, the developers put their code in the shared location (folder) and all those code (modules) are combined together so that it is a complete application that works.

What is meant by the Build Deployment?

When the Build so prepared by the CMT is sent to different Test Environments, it is called the Build Deployment.

14. What is Test Strategy?

A test strategy is an outline that describes the testing portion of the software development cycle. It is created to inform project managers, testers, and developers about some key issues of the testing process. This includes the testing objective, methods of testing new functions, total time and resources required for the project, and the testing environment.

The test strategy describes how the product risks of the stakeholders are mitigated at the test-level, which types of test are to be performed, and which entry and exit criteria apply. (source: Wikipedia)

The test strategy is created based on development design documents.. It is written by the Test Manager or Lead.

The following are some of the components that the Test Strategy includes:

1 Test Levels. 2 Roles and Responsibilities. 3 Environment Requirements. 4 Testing Tools. 5 Risks and Mitigation. 6 Test Schedule. 7 Regression Test Approach. 8 Test Groups. 9 Test Priorities. 10 Test Status Collections and Reporting. 11 Test Records Maintenance. 12 Requirements traceability matrix. 13 Test Summary

Click here to see how the Test Strategy looks like.

Are Test Plan and Test Strategy same type of document?

No. They are different documents. Test Plan is a document that collects and organizes test cases by functional areas and/or types of testing in a form that can be presented to the other teams and/or customer where as the Test Strategy is the documented approach to testing. Test Plan is prepared by the tester whereas the Test Strategy is prepared by the QA Manager or QA lead.

Both are important pieces of Quality Assurance processes since they help communicate the test approach scope and ensure test coverage while improving the efficiency of the testing effort.

15. What does the Test Strategy include?

It includes introduction, scope, resource and schedule for test activities, acceptance criteria, test environment, test tools, test priorities, test planning, executing a test pass and types of test to be performed.

16. What are different types of software testing?

Different types of testing carried out are:

1) Unit testing

2) Shakeout testing

3) Smoke testing (Ad-hoc testing)

4) Functional testing

5) Integration testing

6) Regression testing

7) System testing

8) Load testing

9) Stress testing

10) Performance testing

11) User acceptance testing

12) Black box testing

13) White box testing

14) Alpha testing

15) Beta testing

Note: Except the Shakeout testing and Unit testing which are respectively done by the CMT and Coder/Developer, all other testing are done by the QA Engineer (Tester).

1) Unit testing: It is a test to check the code whether it is properly working or not as per the requirement. It is done by the developers (Not testers).

2) Shakeout testing: This test is basically carried out to check the networking facility, database connectivity and the integration of modules. (It is done by the Configuration Team)

3) Smoke testing: It is an initial set of test to check whether the major functionalities are working or not and also to check the major breakdowns in the application. It is the preliminary test carried out by the SQA tester.

4) Functional testing: al It is a test to check whether each and every functionality of that application is working as per the requirement. It is major test where 80% of the tests are done. In this test, the Test Cases are ‘executed’.

5) Integration testing: It is a test to check whether all the modules are combined together or not and working successfully as specified in the requirement document.

6) Regression testing: When a functionality is added to an application, we need to make sure that the newly added functionality does not break the application. In order to make it sure, we perform a repeated testing which is called Regression Testing. We also do regression testing after the developers fix the bugs. See the video below for more understanding. (Courtesy of guru99.com).

7) System testing: Testing which is based on overall requirements specification and it covers all combined parts of a system. It is also a black box type of testing.

8) Load testing: It is a test to check the user’s response time of number of users using any one scenario (single business process) of the same application at the same time.

9) Stress testing: In this type of testing the application is tested against heavy load such as complex numerical values, large number of inputs, large number of queries etc. which checks for the stress/load the applications can withstand.

10) Performance testing: It is a test to check the user’s response time of number of users using multiple scenarios (multiple business process) of the same application at the same time.

11) User acceptance testing: In this type of testing, the software is handed over to the user in order to find out if the software meets the user expectations and works as it is expected to.

12) Black box testing: It is test where a tester performs testing without looking into the code. OR A testing method where the application under test is viewed as a black box and the internal behavior of the program is completely ignored. Testing occurs based upon the external specifications. Also known as behavioral testing, since only the external behavior of the program is evaluated and analyzed.

13) White box testing: It is a test where a tester looks into the code and performs the testing.

14) Alpha testing: In this type of testing, the users are invited at the development center where they use the application and the developers note every particular input or action carried out by the user. Any type of abnormal behavior of the system is noted and rectified by the developers.

15) Beta testing: In this type of testing, the software is distributed as a beta version to the users and users test the application at their sites. As the users explore the software, in case if any exception/defect occurs that is reported to the developers.

What is Negative Testing?

Testing the system or application using negative data is called negative testing, for example, testing password entering 6 characters where it should be 8 characters should display a message.

When we test an application by putting negative values (instead of actual values), then the system should not allow the other values rather than the actual value. The system should give an message that the value is not correct. This is called negative testing.

Another example is, if a user tries to type a letter in a numeric field, the correct behavior in this case would be to display the “Incorrect data type, please enter a number” message. The purpose of negative testing is to detect such situations and prevent applications from crashing. Also, negative testing helps you improve the quality of your application and find its weak points. (source: Jerry Ruban)

What is the difference between Load Testing and Performance Testing?

Basically Load, Stress and Performance Testing are the same. However, Load testing is the test to check the users’ response time of number of users of any one scenario of the application whereas Performance Testing is the test to check the user response time for multiple scenario of the same application.

17. What was the process of QA testing in your company where you worked for the last time? (or As far as the QA process is involved, what was the testing process in your company?)

The QA testing process that was followed in my last company where I worked was like this: First of all the Business Requirement Document was prepared as per the client’s requirement (with the muck-up screen shots). Then on the basis of the requirement document, Test Strategy, Test Plans and Test Cases were written in sequential order. Once the Build is made and deployed to the different testing environments where different types of testing were performed to check whether there are any defects.

18. What is SQL?

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. SQL is an ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard computer language for accessing and manipulating database systems. SQL statements are used to retrieve and update data in a database. SQL works with database programs like MS Access, DB2, Informix, MS SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, etc.

Unfortunately, there are many different versions of the SQL language, but to be in compliance with the ANSI standard, they must support the same major keywords in a similar manner (such as SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT, WHERE, and others).

Note: Most of the SQL database programs also have their own proprietary extensions in addition to the SQL standard.

Where do you write SQL query?

We write SQL queries using some these tools: Todd, Squirrel and Rapid SQL.

Do you really need to write SQL as a QA Engineer?

Yes. You need to. No matter whether it is a small company or big, they have a database and you need to validate the data by writing SQL queries going into the database. The stronger you are in SQL, the better the chance of getting a job.

What are the basic commands in SQL+?

They are:

SQL>select *from tab; -to directory of database tables

SQL>ed -to edit the queries in the notepad

SQL>/ -to run or execute the query command

SQL>create table ‘table name’ -to create a table

SQL>desc ‘table name’ -to display table with column name with type

SQL>alter table ‘table name’ -to add a columnadd ‘column name’ ‘type’

SQL>alter table ‘table name’ -to modify the name and type of a columnmodify ‘column name’ ‘type’

What is the most common syntax you have used while writing SQL query?

Answer: SELECT

What is a Primary Key?

In a database table, the Primary Key is a column which has a unique value for each of the row within that column. It can’t have NULL value.

What is a Unique Key?

In a database table, the Unique Key is a column which may or may not have null value of each of the row within that column.

What is Data?

Data is number, character or image which has some information.

What is Database?

It is collection of logically related data designed in a tabular form to meet the information needs of one or more users.

19. What is Change Control (OR Change Request)?

Answer: It is a document that describes the additional functionalities that are added after the Business Requirement Document is signed off. It can be updated in the old business requirement document or it can be a separate document.

(For example, in the Business Requirement Document, on the login page, there are User Name and Password fields. The owner of the software wants to add, “If you do not have User Name and Password, please click here.” This is a change. But this change came after the document is signed off by the Project Managers. Now this is a change control and comes as a separate document. (It is also called Change Request, Modification Request).

20. Have you written Change Control?

Answer: Yes. There was a situation where in one page of an application in my previous project, when the user clicked “Contact” link, it would pop up a different window (new separate window). But it was NOT the way it was described in the requirement document. In the requirement document, when the user clicks “Contact” link, then it should navigate to another page (Not a separate new window. Then was it a problem? Functionality wise, it was NOT a problem, however, on all the other pages, when the user clicked “Contact” link, the system would navigate to next page (not a separate window). So, it was NOT CONSISTENT with the other functionalities on the other pages. Therefore, it was a consistency issue. I reported this as a bug. But the Project Manager asked me to write it as a Change Control (because it requires more budget to fix this issue) so that he can address this issue at a later time. So I wrote this as a Change Control. (However, it is NOT a job of a tester to write change control. It’s the business analyst’s job)

20. What is Backend Testing?

It is a test to check whether the data displayed in the GUI front end report format matches with the particular data in the original database.

21. Have you done any Back End Testing and/or if you did, how did you do it in your last project?

Yes I did. I was working on Reports. When I was working in my last project, this was my scenario:

It was the case of testing one part of application used in the bank, where a customer comes to a bank’s front desk associate and ask for opening an account. The associate then asks for the personal information about the customer which, are the primary data, such as: First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Address and Social Security Number. The associate then put these primary data of that particular customer into the computer, which then afterwards batch-processed into the DATABASE in XML Format. Then the batch-processed data is sent to ETL (Extract-Transform-Load, which is software made by ‘AbInitio’ or ‘Informatica’) which processes the job to create a file to produce the report. The file is displayed to a GUI Front End report format with the help of Crystal Report/Business Object. In the GUI Front End report, let us say, if for January, the income of that person was displayed as $ 900.00, then my job was to validate this data by writing SQL queries whether this displayed data matches with the original input data in the database, being called as the Back End Testing.

How can you be sure that the query you wrote is correct? Or how do you know that the data you pulled from the database is correct?

Answer: I write SQL query based on the requirement document. In the requirement document, various conditions are given for the query. Based on those conditions, I write SQL query. Therefore, anything different from the requirement document is definitely a defect.

22. What is XML?

-XML stands for EXtensible Markup Language.

-XML is a markup language much like HTML.

-XML was designed to describe data.

-XML tags are not predefined and we must define our own tags.

-XML uses a Document Type Definition (DTD) or an XML Schema to describe data.

-XML with a DTD or XML Schema is designed to be self-descriptive.

-XML is a W3C Recommendation.

23. From you resume, I see that you have been working in one place for a very short period of time. This raises me questions why. Can you explain why?

Ans. As a consultant, I am hired for a certain period of time, normally for 6 months to 1 year. Once the project is over, I needed to move to another project. That’s why you see me in the resume jumping frequently here and there.

24 What do you do on your first day of the work?

(Note: The person who is asking this question probably wants to know how the real scenario of a working person at work. It is a hard question for those who has never worked in a work place as a Software Tester.)

Answer: On the first day, normally, we will be given a computer and support people will set up the User Name and Password for the computer. If that is done already, then the QA Lead or QA Manager will give me a brief walk through of the documents (which documents are where), introduce to different team members (normally to the ones you will be working with). Then your boss will ask you to step into work what needs to be done. However, the first thing normally is, they will ask you to read the documents available for that project.

What do you do if you have any questions to ask? Who do you ask?

At the beginning, we all panic, what kind of questions to ask? What if they ask questions that I don’t know? Is it OK to ask questions? What do I do if I don’t know how to do the job I am assigned to? and so on.

As mentioned earlier, on the first day, your Manager will give you the system (computer) (They normally call system, not computer), will tell you what the User ID and Password is, where are the QA documents on the shared drive (or Network drive) are and so on. They will definitely ask you to read a lot of documents at the beginning (And you must read read and read those documents AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. At the beginning, allocate about 2 hours extra at home for reading these documents. This habit will put you on the top of your job). These documents are normally design specification document (DSD). Different companies call it with different names, for example, Requirement Specification Document (RSD) and so on. After reading the documents, you will be asked to write Test Plans or Test Cases (Don’t panic. The Test Plans and Test Cases templates will be give by your manager or test lead and they will tell you what to do and how to do because different companies have different formats they follow. If they don’t have one, then you can always prepare a sample from this website (see on the right column) and give it to them. You will be hero)

Who do you ask?

Now let’s say you did not understand something while reading documents. Who are you going to ask? Answer-Business Analysts who wrote this document. If you have any other questions that you don’t know, you will be asking that to you friend first, if he/she is not able to answer, then ask this question to the Lead (or Manager). Do not ask too many questions (some people get irritated). Therefore, it is important to read read and read. That’s the only way to succeed.

If you have any questions in TestDirector, or QTP or any other automation tools, then there is a HELP menu as well as tutorial. Please go through these, read them before you ask any questions to anyone else.

What kind of questions should I ask in the meeting?

Nothing. My advice is, keep your mouth shut. Just listen. This is the best way to handle the job until you are confident enough to speak and you know what you are talking about. If they ask you some questions, then reply gently, wisely.

How to deal with your team members?

Most probably, you will not be the only tester in the team. There will be more than you. Sometimes, dealing with you team members is frustrating, specially when you are new. They try to ignore you. They want to show themselves smart. Don’t worry. Don’t blame them. This part of the human nature. Try to cope with it. Invite them when you go for coffee (in the coffee room in your office, don’t go outside), try to share your feelings and so on. It is all how you handle your friends. It is part of your daily activities, handle it gently. This is part of the situation I have gone through, my friends have gone through. I am just sharing this with you.

28. Have you used automation tools?

(Normally, when some one asks this question, we tend to think about automation functional testing tools, like WinRunner, LoadRunner, QTP (Quick Test Pro), Rational Robot, Experian and so on. But the reality is, even a Manual Tester also uses automation tools like bug tracking tools like TestDirector, ClearQuest, PVC Tracker and so on. Therefore, your answer should be Yes)

Answer: Yes. I have used TestDirector and ClearQuest as defect tracking tools. (Your answer is based on whether you have used automation tools specially for functional and load testing. If you have NOT used, but read about these tools, then you may be better off saying, “I know about the tools. I was involved in some of the testing using these tools, but would need some brush up in order to work independently.” I am saying this because these tools are difficult to tackle in the interview and have to know in depth. In order to pass the interview on functional automation tools, it may not be easy unless you really know the stuff. But, since there is not much to learn in ClearQuest and TestDirector, you only have to know what different types of fields are there in the defect logging window when writing a defect.)

29. When you log a defect using TestDirector (or ClearQuest) what fields do you see?

Answer: When we log a defect, we see Defect ID (it shows later in TestDirector), Summary (where we write short description of the defect), Description (long description of the defect), Detected by (Person who found the defect, (it’s you), Severity (meaning-is the defect critical? High? Medium? Or Low?), Date, Detected in Version, Priority, Project, Status, Assigned to and so on.Click here to see the fields in TestDirector (go to page 24-27)

Click here to see the fields in ClearQuest (go to page 9)

30. Are you better working in a team or working alone?

Answer: I am a team player. I get along with team members very well. As far as the working is concerned, I can be equally productive in team or working alone.

(Caution: Never say, I like working alone. This could lead you to not getting a job as they are always looking for people who can get along with other people.)

31. Do you have any situations in the past where you have some arguments with your team members?

Answer: No. I never had that type of situation wherever I have worked.

(Even if you had one, it’s a good idea to say “No”. This could be a red flag, which might stop you from getting the job)

32. What do you like about a Manager? And what don’t you like?

Answer: The best thing I like about a Manager is that the Manager should be able to coordinate with the other teams so that we can get the updated documents, for example, updated requirements documents right away. A Manager who can efficiently in distributes the work to the team, without being biased and easily accessible and protective to his team for the right cause. As far as “what I don’t like” is concerned, I don’t like a manager who keeps coming to desk 10 times a day to check my work even if it is just a regular work. Once the responsibility is given, the team member should be trusted and let his work done.

33. Where do you see yourself in another 5 years?

Answer: I see myself a QA Lead in another 5 years.

(You can also say “QA Manager”, but since the QA Manager is taking your interview most of the time, they some times feel challenged. Therefore, it might be a good idea to limit you to QA Lead)

34. Why are you in QA?

Answer: I am in QA because I like this job.

35. Why do you like this job?

Answer: I like this job, because it is process oriented. Meaning that I get an opportunity to work from analyzing the requirement documents to writing test plans, test cases, testing the application, logging defects, retesting, preparing reports and finally testing in production as well. Therefore, I am involved from the very beginning to the end of the software development life cycle (SDLC) process. I like this.

Another reason is I like to find defects. I enjoy logging defects. The more defects I find, the happier I am.

36. How do you determine what to test in an application?

Answer: First of all we have the test cases (or test scripts) that are written based on the requirement document. This pretty much covers what functionalities to test. Therefore, looking at the test cases tells us what to test in the application.

37. If you have no documentation about the product, how do you test an application? Describe the process.

Answer: Well, this is a situation where I have come across several times. Some of the companies in my previous projects did not have any documents. In this case, I went to the Business Analyst and some times to developers to find out how exactly the functionalities work, how to navigate from one page to another page and so on. After getting a clear vision, I write test cases based on the conversation (which is a step by step procedure to test an application) and get ready for testing.

What do you do once you find a defect?

Once you find a defect, this is what we need to do:

1. Recreate the Defect: Once you find a defect, we must try to recreate (meaning that we should be able to reproduce it) at least 3 times so that we are sure that it is a defect. Some times, once we find it log it without recreating, may put us in a false situation (because sometimes the application does not behave in the same way). Therefore, it is important to recreate the same defect several times.

2. Attach the Screen Shot (supporting document): Once we confirm that it is a defect, and then it is a good idea to attach supporting documents when we log (write) a defect. For example, screen shot, requirement document etc. For instance, let us say that instead of “Continue” button on a page, there is a typo “Contiinuee”. Now, we will make a screen shot of this page (To make screen shot, press “Print Screen” button on the keyboard, and open a Word document, and Click Edit on the Word document and “Past” it. You will see the screen now) Now, a tester needs to write defects in easy and clear language to make all the developers to understand easily.

3. Log the Defect: Now, the next step is, we need to log it. Depending on the company what kind of tools they are using (for example, some companies use TestDirector to log defects, some companies use Rational ClearQuest, some use PVC Tracker and so on). If the company is small and cannot afford these expensive tools, then they may simply use Excel sheet to log defects. We log the defect.

38. What are the basic elements you put in a defect?

Answer: Basic elements we put in a defect are: SEVERITY, PRIORITY, CREATED BY, VERSION NO, HEADER, DESCRIPTION OF THE DEFECT where we write how to recreate a defect, in what module the defect is found, Status, and so on.

39. What is the biggest bug you have ever found?

Answer: Well, there are many big defects I have found in various projects. For example, in the last project, on a page, there was a button called “More Information”. Once the user clicked that button, the system would open a new window (pop up).

We could close the new window in 3 ways:

-By clicking X at the top right corner of the page

-By clicking “Close” button on the page

-By pressing combination keys (Alt+F4) on the key board

Although the combination key (Alt+F4) was not mentioned in the test case, I just wanted to try how the application reacts when Alt+F4 is pressed. Then I pressed Alt+F4. The result was a disaster-the application crashed (broke). The application disappeared from the computer monitor. Since it was the last day of testing for us, it brought chaos in our Managers, Leads and the whole teams. Finally, the developers disabled Alt+F4 as a temporary solution and the application went into production.

40. How do you make sure that it is quality software?

Answer: There is a certain process how the quality of software is guaranteed (ensured). If is defined by the ‘exit criteria’. (What it means is, a QA Manager writes a document called Test Strategy. This Test Strategy defines the ‘exit criteria’.) Exit Criteria gives the measurement, for example, in order to confirm the quality, how many critical defects, high defects, medium defect and low defect are acceptable? These are all defined in the exit criteria. (Normally in practice, for a quality software, there should no critical defects (0 critical), no high defect (0 high), no medium defect (0 medium) and may be 1 low defect)

41. As a QA Tester, can you tell me the situation when you felt the most proud of it?

Answer: When I find the defect that normally others don’t find, then I feel very proud. For example, there were situations where I found bugs that crashed the whole system at the end of testing phase. I tried the scenarios where the scenarios were NOT mentioned in the test cases. For example, we can close the windows by clicking X on the page, with “Close” button and so on. But there is another way that you can close the window, by pressing Alt+F4 on the keyboard. Not many testers test this scenario. I have done this in my last two projects. Both the time, the application crashed which became a big issue. I felt proud.

42. What made you to choose testing career?

Answer: I am a very detailed oriented person and I like process-oriented job. The way QA process works is just the kind of work I like. For example, analyzing requirement documents, attending walk-through meetings, writing test plans, writing test cases, executing the test cases (or running the test cases) testing the application, logging defects, retesting them and so on. I think I really like the process and that’s why I chose this career.

43. When should testing start in a project? Why?

Answer: We should start testing as soon as the following things are ready:

-Test Data are ready

-Build (all the developers have coded their code and merged them

together)

-Test Environment (servers, network etc) is set up and ready

-When the manager asks us to go ahead and start testing.

44. Let us say you have a web application to test. How do you go about testing it? What is the process?

Answer: First of all, I will look at the requirement documents (or design document in some companies). The requirement document will tell us what the functionalities in the application (software) are. Once I analyze the requirement documents (one module=one requirement document). After that, I will write test plans for each module (one module =one test plan). Then after the test plan is complete, I will write test cases (One module can have hundreds, even thousands test cases). Once the test cases are ready and the application is ready (or once the build is ready), then I will start testing. Before I start testing, however, I will make sure the test environments, test data and defect logging tools are in place. This is how I will go about testing an application.

45. What is a “bug?”

Answer: A bug is a bug is an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer code (program) that prevents it from behaving as intended (e.g., producing an incorrect result). (You can also add this: When the expected results (accordingly to the requirement documents) don’t match with the actual results (while testing), then it is considered a bug)

46. How would you ensure that you have covered 100% testing?

Answer: The testing coverage is defined by exit criteria (There is exit criteria and entry criteria in the Test Strategy). For example, if the exit criteria says “The software will be acceptable to the client only if there are no critical defects, no high defects, no medium defects and only two low defects”, then all the critical, high, medium should be zero. Only 2 low defects are acceptable. Thus, 100% coverage is measured by the exit criteria. Also, 100% test cases must be executed in order to cover 100% of testing.

47. What problems did you face in the past? How did you solve it?

(You will be OK if you just give one of the problems below, not all of them)

Answer: I had many problems while testing applications in the past.

As far as I remember one of them (then describe one of them from below), this was the scenario:

(i) It was a web-based application. I was working on a module called “Transaction Summary”. There was “Submit” button on that page. After entering data in the all the fields, for example, First Name, Last Name, Social Security Number, Date of Birth and so on, I clicked the Submit button. Once I clicked Submit button, an error page displayed, “Page cannot be found…”. Since it was a critical defect, I immediately informed the Test Lead. There was a chaos in the room. All the developers, Database Administrators and Testers gathered in my cube (room). No body could tell exactly what was wrong with it. Finally, one smart guy checked into the database and found out that one of the files in the database was closed. The status of all the files should be in the open status. Once the status of the closed file was put in the “open” status, the application worked fine.

(ii) One of the problems was in the Login window (page). When the user enters and Login Name and Password, then Password should be encrypted. One of the Test Cases was that I needed to open database and see whether the password is encrypted or not. I found out it was not encrypted. I reported it as a bug (defect) and it was fixed in the next release (build).

(iii) Defects I have found in a project was a defect to close a window (pop up).

For example, in the last project, on a page, there was a button called “More Information”. Once the user clicked that button, the system would open a new window (pop up).We could close the new window in 3 ways:

-By clicking X at the top right corner of the page

-By clicking “Close” button on the page

-By pressing combination keys (Alt+F4) on the key board

(iv) Another problem was that a user would search for branch location information of a bank. The user logs in by using User Name and Password. After the log in, on the “Search Location” page, the user enters and zip code of the location he wants to find, then clicks Find button. After that the system (application) gives a number of branch locations. The user now clicks “Request Information” for one of the branches. As soon as the user clicks “Request Information” button, the application breaks (displays “Page cannot be found” error). I logged this defect as a critical defect. When the developers and database administrator looked into it, then they found out that in one of the tables, the data was not recorded. In all the tables (UserProfile table, ClientID table and SessionID table), the data should be populated with the information entered by the user. For some reason, in one of the tables, it was blank (null). Once they wrote a small code to populate data (enter data) to the table, the application started working.

(v) In my previous project, when the customer wants to upload a document, for example, a copy of a monthly statement (in Word format), on the website, the system should automatically change the Word document into .pdf format. Once the document was uploaded, I saw that the fields in the .pdf document were interchanged (misplaced). For example, the First Name displayed in the Last Name section. Date of Birth displayed in the Social Security Number field and so on. We found out that the problem was a mapping problem (remember this word). Once the mapping was correct, I tested in the new build. It was fixed.

(vi) The most common problem that I have faced in my previous projects are the Java script errors, data connectivity, error, HTTP 500 error (This error occurs when server is down), HTTP 400 error (when file is not found) and so on.

(vii) “Father” pop up displayed when Print/Print Preview button clicked. (This was coded by the developer to mark this coding portion (for his/her own purpose as a mark to indicate where he/she made changes, however, forgot to remove it). Once the developer fixed it, it still displayed the same thing (because it was in the servers memory and could not go). Now, I had to reset memory of the server from my machine. Therefore, what I did is, I went to the website I was testing (for example, http://mysite.app.org/My_profile) and added reset.aspx at the end of the URL (Now the URL becomes http://mysite.app.org/My_profile/reset.aspx and hit enter. It took me to the server memory and I selected section and submitted the query and it was cleared. Retested again and it is now OK.

(viii) I was testing a web application. On one page, I clicked Save & Continue button twice (my mistake). Once this button is clicked twice, the system displayed an error message, “Could not save the answers, please contact technical support”. (When clicked only once, the button works fine.).

Solution: Once the user clicks the button once, the button was disabled later so that the user cannot click twice.

(ix) I was testing a web-based application. Once all the fields are entered on the one of the pages, we had Print Preview button. If the user clicks this button, we were supposed see the same information in a new window in PDF format. While looking at the data in PDF file, there were some fields missing, for example, Date of Birth was missing in the PDF file.

48. Tell me about the worst boss you’ve ever had. (Here, you should be careful not to say any negative words about the past boss. This will give a reflection that you cannot work with different nature of people. You should be able to show them that you can cope with any king of boss. Therefore, just take an idea below how the answer should be.)

Answer: I can hardly think of any Manager that was really bad. But when I compare, then I remember of a Test Lead who was just made a lead from the developers team. She used to feel that she has been very proud of her position and used to boss around. Some times, she used to call home and check where I was and what I was doing. Or have I completed my job before leaving and so on. I think, whatever she did, was in the benefit of the company and myself in the long run which would give me more confidence in future.

49. What do you like about QA?

Answer: The best thing I like about QA is, I like the job which is more process oriented. For example, we have to work right from reading the requirement documents, providing feedback to the Business Analysts as necessary, writing test plans, test cases, execute the test cases, interaction with different developers, attend walk-through meeting and so on. I am a very detailed oriented person. When I test applications, I try to get into the depth of functionality so that I don’t miss out anything. Finally, I love logging defects.

50. What are all the basic elements in a defect report?

Answer: The basic elements in a defect report are: Defect ID, Header, Description, Defect Reported by, Date, Status, Version, Assigned to, Approved by, Module where the defect was found and so on.

51. What is the difference between verification and validation?

Verification: Verification is a process to ensure that the software that is made, matches the original design. In other words, it checks whether the software is made according to the criteria and specification described in the requirement document. It is to check whether you built the product right as per design. It is a low level checking. (It is done in walk-through meetings generally). It checked whether it is made accordingly to the design..

Validation: Validation is a process to check whether the product design fits the client’s need. It checks whether you built the right thing. It checks whether it is designed properly.

52. How do you know it is sufficient testing?

Answer: Every company has entry and exit criteria. When we test applications, we refer to exit criteria. When we are about to finish testing, then the QA Team (QA Manager) refers to the exit criteria (exit criteria tells the level of defect that you can be comfortable with before it goes to production. For example, there should be ZERO critical defect, ZERO high level defect, ZERO medium defect, 1 Low level defect, all the test cases must be 100% executed etc). Once the exit criteria meet the requirements, then the software is considered to be sufficiently tested.

Every company has entry and exit criteria. When we test applications, we refer to exit criteria. When we are about to finish testing, then the QA Team (QA Manager) refers to the exit criteria (exit criteria tells the level of defect that you can be comfortable with before it goes to production. For example, there should be ZERO critical defect, ZERO high level defect, ZERO medium defect, 1 Low level defect, all the test cases must be 100% executed etc). Once the exit criteria meet the requirements, then the software is considered to be sufficiently tested.

53. How to derive test scenarios and use cases? What are the contents and format?

Answer: Test scenarios are derived from requirement documents. We follow each and every functionality (called business rules) mentioned in the requirement document. One functionality can have multiple business rules. For example, let us say in there is one requirement called “Login”. This “Login” may have various scenarios. For example, one scenario is, enter the right User ID and wrong password. The system should display an error message. Another scenario would be to enter wrong User ID and right Password. The system should display an error message. The third scenario could be to enter the right User Name and right Password. The system should allow the user to get into the system. This is how the test cases are derived from the requirement documents or from the Use Cases.

(For contents for formats of test scenario, please refer to question 4 in qaquestions.com)

54. What are the types of test cases that you write?

Answer: We write test cases for smoke testing, integration testing, functional testing, regression testing, load testing, stress testing, system testing and so on.

55. How to write Integration test cases?

Answer: I have never written separate Test Cases Integration Testing. Since Integration Testing is a test to check whether the all the modules are integrated together or not (meaning that when the developers compile all their module and make a build, all modules should be working when they are combined together and those modules when combined, should work as expected). If they are not integrated (combined) in a nice way, then the application breaks. Basically, when we do the functional testing, the integration testing is automatically done. This is my experience.

56. How to write Regression test cases? What are the criteria?

Answer: Regression test cases are also based on the requirement documents. They are written more into detail and with every release (build), the testers need to do regression testing. The criteria for regression testing are; there should be no major defects while we do our smoke test and functional testing.

57. Is there a format for a test case? Do you follow any methodology for numbering test cases?

Answer: Yes. It depends upon the company how the company has followed the numbering of test cases. However, normally, it is just a simple numbering in most of the time (see question 4 of qaquestions.com). But some companies may also relate this numbering to the requirement number. For example, if the requirement for Login is “REQ-LOG-001”, then we can number the test cases like REQ-LOG-001-001 and so on.

58. What is Test Harness?

Answer: (Definition from www.wikipedia.org) “In software testing, a test harness or automated test framework is a collection of software and test data configured to test a program unit by running it under varying conditions and monitor its behavior and outputs. It has two main parts: the test execution engine and the test script repository.”

59. How to write User Acceptance Test plan & test cases?

Answer: The way of writing Test Plan and Test Cases is the same in all the test phases. However, specifically for User Acceptance Testing, the testers use data nearly real data (meaning that the data is very much similar to the production data or real data). For the format, please refer to question 3 and 4 in qaquestions.com.

60. What are the different matrices that you follow?

Answer: There are various reports we normally prepare in QA:

• Test summary Report – It is a report that has list of the total test cases, list of executed test cases, remaining test case to be executed, executed date, pass/fail

• Defect Report – In this report we normally prepare a list of defect in spreadsheet e.g. defect # CQ12345 [ if you log a defect in the application called Rational ClearQuest]

• Traceability Matrix [also called RTM (Requirement Traceability Matrix)] Report – the document which shows the relationship between the functionalities or the business rules and the test cases. So, with the help of Traceability Matrix we make sure that we includes all the functionalities in our test cases according to the requirement document.

61. Explain Bug Life Cycle.

Answer: I would describe this as below:

A Tester finds a defect and logs it. (But before you log it, you must try to recreate it for 3 or 4 times so that you are 100% sure that it is a bug)

The defect is now approved or disapproved by the Test Lead.

(If it is disapproved, then the test lead will come to you ask for more details and you have explain to him why it is a bug)

After the Test Lead approves the bug, it is now assigned to a development Team Lead (or Development Manager). He/she now assigns that bug to the concerned developer. The developer now looks into the bug and fixes it. Once the fix is ready, there will be another build ready to test. The tester now tests the defect. It the defect is fixed, then the tester closes the defect, if not then the test will reopen it and same cycle starts.Defect Life Cycle

62. What will you do if developer does not accept the bug?

Answer: If the developer does not accept the defect, then he will reject it. Once it is rejected, then it comes back to the tester. Now, the tester will ask for clarification with the developer why the defect is rejected. Since everything is based on the requirement documents, both tester and developer will have to look at the requirement document, validate it and then reopen it if necessary or close.

63. What are the different tests that can be done for Client Server Application and Web-based Application. Give details.

Answer: For both client server and web based applications, the testing is the same except one thing: We test web based applications in different browsers, for example, Internet Explorer (will test in different versions like IE 5.0, IE 6.0, IE 7.0), Firefox, Safari (for Mac) and so on where as for client server, we don’t need to test in the browsers.

64. What is an inspection?

Answer: An inspection is a formal meeting, more formalized than a walkthrough and typically consists of 3-10 people including a moderator, reader (the author of whatever is being reviewed) and a recorder (to make notes in the document). The subject of the inspection is typically a document, such as a requirements document or a test plan. The purpose of an inspection is to find problems and see what is missing, not to fix anything. The result of the meeting should be documented in a written report. Attendees should prepare for this type of meeting by reading through the document, before the meeting starts; most problems are found during this preparation. Preparation for inspections is difficult, but is one of the most cost-effective methods of ensuring quality, since bug prevention is more cost effective than bug detection.

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

Answer: Poorly written requirements, unrealistic schedules, inadequate testing, adding new features after development is underway and poor communication. Requirements are poorly written when requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general, or not testable; therefore there will be problems. The schedule is unrealistic if too much work is crammed in too little time.

Software testing is inadequate if none knows whether or not the software is any good until customers complain or the system crashes. It’s extremely common that new features are added after development is underway.

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

66. What is the role of documentation in QA?

Answer: 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.

67. What if the software is so buggy it can’t be tested at all?

Answer: In this situation the best bet is to have test engineers go through the process of reporting whatever bugs or problems initially show up, with the focus being on critical bugs. Since this type of problem can severely affect schedules and indicates deeper problems in the software development process, such as insufficient unit testing, insufficient integration testing, poor design, improper build or release procedures, managers should be notified and provided with some documentation as evidence of the problem.

68. How do you know when to stop testing?

Answer: 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.

69. What if there isn’t enough time for thorough testing?

Answer: Since it’s rarely possible to test every possible aspect of an application, every possible combination of events, every dependency, or everything that could go wrong, risk analysis is appropriate to most software development projects. Use risk analysis to determine where testing should be focused. This requires judgment skills, common sense and experience. The checklist should include answers to the following questions:

• Which functionality is most important to the project’s intended purpose?

• Which functionality is most visible to the user?

• Which functionality has the largest safety impact?

• Which functionality has the largest financial impact on users?

• Which aspects of the application are most important to the customer?

• Which aspects of the application can be tested early in the development cycle?

• Which parts of the code are most complex and thus most subject to errors?

• Which parts of the application were developed in rush or panic mode?

• Which aspects of similar/related previous projects caused problems?

• Which aspects of similar/related previous projects had large maintenance expenses?

• Which parts of the requirements and design are unclear or poorly thought out?

• What do the developers think are the highest-risk aspects of the application?

• What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity?

• What kinds of problems would cause the most customer service complaints?

• What kinds of tests could easily cover multiple functionalities?

• Which tests will have the best high-risk-coverage to time-required ratio?

70. What can be done if requirements are changing continuously?

Answer: Work with management early on to understand how requirements might change, so that alternate test plans and strategies can be worked out in advance. It is helpful if the application’s initial design allows for some adaptability, so that later changes do not require redoing the application from scratch. Additionally, try to… • Ensure the code is well commented and well documented; this makes changes easier

for the developers.

• Use rapid prototyping whenever possible; this will help customers feel sure of their

requirements and minimize changes.

• In the project’s initial schedule, allow for some extra time to commensurate with

probable changes.

• Move new requirements to a ‘Phase 2′ version of an application and use the original

requirements for the ‘Phase 1′ version.

• Negotiate to allow only easily implemented new requirements into the project; move

more difficult, new requirements into future versions of the application.

• Ensure customers and management understand scheduling impacts, inherent risks and

costs of significant requirements changes. Then let management or the customers

decide if the changes are warranted; after all, that’s their job.

• Balance the effort put into setting up automated testing with the expected effort

required to redo them to deal with changes.

• Design some flexibility into automated test scripts;

• Focus initial automated testing on application aspects that are most likely to remain

unchanged;

• Devote appropriate effort to risk analysis of changes, in order to minimize regression-

testing needs;

• Design some flexibility into test cases; this is not easily done; the best bet is to minimize the detail in the test cases, or set up only higher-level generic-type test plans;

• Focus less on detailed test plans and test cases and more on ad-hoc testing with an understanding of the added risk this entails.

71. What if the application has functionality that wasn’t in the requirements?

Answer: It may take serious effort to determine if an application has significant unexpected or hidden functionality, which it would indicate deeper problems in the software development process. If the functionality isn’t necessary to the purpose of the application, it should be removed, as it may have unknown impacts or dependencies that were not taken into account by the designer or the customer.

If not removed, design information will be needed to determine added testing needs or regression testing needs. Management should be made aware of any significant added risks as a result of the unexpected functionality. If the functionality only affects areas, such as minor improvements in the user interface, it may not be a significant risk.

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

Answer: 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.

73. What is parallel/audit testing?

Answer: 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. Let us say, for example, the currently software is in the mainframe system which calculates the interest rate. The company wants to change this mainframe system to web-based application. While testing the new web based application, we need to verify that the web-based application calculates the same interest rate. This is parallel testing.

74. What is system testing?

Answer: 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.

Upon completion of integration testing, system testing is started. Before system testing, all unit and integration test results are reviewed by Software QA to ensure all problems have been resolved. For a higher level of testing it is important to understand unresolved problems that originate at unit and integration test levels. You CAN learn system testing, with little or no outside help. Get CAN get free information. Click on a link!

75. What is end-to-end testing?

Answer: 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.

76. What is security/penetration testing?

Answer: 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.

77. What is recovery/error testing?

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

78. What is compatibility testing?

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

79. What is comparison testing?

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

80. What is acceptance testing?

Answer: 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.

81. What is a Test/QA Team Lead?

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

82. What is software testing methodology?

Answer: 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 in ongoing maintenance of his customers’ applications.

83. What is the general testing process?

Answer: 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.

84. How do you create a test strategy?

Answer: 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. Inputs for this process:

• A description of the required hardware and software components, including test tools. This information comes from the test environment, including test tool data.

• A description of roles and responsibilities of the resources required for the test and schedule constraints. This information comes from man-hours and schedules.

• Testing methodology. This is based on known standards.

• Functional and technical requirements of the application. This information comes from requirements, change request, technical and functional design documents.

• Requirements that the system can not provide, e.g. system limitations. Outputs for this process:

• An approved and signed off test strategy document, test plan, including test cases.

• Testing issues requiring resolution. Usually this requires additional negotiation at the project management level.

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

Answer: 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.

Test data is captured and base lined, prior to testing. This data serves as the foundation for unit and system testing and used to exercise system functionality in a controlled environment.

Some output data is also base-lined for future comparison. Base-lined data is used to support future application maintenance via regression testing.

A pretest meeting is held to assess the readiness of the application and the environment and data to be tested. A test readiness document is created to indicate the status of the entrance criteria of the release.

Inputs for this process:

Approved Test Strategy Document.

Test tools, or automated test tools, if applicable.

Previously developed scripts, if applicable.

Test documentation problems uncovered as a result of testing.

A good understanding of software complexity and module path coverage, derived from general and detailed design documents, e.g. software design document, source code and software complexity data.

Outputs for this process:

Approved documents of test scenarios, test cases, test conditions and test data.

Reports of software design issues, given to software developers for correction.

86. How do you execute tests?

Answer: 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.

After a particular level of testing has been certified, it is the responsibility of the Configuration Manager to coordinate the migration of the release software components to the next test level, as documented in the Configuration Management Plan. The software is only migrated to the production environment after the Project Manager’s formal acceptance.

87. What testing approaches can you tell me about?

Answer: Each of the followings represents a different testing approach:

Black box testing,

White box testing,

Unit testing,

Incremental testing,

Integration testing,

Functional testing,

System testing,

End-to-end testing,

Sanity testing,

Regression testing,

Acceptance testing,

Load testing,

Performance testing,

Usability testing,

Install/uninstall testing,

Recovery testing,

Security testing,

Compatibility testing,

Exploratory testing, ad-hoc testing,

User acceptance testing,

Comparison testing,

Alpha testing,

Beta testing, and

Mutation testing.

88. How do you divide the application into different sections to create scripts?

Answer: First of all, the application is divided in different parts when a business analyst writes the requirement document (or Use Cases or Design Document), he/she writes EACH requirement document for EACH module. Let us say, if there are 12 different modules in an application that a business analyst has written the requirements for, then a tester would write the test cases for each module, which means in 12 different sections. This is the standard practice. There might be scenarios where you might have to break down scripts into sub-categories. For example, if a tester is writing a script for Login Page, he/she might write one for positive and negative testing and another sub-set of test cases would be for error message when the wrong information is entered. In short, the test cases are divided according to the modules.

(The following questions were asked to Padma in one of her interviews very recently)

(This question is asked to check how ambitious you are as far as your career is concerned, whether you like the job you are doing and so on. Therefore, no matter what, you should stick to your QA job at this point and say that you love this so much and your goal is some thing similar to the one below)

What is your salary requirement?

$70k (negotiable), or ($35 per hour)

Please provide information (an example) of your experience testing Linux and UNIX environments (including type of system tested, how tested, actual commands and steps used for test) Testing applications using Linux and UNIX.

Answer: I have tested applications using UNIX. For every backend testing I have done in the past, I have used UNIX platform while performing backend testing. For example, when the data is fed into the system in the front end, that data goes to the database after the batch processing. From the database, the data is now sent to the ETL system (in XML format) for data manipulation as per our need (ETL is a software tool of Ab Initio company which is used to manipulate data in the data warehouse). In the ETL system, we manipulate those data according to our need), for example, it could be income statement of the company, balance sheet, monthly reports, and so on. In order to produce income statement, we need to run a job in ETL. To run this job, we use UNIX. In the same way, different types of jobs are created for each need (creating balance sheet is another job, creating reports is next job etc) then I had to run different jobs in the ETL system. Once we run the job, the running job finally creates an output file which is now validated by us tester. This output file can be in text format or GUI format. Thus, this is the scenario where I had to use UNIX. (I have used Linux much, however, since UNIX and Linux are the same thing, I should have no problem in using Linux)

Some of the commands I used while testing using UNIX are;

Ls –l ———>to check the file list

Pwd———-> to see which directory I am in

Cd ———–>change the directory

Cd .. ———>change the directory one level up

Mkdir ———>make a directory

Rmdir ———>Delete the directory

setenv name v ——>Set environment

kill% ——–>Kill the running job

vi ———>editor Used to write scripts

more——-> to see the contents page by page

cat —–>list contents of the file

chmod ——–>change permission

cp ——–>copy

rm —–>delete a file

The following are the some of the things that a tester has to know (but may not be asked in the interview)What is a cookie? (You must know how to clean cookies)

A small text file of information that certain Web sites attach to a user’s hard drive while the user is browsing the Web site. A Cookie can contain information such as user ID, user preferences, archive shopping cart information, etc. Cookies can contain Personally Identifiable Information.

Does a tester have to know about cookie?

Yes. A tester has to know HOW TO CLEAN cookies (Does not have to know the difinition)

How to clean cookies?

Cookies are cleaned in the browsers like IE (Internet Explorer), Firefox, Safari (for MAC and windows both), Netscape and so on.

However, the mostly used (90%) browser is IE (Internet Explorer)

Here is how you clean cookies in IE (Internet Explorer):

1. Open IE (Internet Explorer)

2. On the menu, click Tools–>Internet Options–>Click Delete button (It is in General Tab)

(You will see different buttons now, for example, Delete Files, Delete Cookies, Delete History, Delete Forms, Delete Passwords,

Delete All).

3. Click Delete All button.

Now the cookies are cleaned in IE.

Here is how you can clean cookies in Fire Fox:

1. Open Firefox Brower.

2. Click Tools.

3. Click Error Console.

4. Click Clear.

Now the cookies are cleaned in Firefox.

What are different types of protocols?

-Generally, a Tester does NOT necessarily have to know different types of protocols. This is Network Engineers job. However, if you want to know more for your knowledge, you can visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_network_protocols.

What is Web Architecture?

-A tester does not necessarily have to know this unless you are a very Senior Tester testing networks and doing some kind of development. However, if you want to know more about it, please visit: http://www.objs.com/survey/WebArch.htmDoes a Tester need SQL?

Answer: Yes. For a Tester, SQL is needed. I had the same question in mind becore I came to the actual implication-what is SQL used for? And now, I know that when we do the backend testing (see qaquestions.com for details), we need to write SQL queries to retrieve the data from the database and compare this data to the one with reports or output. Another scenario is, if something goes wrong in the application, for example, if there is an error, then we might have to write SQL queries to retrieve the data from the database and check what went wrong. Let’s say, we need to check in the Error Log table what went wrong. To check this, we open the database, go to Error Log table and find out that happened. In the Error Log table, there are many records, so which one is your error then? To find out which one is yours, we need to write SQL queries. Example, you logged in to the application with User and password=sn992jj. Now, to retrieve your record, you can write a query some thing like this: select * from Error_Log where userID=devin99; This query will retriev your record only so that you can see what happened.

What is a ‘Show Stopper’?

A show stopper is a defect or bug that stops the user for further action (testing). It has no work around. In other words, it stops every thing and the user cannot go any futher. This is called show stopper in software industry languague. (This is not an interview questions, but you have to know this terminology)

Some GlossaryTest Plan, Test Case, Test Script, Requirement Document, Design Document, Shared Drive, Network Driver, Share Point, System, Build Configuration Management Team, Defect, Log, Automation Tools, TestDirector, Quality Center, ClearQuest, ClearCase, Rational Robot, Rational Functional Tester, WinRunner, LoadRunner, Business Objects, Crystal Reports, SQA, QA

Answer: My goal is to be QA Lead (or QA Manager) in near future.

90. What are you expecting from our company?

Answer: My expectation from you company would be I will have more challenges and new things to learn and whatever the skills I have to contribute, hopefully, I will be able to contribute if they are in any way helpful to enhance productivity of the company.

91. What did you learn from your previous companies?

Answer: I learned a lot from the previous companies wherever I have worked. Wherever I have worked, I found out the there is always something to learn. Different companies have different ways of working. The environment and technology always differ from one company to another company. I have never found one company’s environment matching with another company. For example, if one company is using documents called requirement documents, then the other company might be using Use Cases and some companies might be using Design Document and so on. Therefore, in my experience, there are always new things to learn in every company and we can always contribute these thing in the next company if they help to be more productive.

92. What do you want to be in next 2 years?

Answer: I want to be QA Lead in another two years.

Why QA Lead? Why not something else?

Answer: QA is the only thing I love doing it. I love this job and want to progress in this sector. I want to know how to manage QA process, how to handle different jobs and so on. Since the next step is the QA Lead, that would preferably be one I will targeting for.

93. Why do you want to work for this company?

Answer: (This is a tricky question. They want to know what really interests you and you have to be careful when you answer this question. You must admire the line of that company. For example, if you are being interviewed by a pharmaceutical company, then tell them that you are always interested in the medical applications and the better part of your company is that it has exciting products that I am really curious to learn. That’s why I would feel really great if I am given the opportunity to work in your company)

94. Did you get any compliments from your previous employers? What were those situations?

Answer: Yes. I did. There were many occasions where I had compliments. For example, I was testing an application going a little bit off my test cases. After I finished executing my test cases, I always think in a way what a real user would possibally click in various parts of the application. So I was just clicking back and forth and at one specific scenario, the application simply broke and displayed an error message. That scenario was not in the test cases. The manager really appreciated me and thanked for finding this kind of critical defect. Answer: Yes. I did. There were many occasions where I had compliments. For example, I was testing an application going a little bit off my test cases. After I finished executing my test cases, I always think in a way what a real user would possibally click in various parts of the application. So I was just clicking back and forth and at one specific scenario, the application simply broke and displayed an error message. That scenario was not in the test cases. The manager really appreciated me and thanked for finding this kind of critical defect.

What are your strengths?

Answer: I am a very detailed oriented person. I have the sense of urgency. I can prioritize my job according to the deadline. I am very much dedicated towards my job. I am honest. I have the skills and expertise in QA process. These are some of my strengths.

What is your weakness?

Answer: I think my weakness is that whenever I am given some responsibilities and there is a deadline for it, I work day and night, 7 days a week. This is probably bad for my family life, but I can’t sleep unless I am done with my assignments.(Note: You should think of your weakness where because of your weakness (like the one above), still the employer benefits. DON’T SAY anything negative thing, like “I cannot work long hours, it is hard for me pick up things, it is difficult for me to understand requirement documents etc)

89. What is your goal?

Ans: My goal in the next 4 years is to be a QA Manager.

90. What is RTM (Requirement Traceability Matrix)?

Answer – Tractability matrix is used to cross check the test cases as per the requirement of the test cases. In other words, it checks whether the each functionality is covered in the Test Cases as per requirement document. (We create RTM using Quality Center tool)

Generic Selenium Webdriver Interview Questions and Answers

2014-08-21T02:55:00.003-07:00

Generic Selenium Webdriver Interview Questions and Answers

Question 1:

What is Selenium?

Answer:

Selenium is a browser automation tool which lets you automated operations like – type, click, and selection from a drop down of a web page.

Question 2:

How is Selenium different from commercial browser automation tools?

Answer:

Selenium is a library which is available in a gamut of languages i.e. java, C#, python, ruby, php etc while most commercial tools are limited in their capabilities of being able to use just one language. More over many of those tools have their own proprietary language which is of little use outside the domain of those tools. Most commercial tools focus on record and replay while Selenium emphasis on using Selenium IDE (Selenium record and replay) tool only to get acquainted with Selenium working and then move on to more mature Selenium libraries like Remote control (Selenium 1.0) and Web Driver (Selenium 2.0).

Though most commercial tools have built in capabilities of test reporting, error recovery mechanisms and Selenium does not provide any such features by default. But given the rich set of languages available with Selenium it very easy to emulate such features.

Question3:

What are the set of tools available with Selenium?

Answer:

Selenium has four set of tools – Selenium IDE, Selenium 1.0 (Selenium RC), Selenium 2.0 (WebDriver) and Selenium Grid. Selenium Core is another tool but since it is available as part of Selenium IDE as well as Selenium 1.0, it is not used in isolation.

Question 4:

Which Selenium Tool should I use?

Answer:

It entirely boils down to where you stand today in terms of using Selenium. If you are entirely new to Selenium then you should begin with Selenium IDE to learn Selenium location strategies and then move to Selenium 2 as it is the most stable Selenium library and future of Selenium. Use Selenium Grid when you want to distribute your test across multiple devices. If you are already using Selenium 1.0 than you should begin to migrate your test scripts to Selenium 2.0

Question 5:

What is Selenium IDE?

Answer:

Selenium IDE is a firefox plug-in which is (by and large) used to record and replay test is firefox browser. Selenium IDE can be used only with firefox browser.

Question 6:

Which language is used in Selenium IDE?

Answer:

Selenium IDE uses html sort of language called Selenese. Though other languages (java, c#, php etc) cannot be used with Selenium IDE, Selenium IDE lets you convert test in these languages so that they could be used with Selenium 1.0 or Selenium 2.0

Question 7:

What is Selenium 1.0?

Answer:

Selenium 1.0 or Selenium Remote Control (popularly known as Selenium RC) is library available in wide variety of languages. The primary reason of advent of Selenium RC was incapability of Selenium IDE to execute tests in browser other than Selenium IDE and the programmatical limitations of language Selenese used in Selenium IDE.

Question 8:

What is Selenium 2.0?

Answer:

Selenium 2.0 also known as WebDriver is the latest offering of Selenium. It provides

· better API than Selenium 1.0

· does not suffer from java script security restriction which Selenium 1.0 does

· supports more UI complicated UI operations like drag and drop

Question 9:

What are the element locators available with Selenium which could be used to locate elements on web page?

Answer:

There are mainly 4 locators used with Selenium –

· html id

· html name

· XPath locator and

· Css locators

Question 10:

What is Selenium Grid?

Answer:

Selenium grid lets you distribute your tests on multiple machines and all of them at the same time. Hence you can execute test on IE on Windows and Safari on Mac machine using the same test script (well, almost always). This greatly helps in reducing the time of test execution and provides quick feedback to stack holders.

Selenium IDE Questions

Question 11:

What are two modes of views in Selenium IDE?

Answer:

Selenium IDE can be opened either in side bar (View > Side bar > Selenium IDE) or as a pop up window (Tools > Selenium IDE). While using Selenium IDE in browser side bar it cannot record user operations in a pop up window opened by application.

Question 12:

Can I control the speed and pause test execution in Selenium IDE?

Answer:

Selenium IDE provides a slider with Slow and Fast pointers to control the speed of execution.

Question 13:

Where do I see the results of Test Execution in Selenium IDE?

Answer:

Result of test execution can be views in log window in Selenium IDE –

Question 14:

Where do I see the description of commands used in Selenium IDE?

Answer:

Commands of description can be seen in Reference section –

Question 15:

Can I build test suite using Selenium IDE?

Answer:

Yes, you can first record individual test cases and then group all of them in a test suite. Following this entire test suite could be executed instead of executing individual tests.

Question 16:

What verification points are available with Selenium?

Answer:

There are largely three type of verification points available with Selenium –

· Check for page title

· Check for certain text

· Check for certain element (text box, drop down, table etc)

Question 17:

I see two types of check with Selenium – verification and assertion, what’s the difference between tow?

Answer:

· A verification check lets test execution continue even in the wake of failure with check, while assertion stops the test execution. Consider an example of checking text on page, you may like to use verification point and let test execution continue even if text is not present. But for a login page, you would like to add assertion for presence of text box login as it does not make sense continuing with test execution if login text box is not present.

Question 18:

I don’t see check points added to my tests while using Selenium IDEL, how do I get them added to my tests?

Answer:

You need to use context menu to add check points to your Selenium IDE tests –

Question 19:

How do I edit tests in Selenium IDE?

Answer:

There are two ways to edit tests in Selenium IDE; one is the table view while other looking into the source code of recorded commands –

Question 20:

What is syntax of command used in Selenium?

Answer:

There are three entities associated with a command –

· Name of Command

· Element Locator (also known as Target)

· Value (required when using echo, wait etc)

Question 21:

There are tons of Selenium Command, am I going to use all of them

Answer:

This entirely boils down to operations you are carrying out with Selenium. Though you would definitely be using following Selenium Commands more often –

· Open: opens a web page.

· click/clickAndWait: click on an element and waits for a new page to load.

· Select: Selects a value from a drop down value.

· verifyTitle/assertTitle: verifies/asserts page title.

· verify/assert ElementPresent: verifies/asserts presence of element, in the page.

· verify/assert TextPresent verifies/asserts expected text is somewhere on the page.

Question 22:

How do I use html id and name while using Selenium IDE

Answer:

Html id and name can be used as it is in selenium IDE. For example Google search box has name – “q” and id – “list-b” and they can be used as target in selenium IDE –

Question 23:

What is XPath? When would I have to use XPath in Selenium IDE?

Answer:

XPath is a way to navigate in xml document and this can be used to identify elements in a web page. You may have to use XPath when there is no name/id associated with element on page or only partial part of name/ide is constant.

Direct child is denoted with - /

Relative child is denoted with - //

Id, class, names can also be used with XPath –

· //input[@name=’q’]

· //input[@id=’lst-ib’]

· //input[@class=’ lst’]

If only part of id/name/class is constant than “contains” can be used as –

· //input[contains(@id,'lst-ib')]

Question 24:

What is CSS location strategy in Selenium?

Answer:

CSS location strategy can be used with Selenium to locate elements, it works using cascade style sheet location methods in which -

Direct child is denoted with – (a space)

Relative child is denoted with - >

Id, class, names can also be used with XPath –

· css=input[name=’q’]

· css=input[id=’lst-ib’] or input#lst-ib

· css=input[class=’ lst’] or input.lst

If only part of id/name/class is constant than “contains” can be used as –

· css=input[id*=' lst-ib ')]

Element location strategy using inner text

· css = a:contains(‘log out’)

Question 25:

There is id, name, XPath, CSS locator, which one should I use?

Answer:

If there are constant name/id available than they should be used instead of XPath and CSS locators. If not then css locators should be given preference as their evaluation is faster than XPath in most modern browsers.

Question 26:

I want to generate random numbers, dates as my test data, how do I do this in Selenium IDE?

Answer:

This can be achieved by executing java script in Selenium. Java script can be executed using following syntax –

type

css=input#s

javascript{Math.random()}

And for date –

type

css=input#s

javascript{new Date()}

Question 27:

Can I store result of an evaluation and use it later in my test?

Answer:

You can use “store” command to achieve this. You can save result of an evaluation in a variable and use it later in your Selenium IDE script. For example we can store value from a text box as following, and later use it to type it in another text box –

storeText

css=input#s

var1

type

css=input#d

${var1}

Question 28:

I have stored result of an evaluation; can I print it in IDE to check its value?

Answer:

You can use echo command as following to check the stored value in Selenium IDE –

storeText

css=input#s

var1

echo

${var1}

Question 29:

Can I handle java script alert using Selenium?

Answer

You could use verify/assertAlert to check presence of alert on page. Since selenium cannot click on “Ok” button on js alert window, the alert itself does not appear on page when this check is carried out.

Question 30:

Selenium has recorded my test using XPath, how do I change them to css locator?

Answer

You can use drop down available next to Find in Selenium to change element locator used by Selenium –

Question 31:

I have written my own element locator, how do I test it?

Answer

You can use Find button of Selenium IDE to test your locator. Once you click on it, you would see element being highlighted on screen provided your element locator is right Else one error message would be displayed in log window.

Question 32:

I have written one js extension; can I plug it in Selenium and use it?

Answer

You could specify you js extension in “Options” window of Selenium IDE –

Question 33:

How do I convert my Selenium IDE tests from Selenese to another language?

Answer

You could use Format option of Selenium IDE to convert tests in another programming language –

Question 34:

I have converted my Selenium IDE tests to java but I am not able to execute themL, execution options as well as Table tab of Selenium IDE is disabledLL

Answer

This is because Selenium IDE does not support execution of test in any other language than Selenese (language of Selenium IDE). You can convert Selenium IDE in a language of your choice and then use Selenium 1.0 to execute these tests in that language.

Question 35:

I want to use only Selenese as my test script language but still want to execute tests in other browsers, how do I do that?

Answer

You can execute you Selenese test in another browser by specifying the “-htmlSuite” followed by path of your Selenese suite while starting the Selenium Server. Selenium Server would be covered in details in question about Selenium RC.

Question 36:

I have added one command in middle of list of commands, how do I test only this new command?

Answer

You can double click on newly added command and Selenium IDE would execute only that command in browser.

Question 37:

Can I make Selenium IDE tests begin test execution from a certain command and not from the very first command?

Answer

You could set a command as “start” command from context menu. When a command is set as start command then a small green symbol appears before command. Same context menu can be used to toggle this optio

Question 38:

Are there other tools available outside Selenium IDE to help me tests my element locators

Answer

You could XPath checker - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/xpath-checker/ to test you XPath locators and Firefinder (a firebug add on) to test you css locators –

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firefinder-for-firebug/

Firefinder can also be used to test XPath locators.

Question 39:

What is upcoming advancement in Selenium IDE?

Answer

The latest advancement in Selenium IDE would be to have capabilities of converting Selenium IDE tests in Webdriver (Selenium 2.0) options. This would help generating quick and dirty tests for Selenium 2.0

Question 40:

How can I use looping option (flow control) is Selenium IDE

Answer

Selenese does not provide support for looping, but there is extension which could be used to achieve same. This extension can be download from here - http://51elliot.blogspot.com/2008/02/selenium-ide-goto.html

This extension can be added under “Selenium IDE Extension” section to use loop feature in Selenium IDE.

Question 41:

Can I use screen coordinate while using click command? I want to click at specific part of my element.

Answer

You would need to use clickAT command to achieve. clickAt command accepts element locator and x, y coordinates as arguments –

clickAt(locator, coordString)

Question 42:

How do I verify presence of drop down options using Selenium?

Answer

Use assertSelectOptions as following to check options in a drop down list –

assertSelectOptions

Question 43:

Can I get data from a specific html table cell using Selenium IDE?

Answer

Use storeTable command to get data from a specific cell in an html table, following example store text from cell 0,4 from an html table –

storeTable

css=#tableId.0.4

textFromCell

Question 44:

I want to make Selenium IDE record and display css locator followed by other locators, is it possible to give high priority to css locator in Selenium IDE?

Answer

You can change default behavior of Selenium IDE > element locator preference by crating js file with following–

LocatorBuilders.order = ['css:name', 'css:id', 'id', 'link', 'name', 'xpath:attributes'];

And add this file under “Selenium IDE Extension” under Selenium Options.

Question 45:

My application has dynamic alerts which don’t always appear, how do I handle them?

Answer

If you want to simulate clicking “ok “ on alert than use – chooseOkOnNextConfirmation and if you want to simulate clicking “cancel” on alert than use - chooseCancelOnNextConfirmation ( )

Question 46:

Can I right click on a locator?

Answer

You can use command - contextMenu ( locator) to simulate right click on an element in web page.

Question 47:

How do I capture screen shot of page using Selenium IDE?

Answer

Use command – captureEntirePageScreenshot to take screen shot of page.

Question 48:

I want to pause my test execution after certain command.

Answer

Use pause command which takes time in milliseconds and would pause test execution for specified time – pause ( waitTime )

Question 49:

I used open command to launch my page, but I encountered time out errorL

Answer

This happens because open commands waits for only 30 seconds for page to load. If you application takes more than 30 sec then you can use “setTimeout ( timeout )” to make selenium IDE wait for specified time, before proceeding with test execution.

Question 50:

What’s the difference between type and typeKeys commands?

Answer

type command simulates enter operations at one go while typeKeys simulates keystroke key by key.

typeKeys could be used when typing data in text box which bring options (like Google suggestion list) because such operation are not usually simulated using type command.

Selenium RC (Selenium 1.0) Questions

Question 51:

What is Selenium RC (also known as Selenium 1.0)?

Answer

Selenium RC is an offering from SeleniumHQ which tries to overcome following draw backs of Selenium IDE –

· Able to execute tests only with Firefox

· Not able to use full-fledged programming language and being limited to Selenese

Question 52:

What are the main components of Selenium RC?

Answer

Selenium RC has two primary components –

· Client libraries which let you writes tests in language of your preference i.e. java, C#, perl, php etc

· Selenium sever which acts as a proxy between browser and application under test (aut)

Question 53:

Why do I need Selenium Server?

Answer

Selenium uses java script to drives tests on a browser; Selenium injects its own js to the response which is returned from aut. But there is a java script security restriction (same origin policy) which lets you modify html of page using js only if js also originates from the same domain as html. This security restriction is of utmost important but spoils the working of Selenium. This is where Selenium server comes to play an important role.

Selenium server stands between aut and browser and injects selenium js to the response received from aut and then it is delivered to broswer. Hence browser believes that entire response was delivered from aut.

Question 54:

What is Selenium core? I have never used it!!!

Answer

Selenium core is the core js engine of Selenium which executes tests on browser, but because of same origin policy it needs to be deployed on app server itself, which is not always feasible. Hence Selenium core is not used in isolation. Selenium IDE as well as Selenium RC use Selenium core to drive tests while over coming same origin policy. In case of Selenium IDE tests are run in context of browser hence it is not hindered by same origin policy and with Selenium RC, Selenium Server over comes same origin policy.

Question 55:

Where is executable for Selenium RC, how do I install it?

Answer

Installation is a misnomer for Selenium RC. You don’t install Selenium RC you only add client libraries to you project. For example in case of java you add client driver and Selenium server jars in Eclipse or IntelliJ which are java editors.

Question 56:

I have downloaded Selenium Server and Client libraries, how do I start Selenium Server?

Answer

To start Selenium Server, you need to navigate to installation directory of Selenium server and execute following command –

Java -jar .jar

This will start Selenium server at port 4444 by default.

Notice that you need to have java version 1.5 or higher available on your system to be able to use Selenium server.

Question 57:

On my machine port 4444 is not freeL . How do Use another port?

Answer

You can specify port while running the selenium server as –

Java -jar .jar –port 5555

Question 58:

I am new to programming; can Selenium generate sample code from my Selenese scripts?

Answer

You can first record tests in Selenium IDE and then use format option to convert them in a language of your choice.

Question 59:

Can I start Selenium server from my program instead of command line

Answer

If you are using java then you can start Selenium server using SeleniumServer class. For this you need to instantiate SeleniumServer and then call start() method on it.

seleniumServer = new SeleniumServer();

seleniumServer.start();

Question 60:

And how do I start the browser?

Answer

While using java you need to create instance of DefaultSelenium class and pass it four parameters –

selenium = new DefaultSelenium(serverHost, serverPort, browser, appURL);

selenium.start();

Herein you need to pass,

host where Selenium server is running,

port of Selenium server,

browser where tests are to be executed and

application URL

Question 61:

I am not using java to program my tests, do I still have to install java on my system?

Answer

Yes, since Selenium server is written in java you need java to be installed on your system to be able to use it. Even though you might not be using java to program your tests.

Question 62:

What are the browsers offering from Selenium?

Answer

Following browsers could be used with Selenium –

*firefox

*firefoxproxy

*pifirefox

*chrome

*iexploreproxy

*iexplore

*firefox3

*safariproxy

*googlechrome

*konqueror

*firefox2

*safari

*piiexplore

*firefoxchrome

*opera

*iehta

*custom

Here pi and proxy stand for proxy injection mode of Selenium server

Question 63:

During execution of tests I see two browser windows; one my test application another window shows commands being executed. Can I limit it to just one window?

Answer

Yes you can instruct Selenium Server to launch just one window. To do so you must specify –singleWindow while starting the Selenium server as –

Java -jar .jar –singleWindow

Question 64:

My tests usually time outL. Can I specify bigger time out?

Answer

This usually happens while using open method with Selenium. One way to overcome this is to use setTimeOut method in your test script another way is to specify time out while starting Selenium server as following –

Java -jar .jar –timeout

Question 65:

My system is behind corporate network, how do I specify my corporate proxy?

Answer

You can specify your corporate proxy as following while starting Selenium Server –

java -jar .jar -Dhttp.proxyHost= -Dhttp.proxyPort= -Dhttp.proxyUser= -Dhttp.proxyPassword=

Question 66:

I am switching domains in my test scripts. I move from “yahoo.com” to “google.com” and my tests encounter permission denied errorL

Answer

Changing domains is also a security restriction from java script. To overcome this you should start you Selenium server in proxy injection mode as –

java -jar .jar –proxyInjectionMode

Now Selenium server would act as proxy server for all the content going to test application

Question 67:

Can I execute my Selenese tests in another browser using Selenium server? I want to use only Selenese script my tests but still want to execute my test in non firefox browsers

Answer

Yes you can. To do so you need to specify following parameters while starting Selenium server –

Browser

Test domain

Path to html suite (you Selenese tests) and

Path to result

java -jar <>.jar -htmlSuite

Question 68:

Can I log more options during test execution?

Answer

If you want to log browser side option during test execution then you should start Selenium server as following –

java -jar <>.jar –browserSideLog

Question 69:

Can I use Selenium RC on my UNIX/Mac also?

Answer

You can use Selenium RC on any system which is capable I running Java. Hence you can use it on RC and UNIX machines also

Question 70:

I want to test my scripts on new experimental browser, how do I do that?

Answer

You can specify *custom followed by path to browser to execute your tests on any browser while starting Selenium server

*custom

Question 71:

I executed my tests cases but where is the test report?

Answer

Selenium RC itself does not provide any mechanism for test reporting. Test reporting is driven from the framework you use for Selenium. For example with java client driver of Selenium –

· if you are using JUnit then you can use ant plug-in of JUnit to generate test report

· if you are using TestNG then TestNG generates reports for you

Same reporting option is available with PHP unit and other client libraries you are using.

Question 72:

How do I use recovery scenarios with Selenium? I used to use them with QTP.

Answer

Power of recovery scenarios lies with the programming language you use. If you are using java then you can use Exception handling to overcome same. For example if you are reading data from a file and file is not available then you should keep you code statements in “try catch” block so that test execution could continue even in the wake of errors. Such mechanism entirely boils down the errors you want to recover from, while being able to continue with test execution.

Question 73:

How do I iterate through options in my test script.

Answer

You can use loop features of the programming language, for example you can use “for” loop in java as following to type different test data in a text box –

// test data collection in an array

String[] testData = {"test1", "test2", "test3"};

// iterate through each test data

for (String s : testData) {

selenium.type(“elementLocator”, testData);

}

Question 74:

Can I execute java script from my tests? I want to count number of images on my page.

Answer

You can use method getEval() to evaluate java script. For example if you want to count number of images then you can pass following dom statement to getEval() as following –

selenium.getEval("window.document.images.length;");

Or to get All anchor objects from a page

selenium.getEval("window.document.getElementsByTagName(‘a’);");

Question 75:

Is there a way for me to know all available options when I start Selenium Server?

Answer

If you want to see all options available while starting Selenium server then you should use option “-h” while starting Selenium server -

Java –jar .jar –h

It would display you all the options which you can use while starting the Selenium server.

Question 76:

I have created my own firefox profile; can I execute my test scripts on it

Answer

You may like to create your own firefox profile because Selenium always created a clean firefox profile while executing the tests and none of your FF settings and plug-in are considered with this clean profile. If you want to execute tests on FF with your settings then you should create custom profile for FF.

To be able to execute tests on a custom firefox profile you should specify its path while starting Selenium server. For example if your new profile is stored at “awesome location” in your directory then you should start Selenium server as following –

Java –jar .jar -firefoxProfileTemplate "awesome location"

Question 77:

How do I capture server side log from Selenium server?

Answer

Start your Selenium Server as following –

java -jar .jar -log selenium.log

And Selenium would start logging server side info, i.e.

20:44:25 DEBUG [12] org.openqa.selenium.server.SeleniumDriverResourceHandler -

Browser 12345/:top frame1 posted START NEW

Question 78:

What are Heightened Privileges Browsers?

Answer

Firefox and IE have browser modes which are not restricted by java script’s same origin policy. These browsers are known as browsers with elevated security privileges. In case of Firefox it is known as chrome (It’s not the Google browser) and in case of IE it is known as iehta

Question 79:

My application has lots of pop up window, how do I work with them?

Answer

You need to know the Window ID of pop window to be able to work with them.

First you need to bring control on pop up window; execute selenium commands there, close the pop up window and then bring control back to main window. Consider following example where click on an image brings a pop up window –

// click on image brings pop up window

selenium.click("css=img");

// wait for pop up window identified using anchor target "ss"

selenium.waitForPopUp("ss", getWaitPeriod());

selenium.selectWindow("ss");

// Some more operations on popup window

// Close the pop up window and Select the main application window

// Main window is selected by adding null as argument

selenium.close();

selenium.selectWindow("null");

// continue with usual operation J

Question 80:

While trying to execute my tests with firefox I encountered following error – “Firefox Refused Shutdown While Preparing a Profile”. How do I solve it?

Answer

This message simply means that Selenium is not able to launch FF browser as it is already running on your system. To overcome this you should close all running instances of FF browser.

You should also check your system process if there is any hidden FF profile running which is not visible on screen. You should kill all FF processes and following this your tests should run smooth

Question 80:

While trying to execute my tests with firefox I encountered following error – “Firefox Refused Shutdown While Preparing a Profile”. How do I solve it?

Answer

This message simply means that Selenium is not able to launch FF browser as it is already running on your system. To overcome this you should close all running instances of FF browser.

You should also check your system process if there is any hidden FF profile running which is not visible on screen. You should kill all FF processes and following this your tests should run smooth

Question 81:

My application uses Ajax heavily how do I use Selenium RC to work with Ajax operations?

Answer

Ajax operations don’t reload a page like normal form submission but they make http requests behind the scene. You cannot use waitForPageToLoad for such operations and instead should use conditional wait for change in state of application. This could as well mean waiting for presence of an element before continuing with test operations. Consider following example in which type operation triggers Ajax operation which is followed by conditional wait for presence of a text box –

// type operation brings element “q” on screen without loading the page

selenium.type("elementLocator", "testData");

// conditional wait for element “q”

for (int second = 0;; second++) {

if (second >= 60) fail("timeout");

try { if (selenium.isElementPresent("q")) break; } catch (Exception e) {}

Thread.sleep(1000);

}

Question 82:

How do I upload a file using Selenium? I need to upload a word file during test execution.

Answer

If you are using Firefox then you can use “type” command to type in a File Input box of upload file. But type operation does not work with IE and you would have to use “Robot” class in java to work make file upload work.

Question 83:

Why do I get “permission denied” error during execution of Selenium tests?

Answer

The primary reason of permission denied error is same origin policy restriction from java script. To overcome this error you can use browsers with elevated security privileges. In case of Firefox you should use *chrome and in case of IE you should use *iehta as browser for working with Selenium.

Question 84:

I am not able to use “style” attribute to locate element with IE browserL

Answer

This is because IE expects attribute values to be in caps while other browsers expect it to be lower case letters. Hence

//tr[@style="background-color:yellow"] works with other browsers

//tr[@style="BACKGROUND-COLOUR:yellow"] works with IE

Question 85:

Are there any technical limitations while using Selenium RC?

Answer

Besides notorious “same origin policy” restriction from js, Selenium is also restricted from exercising anything which is outside browser. For example you cannot click on “Tools” option of your browser by just using Selenium.

Question 86:

But my tests need me to exercise objects outside browser, how do I achieve it?

Answer

You can use Robot class in java to achieve this, but it would be dirty solution even if you get through this.

Question 87:

Does Selenium have any offering for mobile browsers?

Answer

Selenium 2.0 (WebDriver) provides iPhone as well Android drivers which could be used to drive tests on mobile browsers

Question 88:

How does Selenium RC stand with other commercial tools?

Answer

The biggest advantage of Selenium RC is that it is absolutely free and has vast support of languages and browsers (almost always). Selenium lags when it comes to test reporting as Selenium does not have any in built reporting but this can be easily achieved using the programming language you decide to work on with Selenium. A bigger drawback is not being able to exercise objects which are outside browser window, for example clicking on folder on your desktop.

Question 89:

How does Selenium RC stand with other commercial tools?

Answer

Question 90:

Can I just use Selenium RC to drive tests on two different browsers on one operating system without using Selenium Grid?

Answer

If you are using java client driver of Selenium then java testing framework TestNG lets you achieve this. You can set tests to be executed in parallel using “parallel=test” attribute and define two different tests, each using a different browser. Whole set up would look as (notice the highlighted sections for browser in test suite)–

xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

DOCTYPE suite SYSTEM "http://testng.org/testng-1.0.dtd" >

<parameter name="m" value="1">parameter>

<classes><class name="com.core.tests.TestClass1">class>classes>

test>

<parameter name="m" value="2">parameter>

<classes><class name="com.core.tests.TestClass1">class>classes>

test>

suite>

Selenium Grid Questions

Question 91:

How do I cut down text execution time for my selenium tests? I want to execute my tests on a combination of different machines and browsers.

Answer

Selenium grid is your friendJ. Selenium grid lets you distribute tests across browsers and machines of your choice.

Question 92:

How does Selenium grid works?

Answer

Selenium grid uses combination of Selenium RC servers to execute tests in multiple browsers on different machine. Herein one Selenium RC server works as hub while other RC servers work as slaves, which could be controlled by hub. Whenever there is a request for a specific configuration for test execution then hub looks for a free RC slave server and if available then test execution begins on it. Once test execution is over then RC slave server would be available for next set of test execution.

Question 93:

Can you show me one diagram which describes functionality of Selenium grid?

Answer

In the following diagram Selenium hub is controlling three Selenium RC servers which are running for configurations –

· IE on Windows

· FF on Linux

· FF on windows

Question 94:

Which jar files are needed to works with Selenium GRID?

Answer

You need to download and add following jar files to your Selenium set up to be able to work with Selenium. These jar files are –

· selenium-grid-remote-control-standalone-.jar

· selenium-grid-hub-standalone-.jar

· selenium-grid-tools-standalone-.jar

Question 95:

How do I start Selenium Grid hub from my machine?

Answer

You should have “ant” set up on your system to be able to work with Grid. Once you have downloaded Selenium Grid, navigate to its distribution directory and execute following command -

ant launch-hub

This would start grid hub on port 4444 locally. You can verify this by navigating to following URL - http://localhost:4444/console

Question 96:

How do I start Selenium Grid Slave Server from my system?

Answer

Navigate to download directory of Selenium gird and execute following command –

ant launch-remote-control

This would launch remote control server at port 555. At this point if you navigate to http://localhost:4444/console then you would see this remote control listed under “Available Remote Controls”

Question 97:

How do I start Selenium grid slave on a different port than 5555?

Answer

You can use option “-Dport” followed by port number to start grid slave on a specific port.

ant -Dport=1111 launch-remote-control

ant -Dport=2222 launch-remote-control

Question 98:

How do I start grid RC slaves on a different system than my local host so than hub could control and contact a specific configuration?

Answer

You should specify following configuration while starting RC slave –

ant -Dport= -Dhost= -DhubURL= launch-remote-control

Herein “hostname” is the host where RC slave is running and “hub url” is URL of machine where grid hub is running.

Question 99:

How do I specify an environment while starting grid slave machine?

Answer

You could specify an environment using “-Denvironment” while starting a slave machine.

ant -Denvironment=”Safari on Mac” launch-remote-control

Herein Safari on Mac is the environment which would be used to recognize configuration of RC slave.

Question 100:

How do I use machine specific configuration in my Selenium tests?

Answer

You could specify machine specific configuration while instantiating Selenium as –

Selenium = new DefaultSelenium("localhost", 4444, **'Safari on Mac'**, 'http://yahoo.com');

And then you use this selenium instance to carryout operation on your web application.

Question 101:

But how does my tests know that ‘Safari on Mac’ mean a safari browser? How does mapping between names like ‘Safari on Mac’ and original browser options available in Selenium work?

Answer

Selenium grid uses a file called “grid_configuration.yml” which defines configurations of all browsers. You would have to add this in your project. This file looks like –

Question 102:

How does Selenium grid hub keeps in touch with RC slave machine?

Answer

Selenium grid hub keeps polling all RC slaves at predefined time to make sure they are available for testing. If not then Selenium hub disconnect any unavailable RC slaves and makes it clear that any RC slave is not available for testing. The deciding parameter is called – “remoteControlPollingIntervalInSeconds” and is defined in “grid_configuration.yml” file.

Question 103:

My RC becomes unresponsive at times and my Selenium grid hub keeps waiting for RC slave to respondL. How do I let hub know to give up on RC slave after a certain time?

Answer

You could state Selenium grid hub to wait for RC slave for a predefined time, and if RC slave does not responds with in this time then hub disconnects test execution on that slave. This parameter is called “sessionMaxIdleTimeInSeconds” and this parameter can be defined in “grid_configuration.yml” file.

Question 104:

What if my hub goes down while Selenium RC slaves are up and running?

Answer

There is one heart beat mechanism from RC slave to hub which is reciprocal to mechanism used by hub to slave machines. RC slaves use a parameter called “hubPollerIntervalInSeconds” to keep track of running grid hub. This parameter can be defined while starting the hub as –

ant -DhubPollerIntervalInSeconds= launch-hub

if hub does not respond within this time then RC slaves deregister themselves from hub.

Question 105:

Can Selenium grid be used for performance testing?

Answer

Selenium grid is for functional testing of application across different configuration. Performance testing is usually not carried out on actual devices but on a simulated http request/response mechanism. If you want to use Selenium Grid for performance testing then you would have to invest heavily on s/w and h/w infrastructure.

Question 106:

Are there additional logs available while working with Selenium grid?

Answer

You can find Selenium grid hub logs in “log/hub.log” and Remote Control logs in “log/rc-*.log” folder.

Question 107:

There are various options available while starting a Selenium server, how do I use them with Selenium grid?

Answer

You can use “seleniumArgs” Java property while launching the remote control and specify any of the option which you would with normal Selenium set up. For example you can run Selenium RC slave in single window mode using following command –

ant -DseleniumArgs="-singleWindow -debug" launch-remote-control

Question 108:

I see duplicate entries in my hub console, same RC slave listed more than once :-O

Answer

This is because you are killing RC slave very ferociously. For example you if you just close the console without actually ending the process in more civil manner. To avoid this you should kill all RC slaves in more civil manner. If you encounter this error then you should restart Selenium hub and RC slaves would them register themselves to hub.

Question 109:

How do I specify my corporate proxy while starting Selenium grid hub or slave machines?

Answer

You could use setting for “http.proxyHost” abd “http.proxyPort” while starting hub and remote control machines –

ant -Dhttp.proxyHost= -Dhttp.proxyPort= launch-hub

ant -Dhttp.proxyHost= -Dhttp.proxyPort= launch-remote-control

Question 110:

How do I use Selenium Grid while using Java, .Net or Ruby

Answer

With java you can take advantage of parallel testing capabilities of TestNG to drive your Selenium grid tests

With .Net you can use “Gallio” to execute your tests in parallel

With Ruby you can use “DeepTest” to distribute your tests

Question 111:

How about the test report when I use Selenium grid for test execution?

Answer

This entirely boils down to framework you use to write your tests. For example in case of java, TestNG reports should suffice.

Web Driver (Selenium 2.0) Questions

Question 112:

What is Selenium 2.0? I have heard this buzz word many times.

Answer

Selenium 2.0 is consolidation of two web testing tools – Selenium RC and WebDriver, which claims to give best of both words – Selenium and WebDriver. Selenium 2.0 was officially released only of late.

Question 113:

Why are two tools being combined as Selenium 2.0, what’s the gain?

Answer

Selenium 2.0 promises to give much cleaner API then Selenium RC and at the same time not being restricted by java script Security restriction like same origin policy, which have been haunting Selenium from long. Selenium 2.0 also does not warrant you to use Selenium Server.

Question 114:

So everyone is going to use Selenium 2.0?

Answer

Well no, for example if you are using Selenium Perl client driver than there is no similar offering from Selenium 2.0 and you would have to stick to Selenium 1.0 till there is similar library available for Selenium 2.0

Question 115:

So how do I specify my browser configurations with Selenium 2.0?

Answer

Selenium 2.0 offers following browser/mobile configuration –

· AndroidDriver,

· ChromeDriver,

· EventFiringWebDriver,

· FirefoxDriver,

· HtmlUnitDriver,

· InternetExplorerDriver,

· IPhoneDriver,

· IPhoneSimulatorDriver,

· RemoteWebDriver

And all of them have been implemented from interface WebDriver. To be able to use any of these drivers you need to instantiate their corresponding class.

Question 116:

How is Selenium 2.0 configuration different than Selenium 1.0?

Answer

In case of Selenium 1.0 you need Selenium jar file pertaining to one library for example in case of java you need java client driver and also Selenium server jar file. While with Selenium 2.0 you need language binding (i.e. java, C# etc) and Selenium server jar if you are using Remote Control or Remote WebDriver.

Question 117:

Can you show me one code example of setting Selenium 2.0?

Answer

Here is java example of initializing firefox driver and using Google Search engine –

protected WebDriver webDriver;

//@BeforeClass(alwaysRun=true)

public void startDriver(){

webDriver = new FirefoxDriver();

// Get Google search page and perform search on term “Test”

webDriver.get("http://www.google.com");

webDriver.findElement(By.name("q")).sendKeys("Test");

webDriver.findElement(By.name(“btnG”)).click();

Question 118:

Which web driver implementation is fastest?

Answer

HTMLUnitDriver. Simple reason is HTMLUnitDriver does not execute tests on browser but plain http request – response which is far quick than launching a browser and executing tests. But then you may like to execute tests on a real browser than something running behind the scenes

Question 119:

What all different element locators are available with Selenium 2.0?

Answer

Selenium 2.0 uses same set of locators which are used by Selenium 1.0 – id, name, css, XPath but how Selenium 2.0 accesses them is different. In case of Selenium 1.0 you don’t have to specify a different method for each locator while in case of Selenium 2.0 there is a different method available to use a different element locator. Selenium 2.0 uses following method to access elements with id, name, css and XPath locator –

driver.findElement(By.id("HTMLid"));

driver.findElement(By.name("HTMLname"));

driver.findElement(By.cssSelector("cssLocator"));

driver.findElement(By.xpath("XPathLocator));

Question 120:

How do I submit a form using Selenium?

Answer

You can use “submit” method on element to submit form –

element.submit();

Alternatively you can use click method on the element which does form submission.

Question 121:

Can I simulate pressing key board keys using Selenium 2.0?

Answer

You can use “sendKeys” command to simulate key board keys as –

element.sendKeys(" and some", Keys.ARROW_UP);

You can also use “sendKeys” to type in text box as –

HTMLelement.sendKeys("testData");

Question 122:

How do I clear content of a text box in Selenium 2.0

Answer

You can use “clear” method on text box element to clear its content –

textBoxElement.clear();

Question 123:

How do I select a drop down value using Selenium2.0?

Answer

To select a drop down value, you first need to get the select element using one of element locator and then you can select element using visible text –

Select selectElement = new Select(driver.findElement(By.cssSelector("cssSelector")));

selectElement.selectByVisibleText("India");

Question 124:

What are offering to deal with popup windows while using Selenium 2.0?

Answer

You can use “switchTo” window method to switch to a window using window name. There is also one method “getWindowHandles” which could be used to find all Window handles and subsequently bring control on desired window using window handle –

webDriver.switchTo().window("windowName");

for (String handle : driver.getWindowHandles()) {

driver.switchTo().window(handle);

}

Question 125:

How about handling frames using Selenium 2.0?

Answer

You can use “switchTo” frame method to bring control on an HTML frame –

driver.switchTo().frame("frameName");

You can also use index number to specify a frame –

driver.switchTo().frame("parentFrame.4.frameName");

This would bring control on frame named – “frameName” of the 4th sub frame names “parentFrame”

Question 126:

Can I navigate back and forth in a browser in Selenium 2.0?

Answer

You can use Navigate interface to go back and forth in a page. Navigate method of WebDriver interface returns instance of Navigation. Navigate interface has methods to move back, forward as well as to refresh a page –

driver.navigate().forward();

driver.navigate().back();

driver.navigate().refresh();

Question 127:

What is the order of fastest browser implementation for WebDriver?

Answer

HTMLUnitDriver is the fastest browser implementation as it does not involves interaction with a browser, This is followed by Firefox driver and then IE driver which is slower than FF driver and runs only on Windows.

Question 128:

Is it possible to use Selenium RC API with Selenium 2.0?

Answer

You can emulate Selenium 1.0 API with Selenium 2.0 but not all of Selenium 1.0 methods are supported. To achieve this you need to get Selenium instance from WebDriver and use Selenium methods. Method executions might also be slower while simulating Selenium 1.0 with in Selenium 2.0

Question 129:

Can you show me one example of using Selenium 1.0 in Selenium 2.0?

Answer

Code Sample:

// Create web driver instance

WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();

// App URL

String appUrl = "http://www.google.com";

// Get Selenium instance

Selenium selenium = new WebDriverBackedSelenium(driver, appUrl);

// Tests using selenium

selenium.open(appURL);

selenium.type("name=q", "testData");

selenium.click("name=btnG");

// Get back the WebDriver instance

WebDriver driverInstance = ((WebDriverBackedSelenium) selenium).getUnderlyingWebDriver();

Question 130:

I had support of lots of browsers while using Selenium 1.0 and it seems lacking with Selenium 2.0, for example how do I use < awesome> browser while using Selenium 2.0?

Answer

There is a class called Capabilities which lets you inject new Capabilities in WebDriver. This class can be used to set testing browser as Safari –

//Instantiate Capabilities

Capabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities()

//Set browser name

capabilities.setBrowserName("this awesome browser");

//Get your browser execution capabilities

CommandExecutor executor = new SeleneseCommandExecutor("http:localhost:4444/", "http://www.google.com/", capabilities);

//Setup driver instance with desired Capabilities

WebDriver driver = new RemoteWebDriver(executor, capabilities);

Question 131:

Are there any limitations while injecting capabilities in WebDriver to perform tests on a browser which is not supported by WebDriver?

Answer

Major limitation of injecting Capabilities is that “fundElement” command may not work as expected. This is because WebDriver uses Selenium Core to make “Capability injection” work which is limited by java script security policies.

Question 132:

Can I change User-Agent while using FF browser? I want to execute my tests with a specific User-Agent setting.

Answer

You can create FF profile and add additional Preferences to it. Then this profile could be passed to Firefox driver while creating instance of Firefox –

FirefoxProfile profile = new FirefoxProfile();

profile.addAdditionalPreference("general.useragent.override", "User Agent String");

WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver(profile);

Question 133:

Is there any difference in XPath implementation in different WebDriver implementations?

Answer

Since not all browsers (like IE) have support for native XPath, WebDriver provides its own implementation for XPath for such browsers. In case of HTMLUnitDriver and IEDriver, html tags and attributes names are considered lower cased while in case of FF driver they are considered case in-sensitive.

Question 134:

My application uses ajax highly and my tests are suffering from time outs while using Selenium 2.0L.

Answer

You can state WebDriver to implicitly wait for presence of Element if they are not available instantly. By default this setting is set to 0. Once set, this value stays till the life span of WebDriver object. Following example would wait for 60 seconds before throwing ElementNotFound exception –

WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();

driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS);

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("elementID"));

Question 135:

What if I don’t want to use implicit wait and want to wait only for presence of certain elements?

Answer

You can use explicit wait in this situation to wait for presence of certain element before continuing with test execution. You can use “WebDriverWait” and “ExpectedCondition” to achieve this –

WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();

WebElement myDynamicElement = (new WebDriverWait(driver, 60)).until(new ExpectedCondition<WebElement>(){

@Override

public WebElement apply(WebDriver d) {

return d.findElement(By.id("myDynamicElement"));

}});

This is going to wait up to 60 seconds before throwing ElementNotFound exception.

Question 136:

What is RemoteWebDriver? When would I have to use it?

Answer

RemoteWebDriver is needed when you want to use HTMLUnitDriver. Since HTMLUnitDriver runs in memory, you would not see a browser getting launched –

// Create HTMLUnitDriver instance

WebDriver driver = new HtmlUnitDriver();

// Launch Yahoo.com

driver.get("http://www.yahoo.com");

Question 137:

What all languages available to be used with WebDriver?

Answer

Java and C# are on the forefront of WebDriver languages. Support is also available for Python and Ruby. There is also one java script library available for Friefox.

Question 138:

How do I handle java script alert using WebDriver?

Answer

WebDriver would support handling js alerts using Alert interface.

// Bring control on already opened alert

Alert alert = driver.switchTo().alert();

// Get the text of the alert or prompt

alert.getText();

// Click ok on alert

alert.accept();

Question 139:

Could I safely execute multiple instances of WebDriver implementations?

Answer

As far as HTMLUnitDriver and FF drivers are concerned, each instance would be independent of other. In case of IE driver there could be only one instance of IE driver running on Windows. If you want to execute more than one instance of IE driver then you should consider using RemoteWebDriver and virtual machines.

Question 140:

Is it possible to interact with hidden elements using WebDriver?

Answer

Since WebDriver tries to exercise browser as closely as real users would, hence simple answer is No, But you can use java script execution capabilities to interact with hidden elements.

Question 141:

I have all my tests written in Selenium 1.0 (Selenium RC), why should I migrate to Selenium 2.0 (WebDriver)?

Answer

Because –

· WebDriver has more compact and object oriented API than Selenium 1.0

· WebDriver simulates user behaviour more closely than Selenium 1.0, for example if a text box is disabled WebDriver would not be able to type text in it while Selenium 1.0 would be

· WebDriver is supported by Browser vendor themselves i.e. FF, Opera, Chrome etc

Question 142:

My XPath and CSS locators don’t always work with Selenium 2.0, but they used to with Selenium 1.0L.

Answer

In case of XPath, it is because WebDriver uses native browser methods unless it is not available. And this cause complex XPath to be broken. In case of Selenium 1.0 css selectors are implemented using Sizzle Library and not all the capabilities like “contains” are available to be used with Selenium 2.0

Question 143:

How do I execute Java Script in Selenium 2.0?

Answer

You need to use JavaScriptExecutor to execute java script in Selenium 2.0, For example if you want to find tag name of an element using Selenium 2.0 then you can execute java script as following –

WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.id("elementLocator"));

String name = (String) ((JavascriptExecutor) driver).executeScript(

"return arguments[0].tagName", element);

Question 144:

Why does not my java script execution return any value?

Answer

This might happen when you forget to add “return“ keyword while executing java script. Notice the “return” keyword in following statement –

((JavascriptExecutor) driver).executeScript("return window.title;");

Question 145:

Are there any limitations from operating systems while using WebDriver?

Answer

While HTMLUnitDriver, FF Driver and Chrome Driver could be used on all operating systems, IE Driver could be used only with Windows.

Question 146:

Give me architectural overview of WebDriver.

Answer

WebDriver tries to simulate real user interaction as much as possible. This is the reason why WebDriver does not have “fireEvent” method and “getText” returns the text as a real user would see it. WebDriver implementation for a browser is driven by the language which is best to driver it. In case of FF best fit languages are Javascript in an XPCOM component and in IE it is C++ using IE automation. Now the implementation which is available to user is a thin wrapper around the implementation and user need not know about implementation.

Question 147:

What is Remote WebDriver Server?

Answer

Remote WebDriver Server has two components – client and server. Client is WebDriver while Server is java servlet. Once you have downloaded selenium-server-standalone-.jar file you can start it from command line as –

java -jar selenium-server-standalone-<version-number>.jar

Question 148:

Is there a way to start Remote WebDriver Server from my code?

Answer

First add Remote WebDriver jar in your class path. You also need another server called “Jetty” to use it. You can start sever as following –

WebAppContext context = new WebAppContext();

context.setContextPath("");

context.setWar(new File("."));

server.addHandler(context);

context.addServlet(DriverServlet.class, "/wd/*");

SelectChannelConnector connector = new SelectChannelConnector();

connector.setPort(3001);

server.addConnector(connector);

server.start();

Question 149:

But what are the advantages of using Remote WebDriver over WebDriver?

Answer

You can use Remote WebDriver when –

· When you want to execute tests on a browser not available to you locally

· Introduction to extra latency to tests

But there is one disadvantage of using Remote WebDriver that you would need external servlet container.

Question 150:

Can you show me code example of using Remote WebDriver?

Answer

// Any driver could be used for test

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();

// Enable javascript support

capabilities.setJavascriptEnabled(true);

// Get driver handle

WebDriver driver = new RemoteWebDriver(capabilities);

// Launch the app

driver.get("http://www.google.com");

Question 151:

What are the modes of Remote WebDriver

Answer

Remote WebDriver has two modes of operations –

Client Mode: This is where language bindings connect to remote instance. FF drive and RemoteWebDriver clients work this way.

Server Mode: In this mode language bindings set up the server. ChromeDriver works this way.

Question 152:

What Design Patterns could be used while using Selenium 2.0?

Answer

These three Design Patterns are very popular while writing Selenium 2.0 tests –

1. Page Objects – which abstracts UI of web page

2. Domain Specific Language – which tries to write tests which could be understood by a normal user having no technical knowledge

3. Bot Style Tests – it follows “command-like” test scripting

Question 153:

So do I need to follow these Design patterns while writing my tests?

Answer

Not at all, these Design Patterns are considered best practices and you can write you tests without following any of those Design Patterns, or you may follow a Design Pattern which suites your needs most.

Question 154:

Is there a way to enable java script while using HTMLUnitDriver?

Answer

Use this –

HtmlUnitDriver driver = new HtmlUnitDriver();

driver.setJavascriptEnabled(true);

or this –

HtmlUnitDriver driver = new HtmlUnitDriver(true);

Question 155:

Is it possible to emulate a browser with HTMLUnitDriver?

Answer

You can emulate browser while using HTMLUnitDriver but it is not recommended as applications are coded irrespective of browser you use. You could emulate Firefox 3 browser with HTMLUnitDriver as –

HtmlUnitDriver driver = new HtmlUnitDriver(BrowserVersion.FIREFOX_3);

Or you can inject desired capabilities while instantiating HTMLUnitDriver as –

HtmlUnitDriver driver = new HtmlUnitDriver(capabilities);

Question 156:

How do I use iPhone Driver?

Answer

You should start iPhone SDK and build iPhone driver. Down load iPhone development tools and provision profile. Now iPhone driver can connect through HTTP to the iphone simulator. You can also run simulator on another machine in your network and WebDriver could connect to it remotely.

Question 157:

Is it possible to convert Selenium IDE test to WebDriver test?

Answer

For now there is no formatter available to convert Selenium IDE tests to corresponding WebDriver tests, hence simple answer is No. Yes WebDriver style of code can be generated from Selenium IDE

Question 158:

Can WebDriver handle UntrustedSSLCertificates?

Answer

This feature is currently supported in Firefox browser and is awaiting implementation in IE and Chrome drivers.

Question 159:

Can I carry out multiple operations at once while using WebDriver?

Answer

You can use Builder pattern to achieve this. For example if you want to move an element from one place to another you can use this –

Actions builder = new Actions(driver);

Action dragAndDrop = builder.clickAndHold(element)

.moveToElement(otherElement)

.release(otherElement)

.build();

dragAndDrop.perform();

Question 160:

How do I simulate keyboard keys using WebDriver?

Answer

There is a KeyBoard interface which has three methods to support keyboard interaction –

· sendKeys(CharSequence)- Sends character sequence

· pressKey(Keys keyToPress) - Sends a key press without releasing it.

· releaseKey(Keys keyToRelease) - Releases a modifier key

Question 161:

What about Mouse Interaction?

Answer

Mouse interface lets you carry out following operations –

· click(WebElement element) – Clicks an element

· doubleClick(WebElement element) - Double-clicks an element.

· void mouseDown(WebElement element) - Holds down the left mouse button on an element.

· mouseUp(WebElement element) - Releases the mouse button on an element.

· mouseMove(WebElement element) - Moves element form current location to another element.

· contextClick(WebElement element) - Performs a context-click (right click) on an element.

Question 162:

How does Android Webdriver works?

Answer

Android WebDriver uses Remote WebDriver. Client Side is test code and Server side is application installed on android emulator or actual device. Here client and server communicate using JSON wire protocol consisting of Rest requests.

Question 163:

What are the advantages of using Android WebDriver?

Answer

Android web driver runs on Android browser which is best real user interaction. It also uses native touch events to emulated user interaction.

But there are some drawbacks also like, it is slower than headless WebKit driver. XPath is not natively supported in Android web view.

Question 164:

Is there a built-in DSL (domain specific language) support available in WebDriver?

Answer

There is not, but you can easily build your own DSL, for example instead of using –

webDriver.findElement(By.name("q")).sendKeys("Test");

You can create a more composite method and use it –

public static void findElementAndType(WebDriver webDriver, String elementLocator, String testData) {

webDriver.findElement(By.name(elementLocator)).sendKeys(testData);

}

And now you just need to call method findElementAndType to do type operation.

Question 165:

What is grid2?

Answer

Grid2 is Selenium grid for Selenium 1 as well as WebDriver, This allows to –

· Execute tests on parallel on different machines

· Managing multiple environments from one point

Question 166:

How do I start hub and slaves machines in grid 2?

Answer

Navigate to you selenium server standalone jar download and execute following command –

java -jar selenium-server-standalone-.jar -role hub

And you start Slave machine by executing following command –

Java –jar selenium-server-.jar –role webdriver -hub http://localhost:4444/grid/register -port 6666

Question 167:

And how do I run tests on grid?

Answer

You need to use the RemoteWebDriver and the DesiredCapabilities object to define browser, version and platform for testing. Create Targeted browser capabilities as –

DesiredCapabilities capability = DesiredCapabilities.firefox();

Now pass capabilities to Remote WebDriver object –

WebDriver driver = new RemoteWebDriver(new URL("http://localhost:4444/wd/hub"), capability);

Following this, hub will take care of assigning tests to a slave machine

Question 168:

What parameters can be passed to grid2?

Answer

You can pass following parameters to grid 2 –

· -port 4444 (default 4444)

· -nodeTimeout (default 30) the timeout in seconds before the hub automatically releases a node that hasn't received any requests for more than the specified number of seconds.

· -maxConcurrent 5 (5 is default) The maximum number of browsers that can run in parallel on the node.

Selenium Tool Implementation Misc Questions

Question 169:

How do I implement data driven testing using Selenium?

Answer

Selenium, unlike others commercial tools does not have any direct support for data driven testing. Your programming language would help you achieving this. You can you jxl library in case of java to read and write data from excel file. You can also use Data Driven Capabilities of TestNG to do data driven testing.

Question 170:

What is equivalent to test step, test scenario and test suite in Selenium.

Answer

If you are using Java client driver of Selenium then TestNG test method could be considered equivalent to test step, a test tag could be considered as test scenario and a suite tag could be considered equivalent to a test suite.

Question 171:

How do I get attribute value of an element in Selenium?

Answer

You could use getAttribute method

With Selenium 1.0 –

String var = selenium.getAttribute("css=input[name='q']@maxlength");

System.out.println(var);

With Selenium 2.0 –

String var = webDriver.findElement(By.cssSelector("input[name='q']")).getAttribute("maxlength")

System.out.println(var);

Question 172:

How do I do database testing using Selenium?

Answer

Selenium does not support database testing but your language binding does. For example while using java client driver you can use java data base connectivity (jdbc) to establish connection to data base, fetch/write data to data base and doing data comparison with front end.

Question 173:

I completed test execution and now I want to email test report.

Answer

If you are using “ant” build tool then you can use “mail” task to deliver your test results. Similar capabilities are available in Continuous Build Integration tools like – Hudson.

Question 174:

How do I make my tests more comprehensible?

Answer

Selenium tests which are written as –

selenium.click("addForm:_ID74:_ID75:0:_ID79:0:box”);

Make it tough to understand the element which is being exercised upon.

Instead of hard coding element locator in tests you should externalize them. For example with java you can use properties file to contain element locators and then locator reference is given in test script. Following this approach previous test step would look as –

selenium.click(PolicyCheckbox);

And this is far more comprehensible.

Question 175:

Why should I use Page Object?

Answer

Page object is a design pattern which distinguishes the code carrying out operations on page and code which carries out tests (assertion/verification). While implementing page object you abstract functioning of a page or part of it in a dedicated “Classs” which is then used by test script to perform actions on page and reach a stage when actual test could be performed.

Advantage of using page object is the fact that if application lay out changes then you only need to modify the navigation part and test would function intact.

Entry and Exit Criteria in Software Testing Test Plan

2014-08-21T02:54:00.005-07:00

Entry Criteria :

Typical entry criteria may include the following:

l All test hardware platforms must have been successfully installed , configured, and functioning properly.

l All the necessary documentation, design, and requirements information should be available that will allow testers to operate the system and judge the correct behavior.

l All the standard software tools including the testing tools must have been successfully installed and functioning properly.

l All personnel involved in the testing effort must be trained in the tools to be used in the testing process.

l Proper test data is available.

l The test environment such as, lab, hardware, software, and system administration support should be ready.

Exit Criteria:

Typical Exit criteria may include the following:

l All Test plans have been run.

l A certain level of requirements coverage has been achieved.

l No high priority or severe bugs are left outstanding.

l All high-risk areas have been fully tested, with only minor residual risks left outstanding.

l Cost – when the budget has been spent.

l The schedule has been achieved.

Exit criteria should have been agreed as early as possible in the SDLC cycle; however, it may get subjected to controlled changes as the details of the project become more clear.

Due to the increasing complexity and size of the project that we see nowadays, the need for Entry and Exit criteria is mandatory for the success of any project.

Agile Introduction

2014-08-21T02:54:00.002-07:00

Introduction

Waterfall model follows application development in phases with checkpoint and deliverable documents in each checkpoint. It advocates rigours project management, strategy and processes to track the status. The main drawback is that it requires more than 80% project understanding before kicking off the project which is impossible in major cases. Cause of volatile requirements and understanding business feels, 80% of software projects using this methodology fail to meet their objectives.

Typical Waterfall Model

Agile Methodology

Agile mythology has small box iterations rather than phases. The output of each iteration will be production release deliverable and could be evaluated and get early feedback.

Agile was a significant departure from the heavyweight document-driven software development methodologies—such as waterfall—in general use at the time.

Agile refers to more collaboration and interaction between different departments at enterprise level and delivers the successful product with individual contribution.

Agile methodologies embrace iterations. Small teams work together with stakeholders to define quick prototypes, proof of concepts, or other visual means to describe the problem to be solved. The team defines the requirements for the iteration, develops the code, and defines and runs integrated test scripts, and the users verify the results. Verification occurs much earlier in the development process than it would with waterfall, allowing stakeholders to fine-tune requirements while they’re still relatively easy to change.

It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development & delivery, a time-boxed iterative approach, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change.

XP (Extreme Programming)

It advocates frequent “release” in short development cycles, each release follows with several iterations. When the product release has enough features to satisfy the user, the team terminates iteration cycle and releases the software.

Other elements of Extreme Programming include: programming in pairs, continuous integration, add only needed features for a particular release.

Users write a story which helps the team to estimate the time to build the release and to define acceptance testing. A user is a part of XP team and adds the detail requirement as the software is being built. This allows requirements to evolve as both users and developers define what the product will look like.

· Continuous Integration: Integrate often at least once a day using automated continuous integration tool

· Pair Programming: Pair programing to extensively code review while coding

· Project velocity: Velocity is a measure of how much work is getting done on the project. This important metric drives release planning and schedule updates.

Scrum

Scrum is a way for teams to work together to develop a product wherein requirement changes rapidly during development. Product development, using Scrum, occurs in small pieces, with each piece building upon previously created pieces. Building products one small piece at a time encourages creativity and enables teams to respond to feedback and change, to build exactly and only what is needed. Unlike XP, Scrum methodology includes both managerial and development processes.

· Sprints: Short development process

· Stand up meeting: Daily 10 minutes meeting status of the work to be done that day, progress from the day before, and any blocks that must be cleared

· Scrum Master: The ScrumMaster is the person responsible for managing the Scrum project

· Sprint backlog: Sprint backlog is the list of backlog items assigned to a sprint, but not yet completed.

· Burndown chart: This chart, updated every day, shows the work remaining within the sprint. The burn down chart is used both to track sprint progress and to decide when items must be removed from the sprint backlog and deferred to the next sprint.

· Product backlog: Product backlog is the complete list of requirements

Introduction to Agile software development methodologies and how to apply them. It is about how to work together to achieve a common goal. This article focus on how technology team work together well to plan, build and deliver software.

Introduction

This article is a basic introduction to Agile software development methodologies and how to apply them. It is about how to work together to achieve a common goal. This is not only suitable for software developers but also for Team Leaders, Project Managers, Product Managers, Development Managers, Testers, QA Managers, QA Engineers, Technical Writers, UX Designers, anyone involved in the delivering software. This article focuses on how technology teams work together well to plan, build, and deliver software. It does not talk about code or specific technologies, or only about Microsoft tools. Hope this will improve your professional life and the effectiveness of your team.

The need for professional behavior: does our industry know what it means to behave? The definition of a software developer: who sits in a room, spends some time, and code comes out. We get very confused about deadlines, dates, estimates, and all of the things we are supposed to be doing, and we do them badly. Now that's not unusual. Our industry is still young.

Background

Winston Royce's Waterfall Model

"From the 1970 IEE paper "Managing the Development of Large Software Systems"

There are two essential steps common to all computer program developments, regardless of size or complexity. There is first an analysis step, followed by a coding step. Then we introduced the five most important steps:

Step 1: Program Design Comes First

Allocate processing, functions, design the database, define database processing, allocate execution time, define interfaces and processing modes with the operating system, describe input and output processing, and define preliminary operating procedures. Write an overview document that is understandable, informative, and current.

Step2: Document the Design

The first rule of managing software development is ruthless enforcement of documentation requirements.

Step 3: Do It Twice

The second most important criterion for success revolves around whether the product is totally original. If the computer program in question is being developed for the first time, arrange matters so that the version finally delivered to the customer for operational deployment is actually the second version in so far as critical design/operations areas are concerned.

Step 4: Plan, Control, and Monitor Testing

It is the phase of greatest risk in terms of dollars and schedule. It occurs at the last point in the schedule when backup alternatives are least available, if at all.

Step 5: Involve the Customer

It is important to involve the customer in a formal way so that he has committed himself at earlier points, before final delivery.

A careful reading of Royce's paper reveals:

· Each phase should pass iteratively to the next

· The entire process should be exercised twice before release

· Royce knew that a single pass will fail

Unfortunately, for the process illustrated, the design iterations are never confined to the successive steps.

What are all this stuff?

The answer is :

Agile development is not a methodology in itself. It is an umbrella term that describes several agile methodologies. At the signing of Agile Manifesto in 2001, these methodologies included Scrum, XP, Crystal, FDD, and DSDM. Since then, lean practices have also emerged as a valuable agile methodology and so are included under the agile development umbrella in the illustration later.

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

· Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

· Working software over comprehensive documentation

· Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

· Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

Twelve principles behind the Agile Manifesto

We follow these principles:

1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.

3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.

4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.

5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.

6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.

7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.

8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.

10. Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.

11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.

12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

Please click here for further detail on Agile Manifesto.

Many developers have lived through the nightmare of a project with no practices to guide it. The lack of effective practices leads to unpredictability, repeated error, and wasted effort. Customers are disappointed by slipping schedules, growing budgets, and poor quality. Developers are disheartened by working ever-longer hours to produce ever-poorer software.

DSDM

The DSDM (Dynamic Software Development Method) was developed to fill in some of the gaps in the RAD method by providing a framework which takes into account the entire development cycle. The main features of the DSDM method are as follows:

1. User involvement

2. Iterative and incremental development

3. Increased delivery frequency

4. Integrated tests at each phase

5. The acceptance of delivered products depends directly on fulfilling requirements

FDD

FDD is a wrapper methodology, in that it allows you to apply a method to manage projects at a very high level, but it still allows you to use other methodologies at a lower level. FDD's focus is on being able to set estimates and schedules and to report on the status of a project as a whole, or at a very granular level, but it doesn't prescribe a specific method to apply in order to create the schedule, leaving that up to you to decide. The idea is that you can look at your project and state with some certainty what the project status is, whether you are on time, slipping, early, and so on.

Lean

Lean Thinking is a way of approaching system optimization focusing on reducing waste and improving the overall flow of value through a system. Lean has a rich history in manufacturing and has gained popularity in software development circles in recent years.

Lean comes from Lean Manufacturing and is a set of principles for achieving quality, speed, and customer alignment. There are seven Principles of Lean Software Development:

1. Eliminate Waste

2. Build Quality In

3. Create Knowledge

4. Defer Commitment

5. Deliver Fast

6. Respect People

7. Optimize the Whole

Applying these principles to the work of delivering a software product is not an end goal. One is not said to "Do Lean"; rather one uses Lean principles to guide decision making and to choose techniques that will improve a system overall. For example, the practice of TDD (Test-Driven Development) builds integrity into software by inspecting it at the point of creation, thus supporting the Lean principle of building integrity during the creation process.

Plan

In Plan Driven Development a project is successful if it goes according to plan, so in software development it depends on the requirements stability, on having clear and fixed requirements. As you probably know, that is a luxury most software projects don’t have.

In plan-driven methodologies, it is less costly to change requirements during the design stage and it is more expensive to adapt to changes when construction has already started. So, a lot of energy is put into the planning phase. But software development is different. There is no guarantee that a good design will make construction predictable.

"Walking on water and developing software from a specification are easy if both are frozen." - Edward V. Berard

The Agile approach is to break the dependency on requirements stability and come up with a process that takes into account changes. It does that by using Adaptive Planning and Evolutionary Design.

Adaptive planning implies going through the project cycle many times, re-planning, and re-adapting often.

Evolutionary design can be achieved with the help of practices like Self Testing Code, Continuous Integration, Refactoring, and Simple Design.

One is value-driven (Agile) and another is plan-driven (traditional). This is not to say that plan-driven approaches have no value; it is to say that in Agile, we make them explicit and discuss them often.

Both Agile and plan-driven approaches have situation-dependent shortcomings that, if not addressed, can lead to project failure. The challenge is to balance the two approaches to take advantage of their strengths in a given situation while compensating for their weaknesses.

Plan vs. Agile

The fundamental difference between Plan driven development and Agile driven development lies between two significant differences. First one, in the Plan driven model the team will deploy one increment of software at the end of the project. But in Agile, the team will deploy a very small change of the software or more frequently. The second one is sequential verses concurrent activity. In Plan driven development, a process starts after successful completion of another. But in Agile we plan all the time.

“Plan your work, then work your Plan” by Martin Fowler and Neal Ford

· Both provide processes, tools, and techniques

· Both require a disciplined approach to software development

· Each has strengths and weaknesses

· Agile methodologies address many situations for which Plan-driven methodologies are not well suited

· Agile is still a disciplined approach to software development but with an emphasis on different aspects of the process!

· Plan driven emphasizes formal communications and control

· Agile emphasizes continual communication and ability to adapt to changes and uncertainty

· Highly iterative to achieve quality over lots of gates to control quality

· Inspect work as it is being done over Inspect product when it is complete

· Start with a goal of filling a need over Start by predicting what will be delivered

Ability to changes

Visibility

· Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software.

· People and interactions are emphasized rather than process and tools.

· Customers, developers and testers constantly interact with each other.

· Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months).

· Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication.

· Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers.

· Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design.

· Regular adaptation to changing circumstances.

· Even late changes in requirements are welcomed.

Management teams that work well with Plan-driven approaches also tend to work well with Agile approaches

However, management teams that lack the ability to work well with Plan-driven approaches may lack the focus required of Agile

Agile

The principles and values of agile software development were formed as a way to help teams to break the cycle of process inflation and mainly focus on simple techniques for achieving their goals. The goal?? What is the the goal?

OK, the main goal of every software developer and every development team is to deliver the highest possible value to employers and customers. Yet our projects fail, or fail to deliver value.

The key is in Agile technique compressing the five sequences of the conventional software development method - called the Waterfall method - to a one-week cycle. It manages to do this by developing a system through repeated cycles (iterative) and in smaller portions (incremental), allowing developers to test and review during development. Speed, lower cost, and flexibility are key benefits.

"Adoption rates among IT departments are accelerating," says Phil Murphy, vice president and research director at Forrester in a 2011 report.

The participants in an agile process are not afraid of change. They view changes to the requirements as good things, because those changes mean that the team has learned more about what it will take to satisfy the customer. Agile team members work together on all aspects of the project. Each member is allowed input into the whole. No single team member is solely responsible for the architecture or the requirements or the tests. The team shares those responsibilities, and each team member has influence over them.

There are many agile processes: SCRUM, Crystal, Behavior-Driven Development (BDD), Test-Driven Development (TDD), Feature-Driven Development (FDD), Adaptive Software Development (ADP), Extreme Programming (XP), and more... However, the vast majority of successful agile teams have drawn from all these processes to tune their own particular flavor of agility. These adaptations appear to come together with the combination of SCRUM and XP, in which SCRUM practices are used to manage multiple teams that use XP.

Extreme Programming (XP)

As developers we need to remember that XP is not the only game in town.- Pete McBreen

Extreme Programming emphasizes teamwork. Managers, customers, and developers. It improves a software project in five essential ways: communication, simplicity, feedback, respect, and courage.

According to Wiki definition: "Extreme Programming (XP) is a software development methodology which is intended to improve software quality and responsiveness to changing customer requirements. As a type of agile software development, it advocates frequent "releases" in short development cycles, which is intended to improve productivity and introduce checkpoints where new customer requirements can be adopted."

Extreme Programming is a set of simple and concrete practices that combine into an agile development process. XP is a good general-purpose method for developing software. Many project teams will be able to adopt it as is. Many others will be able to adapt it by adding or modifying practices.

· The ancestor of most Agile methodologies

· Kent Beck created quite a buzz in the late 1990s and early 2000s

· Blends processes and practices

Kent Beck’s basic idea

· Take observed effective team practices

· Push them to extreme level

What does it mean to say "Push them to extreme level"? Does that mean something like the following images?

No, that doesn't mean XP. Let us see what that means.

XP is a set of practices that conforms to the values and principles of Agile. XP is a discrete method, whereas Agile is a classification. There are many Agile methods, XP is just one of them.

Having said that, none of the other Agile methods are as well defined, or as broad in scope as XP. Scrum, for example, is roughly equivalent to XP’s Planning game practice, with elements of Whole Team. While there are differences in the details, it is fair to say that Scrum is a subset of XP. Indeed, many Scrum teams augment their process by adding in many of the XP practices such as Acceptance Testing, Pair Programming, Continuous Integration, and especially Test Driven Development.

Of all the Agile methods, XP is the only method that provides deep and profound disciplines for the way developers do their daily work. Of those disciplines, Test Driven Development is the most revolutionary. Following are some good XP practices. I will try to write the details on each the next time.

Scrum

Scrum is an iterative and incremental agile software development framework for managing software projects and product or application development. Its focus is on "a flexible, holistic product development strategy where a development team works as a unit to reach a common goal" as opposed to a "traditional, sequential approach“. Scrum asks why does it take so long and so much effort to do stuff. And why are we so bad at figuring out how long and how much effort things will take. Scrum embraces uncertainty and creativity. Because that is how people work. It places a structure around the learning process, enabling teams to assess both what they’ve created, and just as importantly, how they created it.

· Scrum was first defined as "a flexible, holistic product development strategy in 1986 by Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka.

· In 1995, Sutherland and Schwaber jointly presented a paper describing the Scrum methodology. First public presentation.

Scrum Roles

There are these core roles for producing the product:

1. Product Owner

2. Development Team

3. ScrumMaster

4. Stakeholders

5. Managers

Product Owner

· The Product Owner represents the stakeholders and is the voice of the customer.

· Accountable for ensuring value to the business.

· Writes (or the team) customer-centric items (user stories), prioritizes them, and adds them to the product backlog.

· Scrum teams should have one, may also be a member of the development team.

· Not be combined with that of the ScrumMaster.

Development Team

· Responsible for delivering potentially shippable product increments at the end of each Sprint.

· Made up of 3–9 people with cross-functional skills who do the actual work (analyze, design, develop, test, technical communication, document, etc.).

· Self-organizing, even though they may interface with project management organizations (PMOs).

ScrumMaster

· Accountable for removing impediments to the ability of the team to deliver the sprint goal/deliverables.

· Is not the team leader, but acts as a buffer between the team and any distracting influences.

· Ensures that the Scrum process is used as intended.

· Enforcer of rules. Protector of the team and keep it focused on the tasks at hand.

· Also been referred to as a servant-leader to reinforce these dual perspectives.

· Differs from a Project Manager in that the latter may have people management responsibilities unrelated to the role of ScrumMaster.

· Excludes any such additional people responsibilities.

Backlog

The product backlog is an ordered list of "requirements" that is maintained for a product. It consists of features, bug fixes, non-functional requirements, etc. - whatever needs to be done in order to successfully deliver a working software system. In Scrum, it is not required to start a project with a lengthy, upfront effort to document all requirements. This agile product backlog is almost always more than enough for a first sprint. The Scrum product backlog is then allowed to grow and change as more is learned about the product and its customers

The sprint backlog is the list of work the Development Team must address during the next sprint. The list is derived by selecting stories/features from the top of the product backlog until the Development Team feels it has enough work to fill the sprint. This is done by the Development Team asking "Can we also do this?" and adding stories/features to the sprint backlog.

Conceptually, the team starts at the top of the prioritized Scrum backlog and draws a line after the lowest of the high-priority items they feel they can complete. In practice, it is not unusual to see a team select, for example, the top five items and then two items from lower on the list that are associated with the initial five.

Agile Development Survey

The survey was conducted between August 9 and November 1, 2012. Sponsored by VersionOne, the survey polled 4,048 individuals from various channels in the software development communities. The data was analyzed and prepared into a summary report by Analysis.Net Research, an independent survey consultancy.

Who knows Agile?

Cause of Agile Failure

Barriers to Further Agile Adoption

Greatest Concerns about adopting Agile

Conclusion

A good agile team picks and chooses the management and technical practices that best work for them. When trying to adopt Agile practices, there will be a ton of excuses as why it won’t work. Those who understand the real benefits of the approach – and genuinely want to make the transition – will likely have success. Those who are searching for reasons why it will fail – well, they will likely find them and either abandon the effort entirely or end up practicing what Elisabeth Hendrickson calls fake agile.

In support of this conclusion, let me leave you with some words (Collected from Robert C. Martin):

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." - General Dwight David Eisenhower

It is better not to fixate on any given methodology, because the needs/conditions of the company and project are likely to change regularly, and you need to be flexible in how you approach managing projects if you want them to be successful. No single methodology is a silver bullet, so the trick is to determine which methods work for you and tune your methodology to suit your individual needs. This is what being "Agile" is fundamentally about.

Not Agile. It’s important to remember that Scrum and Agile methodologies are not a one-time look at a company's process, it’s an on-going philosophy based on continuous improvement.

Agile Process and Method Overview

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Agile Method is a particular approach to project management that is utilized in software development. This method assists teams in responding to the unpredictability of constructing software. It uses incremental, iterative work sequences that are commonly known as sprints.

Agile Process and Method Overview

Below you will find an overview of the agile process (and what has been called “agile project management for dummies”) as well as a simple definition of agile methodology for any beginners starting out in software design and development.

The Agile Method Defined

A sprint is a period of time allocated for a particular phase of a project. Sprints are considered to be complete when the time period expires. There may be disagreements among the members of the team as to whether or not the development is satisfactory; however, there will be no more work on that particular phase of the project. The remaining phases of the project will continue to develop within their respective time frames.

The general principles of the Agile Method

· Satisfy the client and continually develop software.

· Changing requirements are embraced for the client’s competitive advantage.

· Concentrate on delivering working software frequently. Delivery preference will be placed on the shortest possible time span.

· Developers and business people must work together throughout the entire project.

· Projects must be based around people who are motivated. Give them the proper environment and the support that they need. They should be trusted to get their jobs done.

· Face-to-face communication is the best way to transfer information to and within a team.

· Working software is the primary measurement of progress.

· Agile processes will promote development that is sustainable. Sponsors, developers and users should be able to maintain an indefinite, constant pace.

· Constant attention to technical excellence and good design will enhance agility.

· Simplicity is considered to be the art of maximizing the work that is not done, and it is essential.

· Self-organized teams usually create the best designs.

· At regular intervals, the team will reflect on how to become more effective, and they will tune and adjust their behavior accordingly.

History of Agile Method

Many of the Agile ideas surfaced in the 1970s. Studies and reviews were conducted on the Agile Method that explain its emergence as a reaction against traditional approaches to project development.

In 1970, Dr. William Royce published a paper that discussed the managing and developing of large software systems. The paper outlined his specific ideas about sequential development. His presentation stated that a project could be developed much like a product on an assembly line. Each phase of the development had to be complete before the next phase could begin. The idea required that all developers must first put together all of the requirements of a project. The next step was to complete all of its architecture and designs. This is followed by writing the code. The sequences continue in complete increments. As these steps are completed, there is little or no contact between specialized groups that complete each phase of the project.

Pioneers of the Agile Method believed that if developers studied the process, they would find it to be the most logical and useful solution to software development.

Companies That Use Agile Method

Although there is no official list of companies that use the Agile Method for their projects, IBM is one of the companies that openly uses this method to develop software. Many companies will adopt the use of this method within their development structure, but they aren’t always open about their choice to use it.

According to IBM, the use of the Agile Method means that significant organizational changes will take place. They believe that many Agile software development teams will increase their chances of success by partnering with a trusted guide. They help clients implement their own Agile software development strategies for their projects. They provide critical guidance that will help Agile software development teams to avoid common adoption, expansion and implementation pitfalls.

Benefits of Using the Agile Method

The Agile Method grew out of experience with the real-life projects of leading software professionals from the past. Because of this, the challenges and limitations of traditional development have been discarded. Subsequently, the Agile Method has been accepted by the industry as a better solution to project development. Nearly every software developer has used the Agile Method in some form.

This method offers a light framework for assisting teams. It helps them function and maintain focus on rapid delivery. This focus assists capable organizations in reducing the overall risks associated with software development.

The Agile Method ensures that value is optimized throughout the development process. The use of iterative planning and feedback results in teams that can continuously align a delivered product that reflects the desired needs of a client. It easily adapts to changing requirements throughout the process by measuring and evaluating the status of a project. The measuring and evaluating allows accurate and early visibility into the progress of each project.

It could be stated that the Agile Method helps companies build the right product. Instead of trying to market software before it is written, the Agile Method empowers teams to optimize the release during its development. This allows the product to be as competitive as possible within the marketplace. It preserves the relevance of the critical market, and it ensures that a team’s work doesn’t wind up collecting dust on a shelf. This is why the Agile Method is an attractive developmental option for stakeholders and developers alike.

There are many critics of the Agile Method; however, this method produces results that clients can take to the bank. Although a project may not turn out exactly as the client envisions, it will be delivered within the time that it needs to be produced. Throughout the process, the client and the team are changing the requirements in order to produce the quality needed by the client. Clients are happy with the results, and the team satisfies the client’s needs. The ongoing change can sometimes give both the client and the team more than they had originally envisioned for the product. The Agile Method really is a winning solution for everyone involved in software development.

Criticism of Agile Development

· It is developer-centric rather than user-centric.

· Agile focuses on processes for getting requirements and developing code and does not focus on product design.

· Agile methodologies can also be inefficient in large organizations and certain types of projects.

Difference Between Agile and Traditional (Waterfall or Spiral) Development

Fundamental Assumptions
Traditional: Systems are fully specifiable, predictable, and can be built through meticulous and extensive planning.
Agile: High-quality, adaptive software can be developed by small teams using the principles of continuous design improvement and testing based on rapid feedback and change.

Control
Traditional: Process centric
Agile: People centric

Management Style
Traditional: Command-and-control
Agile: Leadership-and-collaboration

Knowledge Management
Traditional: Explicit
Agile: Tacit

Role Assignment
Traditional: Individual—favors specialization
Agile: Self-organizing teams—encourages role interchangeability

Communication
Traditional: Formal
Agile: Informal

Customer’s Role
Traditional: Important
Agile: Critical

Project Cycle
Traditional: Guided by tasks or activities
Agile: Guided by product features

Development Model
Traditional: Life cycle model (Waterfall, Spiral, or some variation)
Agile: The evolutionary-delivery model

Desired Organizational Form/Structure
Traditional: Mechanistic
Agile: Organic

Technology
Traditional: No restriction
Agile: Favors object-oriented technology

Glossary: What is Meant by Agile Methodologies

Acceptance Test: Confirms that an story is complete by matching a user action scenario with a desired outcome. Acceptance testing is also called beta testing, application testing, and end user testing.

Customer: A customer is a person with an understanding of both the business needs and operational constraints for a project who provides guidance during development.

Domain Model: the application domain responsible for creating a shared language between business and IT.

Iteration: An iteration is a single development cycle, usually measured as one week or two weeks.

Planning Board: Used to track the progress of an agile development project. After iteration planning, stories are written on cards and pinned up in priority order on a planning board.

Planning Game: A planning game is a meeting attended by both IT and business teams that is focused on choosing stories for a release or iteration.

Release: A deployable software package that is culmination of several iterations of development.

Release Plan: An evolving flowchart that describes which features will be delivered in upcoming releases.

Spike: A story that cannot be estimated until a development team runs a time-boxed investigation.

Stand-up: A daily progress meeting (literally every stands up and meets to keep engaged and motivated), traditionally held within a development area.

Story: A particular business need assigned to the software development team. Stories must be broken down into small enough components that they may be delivered in a single development iteration.

Timebox: A defined period of time during which a task must be accomplished.

Velocity: The budget of story units available for planning the next iteration of a development project. Velocity is based on measurements taken during previous iteration cycles.

Wiki: A wiki is a server program that allows users to collaborate in forming the content of a Web site.

Agile Termilogy

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Acceptance criteria

These are specific criteria identified by the customer for each functional requirement. The acceptance criteria are written in simple terms and from a perspective of the customer.

Sample format is:

As a.....I want to..... so that I can......

Acceptance testing

Acceptance testing is a validation activity conducted to determine whether or not a system satisfies its acceptance criteria. It is the last phase of the software testing process.

Agile

A conceptual framework for undertaking software projects. Agile methods are a family of development processes, not a single approach to software development.

Behavior Driven Development

Behavior driven development (or BDD) is an agile software development technique that encourages collaboration between developers, QA and non-technical or business participants in a software project. BDD focuses on obtaining a clear understanding of desired software behavior through discussion with stakeholders. It extends TDD by writing test cases in a natural language that non-programmers can read.

Bottleneck

A bottleneck is a sort of congestion in a system that occurs when workload arrives at a given point more quickly than that point can handle it.

It is metaphorically derived from the flowing of water through a narrow mouthed bottle where the flow of water is constrained by the size of its neck.

Bugs

A software bug is a problem causing a program to crash or produce invalid output. It is caused by insufficient or erroneous logic and can be an error, mistake, defect or fault.

Burndown Chart

A burndown chart is a visual tool for measuring and displaying progress. Visually, a burndown chart is simply a line chart representing remaining work over time. Burndown charts are used to measure the progress of an agile project at both a iteration and project level.

Daily Standup/Scrum

A Daily Standup is a whole team meeting that happens at the same time every day that usually lasts 15 minutes or less. The meeting is designed to allow the entire team to synchronize with each other and to understand the flow and challenges of the development process. Each team member should provide the following information: what did I do yesterday, what am I planning to do today, and what impediments do I currently have?

Done

Also referred to as “Done Done”, this term is used to describe all the various tasks that need to happen before a story is considered potentially releasable.

Epic

A very large user story that is eventually broken down into smaller stories.

Estimation

The process of agreeing on a size measurement for the stories, as well as the tasks required to implement those stories, in a product backlog.

Feature creep

Feature creep occurs when a software becomes complicated and difficult to use as a result of too many features.

Kanban

Kanban, pronounced /ˈkɑnˈbɑn/, is a method for developing products with an emphasis on just-in-time delivery and the optimization of flow of work on the team. It emphasizes that developers pull work from a queue, and the process, from definition of a task to its delivery to the customer, is displayed for participants to see.

Lean

Lean software development is a translation of Lean manufacturing and Lean IT principles and practices to the software development domain. Adapted from the Toyota Production System and is a set of techniques and principles for delivering more values with the same or less resources by eliminating waste across organizations and business processes

Pair Programming

Pair programming is an agile software development technique in which two programmers work together at one workstation. One types in code while the other reviews each line of code as it is typed in. The person typing is called the driver. The person reviewing the code is called the observer (or navigator). The two programmers switch roles frequently.

Planning Poker

Also called Scrum poker, is a consensus-based technique for estimating, mostly used to estimate effort or relative size of tasks in software development.

Product Backlog

Acts as a repository for requirements targeted for release at some point. These are typically high level requirements with high level estimates provided by the product stakeholders. The requirements are listed on the backlog in priority order and maintained by the product owner.

Product Owner

The Product Owner represents the voice of the customer and is accountable for ensuring that the Team delivers value to the business. The Product Owner writes customer-centric items (typically user stories), prioritizes them, and adds them to the product backlog. Scrum teams should have one Product Owner.

Retrospective

A team meeting that happens at the end of every development iteration to review lessons learned and to discuss how the team can be more efficient in the future. It is based on the principles of applying the learning from the previous sprint to the upcoming sprint.

Scrum

Scrum is a framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value. It is based on the adaptive and iterative methodology of software development.

Scrumban

Scrumban is a mix between Scrum and Kanban, which supposedly contains the best features of both methods.

Scrum Master

Scrum is accountable for removing impediments to the ability of the team to deliver the sprint goal/deliverables. The ScrumMaster is not the team leader but acts as a buffer between the team and any distracting influences. The ScrumMaster ensures that the Scrum process is used as intended. The ScrumMaster is the enforcer of rules. A key part of the ScrumMaster’s role is to protect the team and keep them focused on the tasks at hand. The role has also been referred to as servant-leader to reinforce these dual perspectives.

Spike

A short, time-boxed piece of research, usually technical, on a single story that is intended to provide just enough information that the team can estimate the size of the story.

Sprint / Iteration

A fixed duration period of time where user stories are chosen to work on. The term Sprint comes from the Scrum methodology and is analogous to the term Iteration. A sprint is defined as a 2-4 week increment of software development activities that delivers working software and the end of the increment. External influences are not allowed to change the requirements of the stories being worked on.

Sprint Backlog

At the beginning of each sprint, the team has sprint planning with an end result being a backlog of work that the team anticipates completing at the end of the sprint. These are the items that the team will deliver against throughout the duration of the sprint.

Sprint Planning

Is a pre-sprint planning meeting attended by the core agile team. During the meeting the Product Owner describes the highest priority features to the team as described on the product backlog. The team then agrees on the number of features they can accomplish in the sprint and plans out the tasks required to achieve delivery of those features. The planning group works the features into User Stories and assigns Acceptance criteria to each story.

Sprint Review

Each Sprint is followed by a Sprint review. During this review the software developed in the previous Sprint is reviewed and if necessary new backlog items are added.

Story Points

Unit of estimation measuring complexity and size.

Task

A user story can be broken down in to one or more tasks. Tasks are estimated daily in hours (or story points) remaining by the developer working on them.

Taskboard / Storyborad

A wall chart with cards and sticky notes that represents all the work for in a given sprint. The notes are moved across the board to show progress.

Team

The Team is responsible for delivering the product. A Team is typically made up of 5–9 people with cross-functional skills who do the actual work (analyse, design, develop, test, technical communication, document, etc.). It is recommended that the Team be self-organizing and self-led, but often work with some form of project or team management.

Test Driven Development

Test-driven development (TDD) is a software development process that relies on the repetition of a very short development cycle: first the developer writes a failing automated test case that defines a desired improvement or new function, then produces code to pass that test and finally refactors the new code to acceptable standards.

Timeboxing

Timeboxing is a planning technique common in planning projects (typically for software development), where the schedule is divided into a number of separate time periods (timeboxes, normally two to six weeks long), with each part having its own deliverables, deadline and budget.

User Persona

Personas are a description of the typical users of a given software. A persona description should include:

1) Skills and background – E.g. professional or beginner computer user
2) Goals – E.g. what does the user expect from the product?

User Story

A user story is a very high-level definition of a requirement, containing just enough information so that the developers can produce a reasonable estimate of the effort to implement it. A user story is one or more sentences in the everyday or business language of the end user that captures what the user wants to achieve. A user story is also a placeholder for conversation between the users and the team. The user stories should be written by or for the customers for a software project and are their main instrument to influence the development of the software. User stories could also be written by developers to express non-functional requirements (security, performance, quality, etc.)

Velocity

It is a relative number which describes how much work the team can get done over a period of time.

Vertical Slice

Showing off a feature in an application that works from start to finish but may be limited in scope. For example a rope bridge crossing a chasm is immediately useful and allows people to cross. Having that in place can help to build a better bridge later.

WIP

Also known as Work in Progress is any work that has been started but has yet to be completed.

XP

A software development methodology which is intended to improve software quality and responsiveness to changing customer requirements. As a type of agile software development, it advocates frequent "releases" in short development cycles (timeboxing), which is intended to improve productivity and introduce checkpoints where new customer requirements can be adopted.

ALL AGILE TERM DEFINITION

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AGILE TERM DEFINITION

Acceptance Criteria

Those criteria by which a work item (user story) can be judged to have been successfully implemented and tested. Most commonly, these criteria are expected to be "all or nothing" - that is, either all criteria pass and the story is 'done', or the story is not 'done'.

Driven Development (ATDD) | Acceptance Test Driven Development (ATDD)

"Acceptance Test Driven Development (ATDD) is a practice in which the whole team collaboratively discusses acceptance criteria, with examples, and then distills them into a set of concrete acceptance tests before development begins. It’s the best way I know to ensure that we all have the same shared understanding of what it is we’re actually building. It’s also the best way I know to ensure we have a shared definition of Done."

Acceptance Testing

The process and tools that validate that a work item (user story) meets the specified acceptance criteria. The preferred approach is to automate as much as possible, which is facilitated by the wealth of testing tools - both commercial and open source - that are available. The output from acceptance testing is frequently a report that can be argued to articulate the design of the system when combined with the output from automated unit testing.

Agile Application Lifecycle Management

Also called Agile ALM, Agile Application Lifecycle Management is the integrated management platform of the entire software application lifecycle, from planning to the final release. Key components of the platform include the ability to handle change management, workflow, source code management, task management, testing and bug tracking, reporting and analytics.

Agile Practices

Agile practices are procedures that are defined as being highly efficient to productivity, and include the following practices: user stories, cross-functional teams, unit testing, refactoring, continuous integration, multi-stage continuous integration, planning poker, burnup charts, burndown charts.

Agile Development

Agile development is a way of thinking about software development as expressed in the Agile Manifesto, and acts as an “umbrella” for a group of methodologies. The methodologies are based on process-centric and iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams. Agile development is a conceptual framework that promotes evolutionary change throughout the entire life cycle of the project and represents a new, more flexible approach to development than the traditional methods that have previously been the norm for software development.

Agile Development Life Cycle

The complete software development process including Agile practices such as user stories, cross-functional teams, unit testing, refactoring, continuous integration, multi-stage continuous integration, planning poker, burnup charts, burndown charts.

Agile Manifesto

A Manifesto for Agile Software Development is an historical document authored in February of 2001. Seventeen men came together at a ski resort in Utah to discuss different approaches to lightweight, responsive, adaptable software development. The Manifesto represents their combined best thinking. It comprises two parts: four value statements and twelve principles.

Here are the four value statements of the Manifesto:

"We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more."

Agile Processes

A software development methodology based on process-centric and iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams and is collectively regarded as highly efficient to productivity. Specific processes include user stories, cross functional teams, unit testing, refactoring, continuous integration, multi-stage continuous integration, planning poker, burnup charts and burndown charts.

Agile Project Management

The process of planning, organizing, and managing the necessary resources in order to complete project goals while adhering to Agile practices.

Agile SCM Tool

Software Configuration Management tool that supports Agile Software Development Lifecycle requirements differently than requirements involved with traditional software development. These supported features and requirements of Agile SCM include feature-oriented development, sandboxing with private build before check-in, ability to revert to last good working version when integration testing fails, staging hierarchy, ability to revert and retarget changes, refactoring support and support for geographically distributed development.

Agile Software Development

Agile software development is a way of thinking about software development, as expressed in the Agile Manifesto, and acts as an “umbrella” for a group of methodologies. The methodologies are based on process-centric and iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams. Agile software development is a conceptual framework that promotes evolutionary change throughout the entire life cycle of the project and represents a new, more flexible approach to development than the traditional methods that have been the norm for software development.

Application Development Process Tools

Tools necessary to complete the application development process, such as Application Lifecycle Management tools, Software Configuration Management tools, Build and Release tools, security and defect tracking tools, etc.

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)

Also called ALM, Application Lifecycle Management is the management platform of the entire software application lifecycle, from planning to the final release. Key components of the platform include the ability to handle change management, workflow, source code management, task management, testing and bug tracking, reporting and analytics.

Backlog

Also knows as "product backlog," the backlog is a prioritized list of user stories and defects in order from most valuable to least valuable for a system. Backlogs include both functional and non-functional user stories as well as technical team-generated stories.

Behaviour Driven Development (BDD)

Behavior-driven development (or BDD) is an agile software development technique that encourages collaboration between developers, QA and non-technical or business participants in a software project. It was originally named in 2003 by Dan North as a response to test-driven development, including acceptance test or customer test driven development practices as found in extreme programming. It has evolved over the last few years.

BDD focuses on obtaining a clear understanding of desired software behavior through discussion with stakeholders. It extends TDD by writing test cases in a natural language that non-programmers can read. Behavior-driven developers use their native language in combination with the ubiquitous language of domain-driven design to describe the purpose and benefit of their code. This allows the developers to focus on why the code should be created, rather than the technical details, and minimizes translation between the technical language in which the code is written and the domain language spoken by the business, users, stakeholders, project management, etc.

Branching

Branching is the duplication of objects under revision control (such as a source code file, or a directory tree) in such a way that the newly created objects initially have the same content as the original, but can evolve independently of the original. Branching can take two forms, static or dynamic. In static branches, copy and label operations are used to duplicate a given branch. The duplicate then can evolve independently. With dynamic branches, usually implemented in streams, only the label operation is used, to flag the point in time that a stream diverged from its parent stream. Both branching forms support some form of merging, so that code changes made on a branch can be re-integrated into another branch, as is typical in parallel development processes.

Burndown Chart

Representation of the number of hours remaining for completion of a project; usually represented in chart form with points plotted on an x and y axis that map a downward trend of work left to do until burning down to zero.

Burnup Chart

Representation of the number of stories completed; usually represented in chart form with points plotted on an x and y axis that map an upward trend of work completed until reaching 100%.

Change and Configuration Management

Change and Configuration Management (also known as Software Change and Configuration Management or SCCM) combines aspects of both change management and configuration management to control a software development project as it evolves through the software development process. SCCM typically includes all technical aspects of the development process, such as version control, branching and merging.

Additionally, SCCM includes change related activities such as issue tracking, document tracking, and process workflows that enable development teams to control the overall process.

Change Control

Process in which changes to a product or system are introduced in a controlled manner with minimal disruptions to services and cost effective solutions involved in implementing the changes.

Change Management

Change Management enables development organizations to control, communicate and respond more effectively to rapidly changing business demands.

Change Packages

Change Packages enable developers and managers to group file changes together into a logical whole and enable release managers to work at the issue or task level, while still providing developers with full access to the underlying file contents of the Change Package. Once created, a Change Package allows users to move, copy, modify, merge or revert the change package.

Collocation

Collocation refers to development teams located and working in the same location. Collocation is usually applied at the cross-functional team level.

Configuration Management

Configuration Management refers to a set of practices around storing, tracking and releasing versions of a software product. Software products that enable development organizations to perform these practices efficiently are also referred to as Configuration Management systems or Configuration Management tools. Configuration Management systems will typically provide users with a variety of features, including but not limited to source code control, issue tracking, and change set management.

Configuration Management Tools

Configuration Management tools are the tools that make possible the practices around storing, tracking and releasing versions of software.

Continuous Integration

Continuous integration, one of the foundational aspects of Agile software development methodologies, is defined by Martin Fowler to be "a fully automated and reproducible build, including testing, that runs many times a day. This allows each developer to integrate daily, thus reducing integration problems." By getting changes into the main line as frequently as possible, preferably daily, and by extending the idea of a nightly build, continuous integration helps reduce integrations problems and identify and resolve problems more quickly.

Cross-Functional Team

Team comprised of members with all functional skills and specialties necessary to complete a project from start to finish.

Distributed Development

Development teams that work on the same project but are located across multiple locations or worksites.

Enterprise Agile

The adoption of specific Agile practices in an organization that works in conjunction with other non-Agile practices. Enterprise Agile is a highly efficient and customized practice for large organizations that have difficulty making a complete transition to Agile, as well as for organizations that already practice efficient development processes.

Epic

A user story which describes a large amount of customer value and needs to be broken down into many smaller user stories.

Feature Driven Development

Feature Driven Development (FDD) is an Agile method for developing software based on an iterative and incremental software development process. The main purpose of FDD is to deliver tangible, working software repeatedly in a timely manner.

Hybrid Processes

Development process that uses both Agile and non-Agile practices in conjunction with each other and is proven highly effective for development teams

Inspecting and Adapting

Agile process where teams evaluate a project by looking, listening to each other’s feedback and ultimately improving the process or changing course.

Iteration

Microcosm of a traditional Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC,) each of which produces working software. Iterations can be as large as 3 months but are more typically between 1 to 4 weeks.

Kanban

Methodology that comes from Lean software development and has three main components: visual system for managing work, limits work in progress, and work is pulled rather than pushed through the system.

Lean Software Development

A programming concept that focuses on optimizing efficiencies for development and minimizing waste. According to Mary Poppendieck, 10 rules of Lean programming include: eliminate waste, minimize artifacts, satisfy all stakeholders, deliver as fast as possible, decide as late as possible, decide as low as possible, deploy comprehensive testing, learn by experimentation, measure business impact and optimize across organizations.

Merging

The process of incorporating branches back into the mainline.

Multi-stage Continuous Integration

Agile method allowing for a high degree of integration to occur in parallel while vastly reducing the scope of integration problems. Multi-stage Continuous Integration (CI) is an expansion upon Continuous Integration, where each developer works on his or her own task. As changes are made, CI is done against that team's branch. If CI does not succeed, then that developer (possibly with help from her teammates) fixes the branch. This way when there is a problem, only that team, not the whole development effort is affected.

One Piece Flow

Process in which each developer or development process works on only one piece at a time before pulling code downstream, one piece at a time, to the next process.

Pair Programming

Process in which two developers work together at a single workstation, where one is responsible for typing code and the other for reviewing each line of code as it is typed in.

Parallel Development

Parallel development occurs whenever a software development project requires separate development efforts on related code bases. For example, when a software product is shipped to customers, a product development team may begin working on a new major feature release of the product, while a product maintenance team may work on defect corrections and customer patch releases of the shipped product. Both teams begin work from the same code base, but the code necessarily diverges. Frequently the code bases used in parallel development efforts must be merged at some future date, for example, to ensure that the defect corrections provided by the product maintenance team are integrated into the major release that the product development team is working on.

Planning Poker

A consensus-based technique for estimating; mostly used to estimate effort or relative size of tasks in software development. Planning Poker is useful for building team cohesion and for fostering self-organizing teams.

Product Backlog

The backlog owned by the Product Owner.

Product Owner

A role originating from Scrum, but has now been widely adopted independently of Scrum. A product owner manages the product backlog, addresses questions that arise during development and signs off on work results. The product owner guides the team with what should be done and when the final product should be shipped. The Scrum team then balances out the product owner’s decisions by deciding how much work should be involved in an individual sprint and estimating the amount of time necessary to complete the task.

Real World Agile

The adoption of specific Agile practices in an organization that works in conjunction with other non-Agile practices. Real World Agile is a highly efficient and customized practice for large organizations that have difficulty make a complete transition to Agile as well as for organizations that already practice efficient development processes.

Refactoring

The practice of continuously improving the usability, maintainability, and adaptability of code without changing its behavior. Refactoring makes it much easier to add new and unanticipated functionality. Refactoring has the disadvantage that it takes extra effort and requires changing the code.

Release Management

Release management comprises a broad set of activities in software development organizations that center on ensuring that software is ready to be released to customers.

Release Plan

A document describing scheduling, activities, resources and responsibilities related to a particular release.

Release Process

The software release process is the final stage in a typical software development effort, where the software product is made available for use. To ready a software product for release, the release process must ensure that all product requirements have been met, usually by executing test suites designed to exercise product functionality and correcting any defects found.

SCM Software

Software Configuration Management software is a software tool that enable organizations to perform the SCM practices of storing, tracking and releasing a product, and typically provide users with a variety of features including source code control, issue tracking and change set management, advanced configuration management, change packages, process management and integrated issue tracking.

SCM Tools

Software Configuration Management tools are tools that enable organizations to perform SCM practices and typically provide users with a variety of features, including source code control, issue tracking and change set management, advanced configuration management, change packages, process management and integrated issue tracking.

Scrum

Agile development project management framework based around sprints and is generally comprised of a Scrum Team, Product Owner and Scrum Master. The framework of Scrum leaves most development decisions up to the self-organizing Scrum team, where decisions are reached as a whole team.

Scrum Master

Person trained to facilitate daily Scrum meetings, remove impediments, oversee the team’s progress through the process and track Scrum team updates.

Self Organizing

A team, usually found in Scrum, that manages itself through various means of communication and reoccurring structured meetings. Self organizing teams solve development issues together as a whole and decide the best solution depending on the various team members.

Software Change and Configuration Management (SCCM)

Software change and configuration management (SCCM – mainframe and distributed) tools implement a set of disciplines used to stabilize, track and control the versions and configurations of a set of software items and also may include development change management, defect tracking, change automation, development release management, integrated test management, integrated build management and other related processes. - Gartner Research

Software Configuration Management (SCM)

Software Configuration Management (SCM) refers to a set of practices around storing, tracking and releasing versions of a software product. Software products that enable development organizations to perform these practices efficiently are also referred to as Software Configuration Management systems or Software Configuration Management tools. Software Configuration Management systems will typically provide users with a variety of features, including but not limited to: source code control, issue tracking and change set management.

Software Development

Development of software in a planned and structured process. See software development process.

Software Development Process

The software development process is the set of coordinated activities performed by engineers, managers and technical writers resulting in the creation of a software product. Various named software development processes are in use today, including Agile, XP, Scrum, Waterfall and Lean.

Source Code Control

Source code control is a common requirement in all modern software development projects that provides mechanisms for checking source code in and out of a central repository. This allows different developers to work on the same project, with reduced fears of lost code or overwritten changes. Source code control also implies a version control system that can manage files through the development lifecycle, keeping track of which changes were made, who made them, when they were made, and why. Finally, source code control also frequently involves the ability to group versioned files as a single release, maintain multiple active releases concurrently (branching), and join different releases (merging).

Source Code Management

Source code management refers broadly to the set of operations required to store, retrieve and version the files used to construct software applications. Development teams rely on source code management to organize the source code files for different releases of software, so that releases can be uniquely identified for testing, packaging and delivery to customers. Failure to do this properly results in poor quality releases and inefficient use of development resources.

Spike

Timeboxed investigation of feasibility via a bare bones implementation, which touches on all aspects of the full implementation.

Sprint

Scrum specific word describing iterations.

Sprint Backlog

Plan for development team to map out implementation of features for an upcoming sprint.

Sprint Planning

A meeting for Scrum Teams, Scrum Masters and Product Owners where the Product Owner describes priority features to the team. The Scrum Team gets enough of an understanding about the tasks discussed that they are able to choose which ones to move from the product backlog to the sprint backlog.

Retrospective

Meeting held at the end of every sprint review to reflect on what went well during the sprint and what can be improved upon during the next sprint. Sprint retrospectives are valued as necessary parts of inspecting and adapting, and allow development teams to plan for future output.

Sprint Review

In the sprint review, teams go over what stories were completed during the iteration and demonstrate those stories for stakeholders and the product owner.

Stand-up

Daily Meetings that are meant to quickly and efficiently resolve obstacles that any team members may be experiencing.

Story Points

Relative scale of effort required by a team to implement a user story.

Task Board

A physical or electronic board representing the state of tasks in a current sprint, often divided into "to do," "in progress" and "done."

Test Driven Development (TDD)

From Dean Leffingwell:

"Test-driven development (TDD) (Beck 2003; Astels 2003), is an evolutionary approach to development which combines test-first development where you write a test before you write just enough production code to fulfill that test and refactoring. What is the primary goal of TDD? One view is the goal of TDD is specification and not validation (Martin, Newkirk, and Kess 2003). In other words, it’s one way to think through your requirements or design before your write your functional code (implying that TDD is both an important agile requirements and agile design technique). Another view is that TDD is a programming technique. As Ron Jeffries likes to say, the goal of TDD is to write clean code that works."

Timeboxing

The practice of constraining the amount of time for performing any activity. Examples include iterations, spikes and stand up meetings.

Unit Testing

Tests that exercise small amounts of isolated functionality.

User Stories

Used with Agile methodologies for specifying requirements and presented as an informal statement of the requirement (usually fitting on a 3x5 index card).

Velocity

The velocity of a team is the number of story points associated with stories that are finished over a given period of time, often 1 to 4 weeks. For instance, if the team completed 8 stories that were each 5 points during a four week period, then their velocity is 40 story points every four weeks.

Waterfall

Model of a software development process in which progress flows downwards through phases of conception, initiation, analysis, design, construction, testing and maintenance.

Whole Teams

Team comprised of members with different functional skills and specialties that work together during all phases of development in order to complete a project from start to finish. Also known as a cross-functional team.

"Extreme Programming," one implementation of the Agile methodology that focuses on producing the simplest coding situation for application requirements and includes practices such as pair programming, incremental design and continuous integration.

Agile SCRUM methodology for software development and testing.

2014-08-21T02:52:00.001-07:00

Introduction:

This is the guide for software developers and testers to understand and start working on the very famous Agile SCRUM methodology for software development and testing. Learn the basic but important terminologies used in Agile Scrum process along with a real example of the complete process.

SCRUM is a process in agile methodology which is a combination of Iterative model and incremental model.

One of the major handicaps of the traditional water-fall model wasthat – until first phase is complete, the application does not move to the other phase. And if by chance there are some changes in the later stage of the cycle, it becomes very challenging to implement those changes, as it would involve revisiting the earlier phases and redoing the changes.

Some of the key characteristics of SCRUM include:

· Self-organized and focused team

· No huge requirement documents, rather have very precise and to the point stories.

· Cross functional team works together as a single unit.

· Close communication with the user representative to understand the features.

· Has definite time line of max 1 month.

· Instead of doing the entire “thing” at a time, Scrum does a little of everything at a given interval

· Resources capability and availability are considered before committing any thing.

To understand this methodology well, it’s important to understand the key terminologies in SCRUM.

Also read => How to Deliver High Value Software Features in a Short Time Period using Agile Scrum Process

Important SCRUM Terminologies:

1. Scrum Team

Scrum team is a team comprising of 7 with + or – two members. These members are a mixture of competencies and comprise of developers, testers, data base people, support people etc. along with the product owner and a scrum master. All these members work together in close collaboration for a recursive and definite interval, to develop and implement the said features.

2. Sprint

Sprint is a predefined interval or the time frame in which the work has to be completed and make it ready for review or ready for production deployment. This time box usually lies between 2 weeks to 1 month. In our day to day life when we say that we follow 1 month Sprint cycle, it simply means that we work for one month on the tasks and make it ready for review by the end of that month.

3. Product Owner

Product owner is the key stakeholder or the lead user of the application to be developed.

Product owner is the person who represents the customer side. He / she have the final authority and should always be available for the team. He / she should be reachable in case any one has any doubts that need clarification. It is important for the product owner to understand and not to assign any new requirement in the middle of the sprint or when the sprint has already started.

4. Scrum Master

Scrum Master is the facilitator of the scrum team. He / she make sure that the scrum team is productive and progressive. In case of any impediments, scrum master follows up and resolves them for the team.

5. User Story

User stories are nothing but the requirements or feature which has to be implemented. In scrum, we don’t have those huge requirements documents, rather the requirements are defined in a single paragraph, typically having the format as:

As a <User / type of user>
I want to <Some achievable goal / target>
To achieve <some result or reason of doing the thing>

For example:

As an Admin I want to have a password lock in case user enters incorrect password for consecutive 3 times to restrict unauthorized access.

There are some characteristics of user stories which should be adhered. The user stories should be short, realistic, could be estimated, complete, negotiable and testable.

Every user story has an acceptance criterion which should be well defined and understood by the team. Acceptance criteria details down the user story, provides the supported documents. It helps to further refine the user story. Anybody from the team can write down the acceptance criteria. Testing team base their test cases / conditions on these acceptance criteria.

6. Epics

Epics are equivocal user stories or we can say these are the user stories which are not defined and are kept for future sprints. Just try to relate it with life, imagine you are going for a vacation. Since you are going next week, you have everything in place like your hotel bookings, sightseeing, travelers check etc. But what about your vacation plan for next year? You have only a vague idea that you may go to XYZ place, but you have no detailed plan.

An Epic is just like you next year’s vacation plan, where you just know that you may want to go , but where, when, with whom, all these details you have no idea at this point of time.

In a similar way there are features which required to be implemented in future whose details are not yet known. Mostly feature begins with an Epic and then broken down to stories which could be implemented.

7. Product Backlog

Product backlog is a kind of bucket or source where all the user stories are kept. This is maintained by Product owner. Product backlog can be imagined as a wish list of the product owner who prioritizes it as per business needs. During planning meeting (see next section), one user story is taken from the product backlog, team does the brainstorming, understands it and refine it and collectively decides which user stories to take, with the intervention of the product owner.

8. Sprint Backlog

Based on the priority, user stories are taken from the Product Backlog one at a time. The Scrum team brainstorms on it, determines the feasibility and decides on the stories to work on a particular sprint. The collective list of all the user stories which the scrum team works on a particular sprint is called s Sprint backlog.

9. Story Points:

Story points are quantitative indication of the complexity of a user story. Based on the story point, estimation and efforts for a story is determined. Story point is relative and is not absolute. To make sure that our estimate and efforts are correct, it’s important to check that the user stories are not big. Precise and smaller is the user story, accurate will be the estimation.

Each and every user story is assigned a story point based on the Fibonacci series (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13&21). Higher is the number, complex is the story.

To be precise

· If you give 1 / 2 / 3 story point it means the story is small and of low complexity.

· If you give points as 5 / 8, it is a medium complex and

· 13 and 21 are highly complex.

Here complexity consists of both development plus testing effort

To decide a story point, brainstorming happens with in the scrum team and the team collectively decides a story point. It may happen that development team gives a story point of 3 to a particular story, because for them it may be 3 lines of code change, but testing team gives 8 story point because they feel this code change will affect larger modules so testing effort would be larger. Whatever story point you are giving, you have to justify it. So in this situation, brainstorming happens and the team collectively agrees to one story point.

Whenever you are deciding on a story point, keep the below factors in mind:

· Dependency of the story with other application / module,

· Skill set of the resource

· Complexity of the story

· Historical learning,

· Acceptance criteria of the user story

If you are not aware of a particular story, don’t size it.
If you see that the story point is very high, further decompose it to smaller stories.

10. Burn down chart

Burn down chart is a graph which shows the estimated v/s actual effort of the scrum tasks.

It is a tracking mechanism by which for a particular sprint; day to day tasks are tracked to check whether the stories are progressing towards the completion of the committed story points or not.

Example: To understand this, check the below figure:

I have assumed:

· 2 weeks Sprint ( 10 days)

· 2 resources actual working on the sprint.

“Story”-> Column shows the user stories taken for the sprint.

“Task” -> Column shows the list of task associated to the user story.

“Effort” -> Column shows the effort. Now; this measure is the total effort to complete the task. It does not depict the effort put in by any specific individual.

“Day 1 – Day 10” -> – Column(s) shows the hours which are left to complete the story. Please see that the hour is NOT the hour which is already done BUT the hours which are still left.

“Estimated Effort” -> is the total of the effort. For the “Start” it is simply the sum of the entire individual task: SUM (C5: C15)

Total number of effort that has to be completed in 1 day is 70 / 10 = 7. So at the end of day 1, the effort should reduce to 70 – 7 = 63. In a similar way it is calculated for all the days till day 10, when estimated effort should be 0 (Row 16)

“Actual Effort Left” -> as the name suggests, is the effort actually left to complete the story. It may also happen that the actual efforts increases or decreases than the estimated one.

You can use the in build functions and Chart in Excel to create this burn down chart.

Burn Down Chart steps would be:

1. Enter all the stories ( Column A5 – A15)

2. Enter all the Tasks ( Column B5 – B15)

3. Enter the Days ( Day 1 – Day 10 )

4. Enter the starting efforts (Sum the tasks C5 – C15 )

5. Apply formula to calculate the “Estimated Efforts” for each day (Day 1 to Day 10). Enter the formula at D15 (C16-$C$16/10) and drag it for all the days.

6. For each day, enter the actual efforts. Enter the formula at D17 (SUM (D5:D15)) for summing up the actual efforts left, and drag it for all the other days.

7. Select it and create the chart as follows:

------------

11. Velocity

Total number of story point which a scrum team archives in a sprint, is called Velocity. The Scrum team is judged or referenced by its velocity. Having said that, it should be kept in mind that the objective here is NOT achieving the maximum story points, but to have quality deliverable, respecting scrum team’s comfort level.

For example: For a particular sprint: total number of user stories are 8 having story points as

So here the velocity will be the sum of the story points = 30

12. Definition of Done:

A story is DONE in Scrum, only when it is development and QA complete and the feature is eligible to be shipped to production.

Activities done in SCRUM Methodology:

#1: Planning meeting

Planning meeting is the starting point of SCRUM. It is the meeting where the entire scrum team gather, the product owner selects a user story based on the priority from the product back log and the team brain storms on it. Based on the discussion, the scrum team decides the complexity of the story and sizes it as per the Fibonacci series. Team identifies the tasks along with the efforts (in hours) which would be done to complete the implementation the user story.

Many a time planning meeting is preceded by a “Pre-Planning meeting”. It’s just like a home work which the scrum team does before they sit for the formal planning meet. Team tries to write down the dependencies or other factors which they would like to discuss in the planning meet.

#2: Execution of sprint tasks

As the name suggests, these are the actual work done by the scrum team to accomplish their task and take the user story into the “Done” state.

#3: Daily scrum meeting (call)

During the sprint cycle, every day the scrum team meets for, not more than 15 minutes (could be a stand up call, recommended to have during the beginning of the day) and state 3 points:

1. What did the team member did yesterday

2. What did the team member plan to do today

3. Any impediments (roadblocks)

It is the Scrum master who facilitates this meeting. In case, any team member is facing any kind of difficulties, the scrum master follows up to get it resolved.

#4: Review meeting

At the end of every sprint cycle, the SCRUM team meets again and demonstrates implemented user stories to the product owner. The product owner may cross verify the stories as per its acceptance criteria. It’s again the responsibility of the Scrum master to preside over this meeting.

#5: Retrospective meeting

Retrospective meeting happens after the review meeting. The SCRUM team meets and discusses & document the following points:

1. What went well during the Sprint (Best practices)

2. What did not went well in the Sprint

3. Lessons learnt

4. Action Items.

The Scrum team should continue to follow the best practice, ignore the “not best practices” and implement the lessons learnt during the consequent sprints. The retrospective meeting helps to implement the continuous improvement of the SCRUM process.

How the Process is done? An example!

Having read about the technical jargons of SCRUM; let me try to demonstrate the whole process with an example.

Step #1: Let’s have a SCRUM team of 9 people comprising of 1 product owner, 1 Scrum master, 2 testers, 4 developers and 1 DBA.

Step #2: The Sprint is decided to follow 4 weeks cycle. So we have 1 month Sprint starting 5th June to 4th of July.

Step #3: The Product owner has the prioritized list of user stories in the product backlog.

Step #4: The team decides to meet on 4th June for the “Pre Planning” meeting.

· The product owner takes 1 story from the product backlog, describes it and leaves it to the team to brainstorm on it.

· The entire team discusses and communicates directly to the product owner to have clear understood of the user story.

· In a similar way various other user stories are taken. If possible team can go ahead and size the stories as well.

After all the discussion, Individual team member go back to their work stations and

· Identify their individual tasks for each story.

· Calculate the exact number of hours on which they will be working. How the member concludes these hours; let’s check that

Total number of working hours = 9
Minus 1 hour for break, minus 1 hour for meetings, minus 1 hour for mails, discussions, troubleshooting etc.
So the actual working hours = 6
Total number of working days during the Sprint = 21 days.
Total number of hours available = 21*6 = 126
The member is on leave for 2 days = 12 hours (This varies for each member, some may take leave and some may not.)
Number of actual hours = 126 – 12 = 114 hours.

This means that the member will actually available for 114 hours for this sprint. So he will break down his individual sprint task in such a way that total of 114 hours is reached.

Step #5: On 5th of June the entire Scrum team meets for the “Planning Meeting”.

· Final verdict of the user story from the product backlog is done and the story is moved to the Sprint back log.

· For each story, each team member declares their identified tasks, if required can have a discussion on those tasks, can size or resize it (remember the Fibonacci series!!).

· The Scrum master or the team enter their individual tasks along with their hours for each story in a tool.

· After all the stories are completed, Scrum master notes the initial Velocity and formally starts the Sprint.

Step #6: Once the Sprint has started, based on the tasks assigned, each team member starts working on those tasks.

Step #7: The team meets daily for 15 minutes and discusses 3 things:

· What did they do yesterday?

· What they plan to do today

· Any impediments (roadblocks)?

Step #8: The scrum master tracks the progress on daily basis with the help of “Burn down chart”

Step #9: In case of any impediments, the Scrum master follows up to resolve those.

Step #10: On 4th July, the team meets again for the review meeting. A member demonstrates the implemented user story to the product owner.

Step #11: On 5th July, Team meets again for the Retrospective, where they discuss

· What went well?

· What did not went well

· Action Items.

Step #12: On 6th July, Team again meets for the pre-planning meeting for the next sprint and the cycle continues.

(Click to enlarge image)

Tools that can be used for SCRUM activities:

There are many tools available which can be used extensively for tracking the scrum activities. Some of them include:

· Jira

· XPlanner

· VersionOne

· Sprintometer

· ScrumNinja

Conclusion:

In the beginning, people may face some difficulty to adopt this methodology, but through practice you will see SCRUM doing wonders. It keeps the resources very focused and you can actually see your application growing.

Many a time’s organization encourages team to have few hours as self-study and development as a scrum task and allocate few hours. During the review, team members also demonstrate what they have studied, and sometimes present any tool or application which they have developed. I personally appreciate this approach as it gives the people a chance to enhance their knowledge and also present their skills. (Well, I have learnt Selenium through this approach only! )

Practical Usage of Data Structures in Computers

2014-08-21T02:50:00.008-07:00

Practical Usage of Data Structures in Computers

1. Stack - any recursive call

2. Queue, Circular Queue - all the FIFO algo use this

3. Linked List, Doubly Linked list, Circular Linked list - all the RDBMS

4. Tree, Binary Search Tree - Where searching is required. Memory is stored in B tree

5. Graph - Google Maps

Data structure is a particular way of storing and organizing information in a computer so that it can be retrieved and used most productively.

Different kinds of data structures are meant for different kinds of applications, and some are highly specialized to specific tasks.

Data structures are important for the following reasons:

1. Data structures are used in almost every program or software system.

2. Specific data structures are essential ingredients of many efficient algorithms, and make possible the management of huge amounts of data, such as large integrated collection of databases.

3. Some programming languages emphasize data structures, rather than algorithms, as the key organizing factor in software design.

Stack

Undo functions use this to pop most recent action off top of stack, then second most recent, etc.

Queue

Process Scheduling normally uses a queue (how processes or threads are accessed after the initial work varies though). A queue is often used to save a group of data in an organized structure so that it is easily accessed immediately when needed since its a FIFO (First in first out). However; when filling information into that queue when that queue is FULL the rest of the information is lost. To combat this circular queue is used, which overwrites the other elements so that recent data is NOT lost.

An example of this like you mentioned would be the queue of resources of a computer. Because a computer does not have infinite resources a queue has to be used in order to allocate resources to those that need it. For instance a process would request some resources and it would be thrown into the queue and be given a priority level, based on this information the OS would then make a decision how many resources it needs and how much time it will be given. In order to allow multiple processes to make use of this, any process that has processing that needs to be done will put in a request in that queue.

Tree

Directory traversal

Binary Search Tree

Searching quickly for a given element

Graph

Stores data so that you can think of it as a mathematical "plane" where the data is plotted. It is effective at representing (possibly) very complicated relationship between data, since (if you look at the image in the link) multiple "links" can exist between more than two pieces of data, as opposed to a linked list where you can only have a link to your left and to your right.

Hash Map

Searching for certain blocks of memory (i.e. when using many pointers) Hashing occurs when you have, say, an address book on your computer. It might use a hash map so that when you enter John Smith, his phone number and other information are available. This is because there is a hashing function that points to a certain location in memory when "John Smith" is entered. It would be a headache entering a memory address every time you wanted to access some simple information.

Linked List

Singly linked list offers movement in one direction between elements, doubly linked list offers movement back and forth between elements, and Circular linked list offers Circular navigation of similar objects (processes are one example) Use this when you want to be able to navigate between elements, because each element is linked to the next one and the one before it (for circular. noncircular linked lists have a beginning and an end). Imagine your web browser...you click "back" to go to the previous page, and you can click "forward" to go to the next. You can think of this as a linear linked list. A photo slide show that goes to the next or previous photo and then eventually starts at the beginning can be thought of as a circular linked list. (They're not necessarily implemented like that but it's a good way to visualize it)

A linked list has many applications that it’s not really possible to simplify it into one. For instance, you could link accounts (objects) through the queue of the nodes of an element in the linked list. In a linked list, a node has a previous and a next node, which effectively links all the elements together so that they can be traversed. Depending on the style of the linked list, this allows forward traversal backward traversal, or both directions. One thing to note is that a linked list can be dynamic in terms of size since all that needs to be done to add a new note is just attach it to the end of the list. However; in terms of performance the speed of that would be O (N) which means that the performance is heavily dependent on the size of the list.

Two data structures that are primarily used in a file cabinet are:-

1>Arrays

2>Link Lists

ARRAYS:-

Arrays are linear data structures consisting of a group of elements that are accessed by indexing. In most programming languages each element of array has the same data type and the array occupies a contiguous area of storage.

By data types we refer to integers, characters etc.

Integer arrays can be used to store numbers and similar numerical values.

Similarly character arrays can be used to store series of characters and so can be used to store names, address, and other strings.

So as a file cabinet consists of different files with variety of information, these arrays can be used to store variety of data.

Implementation of arrays is easy(can be implemented by several programming languages including C and C++)

We can also assign memory to arrays statically and dynamically.

Arrays are also used to implement mathematical vectors and matrices, as well as other kinds of rectangular tables. In early programming languages, these were often the applications that motivated having arrays.

Because of their performance characteristics, arrays are used to implement other data structures, such as heaps, hash tables, queues, deques, stacks, strings, lists etc .So am major tool to implement several other data structures.

LINK LISTS:-

A linked list is one of the fundamental data structures and can be used to implement other data structures. It consists of a sequence of nodes, each containing arbitrary data fields and one or two references ("links") pointing to the next and/or previous nodes. The principal benefit of a linked list over a conventional array is that the order of the linked items may be different from the order that the data items are stored in memory or on disk, allowing the list of items to be traversed in a different order. A linked list is a self-referential data type because it contains a pointer or link to another datum of the same type. Linked lists permit insertion and removal of nodes at any point in the list in constant time, but do not allow random access. Several different types of linked list exist: singly-linked lists, doubly-linked lists, and circularly-linked lists.

Linked lists can be implemented in most languages. Languages such as Lisp and Scheme have the data structure built in, along with operations to access the linked list. Procedural or object-oriented languages such as C, C++, Java typically rely on mutable references to create linked lists.

Linked lists are used as a building block for many other data structures, such as stacks, Queues and their variations.

The "data" field of a node can be another linked list. By this device, one can construct many linked data structures with lists.

It is necessary to emulate these types of data structures as these are the basic data structure types and other compels data structures can be built from this.

These data structures are excellent means of storing and accessing data.

I would use this type of program in a typical project like a railway reservation project or a library system. Here we need to store a lot of data and need to frequently access these data. So these data structures can come handy.

Data Structures Interview Questions

2014-08-21T02:50:00.005-07:00

Data Structures Interview Questions

1) what is the difference between Storage structure and file structure?
The representation of a particular data structure in the memory of a computer is called a storage structure whereas a storage structure representation in auxiliary memory is often called a file structure.

2) Define data structure in terms of relation?
The possible ways in which the data items or atoms are logically related define different data structures.

3) State procedure in accordance with function?
A procedure is similar to a function but there is no value returned explicitly. A procedure is also invoked differently. Where there are parameters, a procedure returns its results through the parameters

4) Define an addressing function for a data structure?
An addressing function for a data structure consisting of n elements is a function which maps the ith element of the data structure onto an integer between one and n. In the case of a vector, the addressing function f maps the ith element onto the integer (i).

5) How do you define a vector for a data structure?
The simplest data structure that makes use of computed address to locate its elements is the one ? dimensional array and is called as a vector.

6) Define stack?
An important sub class of lists permits the insertion or deletion of an element to occur only at one end. A linear list belonging to this sub class is called a stack.

7) Define and explain ?push? and ?pop??
The insertion operation is referred to as ?push? and the deletion operation is referred to as ?pop?. Since, insertion and deletion operations are performed at one end of the stack; the elements can only be removed in the opposite order from that in which they were added to the stack. This phenomenon is observed in conjunction with recursive functions.

8) Explain the three applications in which stacks are used?
The first application majorly deals with the recursion, the second application is a classical and the last one is known as stack machines which chiefly deals with insertion and deletion from the stack.

9) State the theorem which is used to determine whether a given expression is valid or not.
A polish suffix formula is well formed if and only if the rank of the formula is ?one? and the rank of any proper head of a polish formula is greater than or equal to ?one?.

10) What is a priority queue?
Waiting queue may not operate on a strictly first in first out basis, but on some complex priority scheme based on such factors as what compiler is being used, the execution time required, number of print lines, etc. The resulting queue is called a priority queue.

11) What is linear hashing?
In linear hashing, the table is gradually expanded by splitting the buckets in order until the table has doubled its size.

12) What is splitting?
Splitting refers to the rehashing of a bucket b and its overflow in order to distribute the keys in them among b and one other primary location.

13) What is a one way chain or singly linked linear list?
A list has been defined to consist of an ordered set of elements which may vary in number. A simple way to represent a linear list is to expand each node to contain a link or pointer to the next time.

14) Name two desirable properties of hashing functions.
Some of the desirable properties of a hashing function are speed and the generation of addresses uniformly.

15) What is the distant relationship between a list structure and a digraph?
In particular, a list is a directed graph with one source node corresponding to the entire list and with every node immediately connected to the source code.

16) Define Simulation?
Simulation is the process of forming an abstract model from a real situation in order to understand the impact of modifications and the effect of introducing various strategies on the situation.

17) Define Index area and its subdivisions?
Index area is created automatically by the data-management routines in the operating systems. A number of index levels may be involved in an indexed sequential file. The lowest of index is the track index, which is always written on the first track of the cylinders for the indexed sequential file. The track index contains two entries for each prime track of the cylinder a normal entry and an overflow entry.

18) Given N discs of decreasing size stacked on one needle and two empty needles, it is required to stack all the discs onto a second needle in decreasing order of size. The third needle may be used as temporary storage.
The movement of the discs is restricted by the following rules
(1) A disc may be moved from any needle to any other
(2) Only one disc may be moved at a time
(3) At no time may a larger disc rest upon smaller disc explain the solution?
Ans) The solution to this problem is most clearly seen with the aid of induction, to move one disc, merely move it from needle A to needle C. To move two discs, move the first disc to needle B, move the second from needle A to needle C, then move the disc from needle B to needle C.

19) Define addressing and linear addressing functions?
There are many data structures which can be represented so as to permit the referencing of any element by knowing its position in the structure. The selection operation associated with such a structure is said to possess an addressing function. An addressing function for a data structure consisting of n elements is a function which maps the ith element of the data structure onto an integer between one and n. In the case of a vector, the addressing function f maps the ith element onto the integer I, which is a linear addressing function.

20) What exactly does this procedure BUBBLE_SORT (K, N) does?
Given a vector K of N elements, this procedure sorts the elements into ascending order using the method just described. The variables PASS and LAST denote the pass counter and position of the last unsorted elements respectively. The variable I is used to index the vector elements. The variable EXCHS is used to count the number of exchanges made on any pass. All variables are integer.

Data Structures and Algorithms

2014-08-21T02:50:00.002-07:00

Data Structures and Algorithms

What is data structure?

A data structure is a way of organizing data that considers not only the items stored, but also their relationship to each other. Advance knowledge about the relationship between data items allows designing of efficient algorithms for the manipulation of data.

List out the areas in which data structures are applied extensively?

Ø Compiler Design,

Ø Operating System,

Ø Database Management System,

Ø Statistical analysis package,

Ø Numerical Analysis,

Ø Graphics,

Ø Artificial Intelligence,

Ø Simulation

What are the major data structures used in the following areas : RDBMS, Network data model & Hierarchical data model.

Ø RDBMS – Array (i.e. Array of structures)

Ø Network data model – Graph

Ø Hierarchical data model – Trees

If you are using C language to implement the heterogeneous linked list, what pointer type will you use?

The heterogeneous linked list contains different data types in its nodes and we need a link, pointer to connect them. It is not possible to use ordinary pointers for this. So we go for void pointer. Void pointer is capable of storing pointer to any type as it is a generic pointer type.

Minimum number of queues needed to implement a priority queue?

Two. One queue is used for actual storing of data and another for storing priorities.

What is the data structure used to perform recursion?

Stack. Because of its LIFO (Last In First Out) property it remembers its ‘caller’; so the function knows where to return when the function has to return. Recursion makes use of system stack for storing the return addresses of the function calls.

Every recursive function has its equivalent iterative (non-recursive) function. Even when such equivalent iterative procedures are written, explicit stack is to be used.

What are the notations used in Evaluation of Arithmetic Expressions using prefix and postfix forms?

Polish and Reverse Polish notations.

Convert the expression ((A + B) * C – (D – E) ^ (F + G)) to equivalent Prefix and Postfix notations.

Prefix Notation:

^ - * +ABC - DE + FGPostfix Notation:

AB + C * DE - - FG + ^

Sorting is not possible by using which of the following methods?

(a) Insertion

(b) Selection

(d) Deletion

Answer:

(d) Deletion

Explanation:

Using insertion we can perform insertion sort, using selection we can perform selection sort, using exchange we can perform the bubble sort (and other similar sorting methods). But no sorting method can be done just using deletion.

A binary tree with 20 nodes has null branches.

Answer: 21

Explanation:

Let us take a tree with 5 nodes (n=5)

It will have only 6 (ie,5+1) null branches. In general, a binary tree with n nodes has exactly n+1 null nodes.

What are the methods available in storing sequential files ?

Ø Straight merging,

Ø Natural merging,

Ø Polyphase sort,

Ø Distribution of Initial runs.

How many different trees are possible with 10 nodes ?

Answer: 1014

Explanation:

For example, consider a tree with 3 nodes(n=3), it will have the maximum combination of 5 different (ie, 23 - 3 = 5) trees.

i ii iii iv v

In general:

If there are n nodes, there exist 2n-n different trees.

List out a few of the applications of tree data-structure in compilers/compiler design.

Ø The manipulation of Arithmetic expression,

Ø Symbol Table construction,

Ø Syntax analysis.

List out a few of the applications that make use of Multilinked Structures.

Ø Sparse matrix,

Ø Index generation.

In tree construction which is the suitable efficient data structure?

(a ) Array

(b) Linked list

(d) Queue

(e) none

Answer: (b) Linked list

What type of the algorithm is used in solving the 8 Queens problem?

Backtracking

In an AVL tree, what is the condition for balancing to be done?

The ‘pivotal value’(or the ‘Height factor’) is greater than 1 or less than–1.

What is the bucket size, when overlapping and collision occur at the same time?

One. If there is only one entry possible in the bucket, when the collision occurs, there is no way to accommodate the colliding value. This results in the overlapping of values.

Traverse the given tree using Inorder, Preorder and Postorder traversals.

Ø Inorder : D H B E A F C I G J

Ø Preorder: A B D H E C F G I J

Ø Postorder: H D E B F I J G C A

There are 8, 15, 13, 14 nodes were there in 4 different trees. Which of them could have formed a full binary tree?

15.

In general:

There are 2n-1 nodes in a full binary tree.

By the method of elimination:

Full binary trees contain odd number of nodes. So there cannot be full binary trees with 8 or 14 nodes, so rejected. With 13 nodes you can form a complete binary tree but not a full binary tree. So the correct answer is 15.

Note:

Full and Complete binary trees are different. All full binary trees are complete binary trees but not vice versa.

In the given binary tree, using array, at which location can you store the node 4?

Answer: At location 6

Explanation:

1	2	3	-	-	4	-	-	5
Root	LC1	RC1	LC2	RC2	LC3	RC3	LC4	RC4

where LCn means Left Child of node n and RCn means Right Child of node n

Sort the given values using Quick Sort?

Sorting takes place from the pivot value, which is the first value of the given elements, this is marked bold. The values at the left pointer and right pointer are indicated using L and R respectively.

70L

45R

Since pivot is not yet changed the same process is continued after interchanging the values at L and R positions

65	45	75 L	80	85	60	55	50 R	70
65	45	50	80 L	85	60	55 R	75	70
65	45	50	55	85 L	60 R	80	75	70
65	45	50	55	60 R	85 L	80	75	70

When the L and R pointers cross each other the pivot value is interchanged with the value at right pointer. If the pivot is changed it means that the pivot has occupied its original position in the sorted order (shown in bold italics) and hence two different arrays are formed, one from start of the original array to the pivot position-1 and the other from pivot position+1 to end.

60 L	45	50	55 R	65	85 L	80	75	70 R
55 L	45	50 R	60	65	70 R	80 L	75	85
50 L	45 R	55	60	65	70	80 L	75 R	85

In the next pass we get the sorted form of the array.

For the given graph, draw the DFS and BFS?

Ø BFS: A X G H P E M Y J

Ø DFS: A X H P E Y M J G

Classify the Hashing Functions based on the various methods by which the key value is found.

Ø Direct method,

Ø Subtraction method,

Ø Modulo-Division method,

Ø Digit-Extraction method,

Ø Mid-Square method,

Ø Folding method,

Ø Pseudo-random method.

What are the types of Collision Resolution Techniques and the methods used in each of the type?

Ø Open addressing (closed hashing).

The methods used include:

Overflow block.

Ø Closed addressing (open hashing)

The methods used include:

Linked list, Binary tree…

In RDBMS, what is the efficient data structure used in the internal storage representation?

B+ tree. Because in B+ tree, all the data are stored only in leaf nodes, that makes searching easier. This corresponds to the records that shall be stored in leaf nodes.

Draw the B-tree of order 3 created by inserting the following data arriving in sequence – 92 24 6 7 11 8 22 4 5 16 19 20 78

Of the following tree structure, which is efficient considering space and time complexities?

(a) Incomplete Binary Tree

(b) Complete Binary Tree

Answer: (b) Complete Binary Tree.

Explanation:

By the method of elimination:

Full binary tree loses its nature when operations of insertions and deletions are done. For incomplete binary trees, extra storage is required and overhead of NULL node checking takes place. So complete binary tree is the better one since the property of complete binary tree is maintained even after operations like additions and deletions are done on it.

What is a spanning Tree?

A spanning tree is a tree associated with a network. All the nodes of the graph appear on the tree once. A minimal spanning tree is a spanning tree organized so that the total edge weight between nodes is minimized.

Does the minimal spanning tree of a graph give the shortest distance between any 2 specified nodes?

Answer: No.

Explanation:

Minimal spanning tree assures that the total weight of the tree is kept at its minimum. But it doesn’t mean that the distance between any two nodes involved in the minimum-spanning tree is minimum.

Convert the given graph with weighted edges to minimal spanning tree.

the equivalent minimal spanning tree is:

Which is the simplest file structure?

(a) Sequential

(b) Indexed

Answer: (a) Sequential

Is linked-list a linear or non-linear data structure?

According to Access strategies Linked list is a linear one.

According to Storage, Linked List is a Non-linear one.

Draw a binary Tree for the expression :

A * B - (C + D) * (P / Q)

For the following COBOL code, draw the Binary tree?

01 STUDENT_REC.

02 NAME.

03 FIRST_NAME PIC X(10).

03 LAST_NAME PIC X(10).

02 YEAR_OF_STUDY.

03 FIRST_SEM PIC XX.

03 SECOND_SEM PIC XX.

Section II – Algorithms

What is an ‘algorithm’?

An algorithm consists of a finite set of steps that may require one or more operations. These operations should be definite and effective. An algorithm should produce one or more output’s and may have zero or more inputs.

This consists of five distinct areas:

1. to device algorithms

2. to validate the algorithms

3. to express the algorithms

4. to analyse the algorithms

5. to test the programs for the algorithms

What is a ‘computational procedure’?

An algorithm that does not terminate is called ‘computational procedure’. Example for such ‘computational procedure’ is an ‘operating system’.

Define - ‘recursive algorithm’.

An algorithm is said to be recursive if the same algorithm is invoked in the body of the algorithm. Recursive algorithms can be divided into direct recursive and indirect recursive algorithms.

Direct recursive: An algorithm that calls itself.

Indirect Recursive: An algorithm ‘A’ is said to be indirect recursive if it calls another algorithm which in-turn calls algorithm ‘A’.

How can you classify performance analysis?

‘Performance analysis’ can be classified as:

i. priori analysis

ii. posteriori analysis

Priori Analysis:

The bounds of algorithms’ computing time are obtained by formulating a function.

Posteriori Analysis:

Testing the actual computation of space and time are recorded while the algorithm is executing.

Define - ‘Big- O’.

For the function f(n)

f(n)=O(g(n))

iff there exist positive constants c and d such that:

f(n) <=c*g(n)

for all n,n>=d.

This is defined to be the worst-time complexity of the function f(n).

For example:

O(n)=3n+2 because,

3n+2 <=4n for all n>=2.

Give various computing times and their meaning.

Few of the important computing times are:

Computing Time Meaning

O(1) : constant computing time

O(n) : linear computing time

O(n*n) : quadratic computing time

O(n*n*n) : cubic computing time

O(2*2*2*2*..............*n) : exponential computing time

Give the most important ‘basic designs‘ of algorithms.

There are five important basic designs for algorithms. They are:

i. Divide and conquer,

ii. The greedy method,

iii. Dynamic programming,

iv. Back-tracking,

v. Branch and bound.

How does ‘divide and conquer’ algorithms work?

For a function to compute on n inputs the divide and conquer strategy suggests the inputs into a k distinct subsets, 1<k<=n, yielding k sub-problems. These sub-problems must be solved and then a method must be found to combine the sub-solutions into a solution of the whole.

An example for this approach is ‘binary search’ algorithm. The time complexity of binary search algorithm is O(log n).

What is Greedy Method?

The greedy method suggests that one can devise an algorithm that works in stages, considering one input at a time. At each stage, a decision is made regarding whether a particular input is an optimal solution. An example for solution using greedy method is ‘knapsack problem’.

What is Dynamic Programming?

Dynamic Programming is an algorithm design method that can be used when the solution to a problem can be viewed as the result of a sequence of decisions. An example for algorithm using dynamic programming is ‘multistage graphs’.

What are the time complexities for the following algorithms?

Binary search : O(logn)

Finding maximum and minimum for a given set of numbers

: O(3n/2-2)

Merge Sort : O(nlogn)

Insertion Sort : O(n*n);

Quick Sort : O(nlogn)

Selection Sort : O(n)

What is the difference between Merge Sort and Quick sort?

Both Merge-sort and Quick-sort have same time complexity i.e. O(nlogn). In merge sort the file a[1:n] was divided at its midpoint into sub-arrays which are independently sorted and later merged. Whereas, in quick sort the division into two sub-arrays is made so that the sorted sub-arrays do not need to be merged latter.

Is there any optimum solution for Matrix multiplication?

Yes. Divide and conquer method suggests Strassen’s matrix multiplication method to be used. If we follow this method, the time complexity is O(n*n*n……..*2.81) times rather O(n*n*n*………*3) times.

Define ‘minimum cost spanning method’.

Let G=(V,E) be an undirected connected graph. A sub-graph t =(V, E’) of G is a spanning tree of G if and only if t is a tree.

To find out minimum cost spanning method we have following method’s;

Prim’s Algorithm : O(n*n)

Kruskal’s Algorithm : O(e loge)

Define ’articulation points’.

A Vertex V in a connected graph G is an articulation point if and only if the deletion of vertex V together will all edges incident for disconnects the graph into two or more non-empty Components.

Define ‘biconnected graph’.

A graph G is biconnected if and only if it contains no articulation points.

What are ‘explicit’ and ‘implicit’ constraints?

‘Explicit constraints’ are rules that restrict each xi to take on values only from a given set. ‘Implicit constraints’ are rules that determine which of the tuples in the solution space of i satisfy the criterion function.

Give ‘Cookies – theorem’.

Satisfiability is in P iff P=NP

where P is the set of all decision problems solvable by deterministic algorithms in polynomial time and NP is the set of all decision problems solvable by non-deterministic algorithms in a polynomial-time.

Oracle Interview Questions

2014-08-21T02:49:00.004-07:00

Oracle Interview Questions

1. What should be the return type for a cursor variable? Can we use a scalar data type as return type?

The return type for a cursor must be a record type.It can be declared explicitly as a user-defined or %ROWTYPE can be used. eg TYPE t_studentsref IS REF CURSOR RETURN students%ROWTYPE

2. How you open and close a cursor variable. Why it is required.

OPEN cursor variable FOR SELECT...Statement CLOSE cursor variable In order to associate a cursor variable with a particular SELECT statement OPEN syntax is used.In order to free the resources used for the query CLOSE statement is used.

3. How you were passing cursor variables in PL/SQL 2.2.

In PL/SQL 2.2 cursor variables cannot be declared in a package.This is because the storage for a cursor variable has to be allocated using Pro*C or OCI with version 2.2,the only means of passing a cursor variable to a PL/SQL block is via bind variable or a procedure parameter.

4. Can cursor variables be stored in PL/SQL tables? If yes how. If not why.

No, a cursor variable points a row which cannot be stored in a two-dimensional PL/SQL table.

5. Difference between procedure and function.

Functions are named PL/SQL blocks that return a value and can be called with arguments procedure a named block that can be called with parameter. A procedure all is a PL/SQL statement by itself, while a Function call is called as part of an expression.

6. What are different modes of parameters used in functions and procedures?
IN
OUT
INOUT

7. What is difference between a formal and an actual parameter

The variables declared in the procedure and which are passed, as arguments are called actual, the parameters in the procedure declaration. Actual parameters contain the values that are passed to a procedure and receive results. Formal parameters are the placeholders for the values of actual parameters

8. Can the default values be assigned to actual parameters?

Yes

9. Can a function take OUT parameters? If not why?

No. A function has to return a value; an OUT parameter cannot return a value.

10. What is syntax for dropping a procedure and a function .Are these operations possible?

Drop Procedure procedure_name
Drop Function function_name

11. What are ORACLE PRECOMPILERS?

Using ORACLE PRECOMPILERS ,SQL statements and PL/SQL blocks can be contained inside 3GL programs written in C,C++,COBOL,PASCAL, FORTRAN,PL/1 AND ADA.
The Precompilers are known as Pro*C,Pro*Cobol,... This form of PL/SQL is known as embedded pl/sql,the language in which pl/sql is embedded is known as the host language.
The prcompiler translates the embedded SQL and pl/sql ststements into calls to the precompiler runtime library.The output must be compiled and linked with this library to creater an executable.

12. What is OCI? What are its uses?

Oracle Call Interface is a method of accesing database from a 3GL program. Uses--No precompiler is required,PL/SQL blocks are executed like other DML statements.
The OCI library provides
-functions to parse SQL statemets
-bind input variables
-bind output variables
-execute statements
-fetch the results

13. What are the Difference between database triggers and form triggers?

a) Data base trigger(DBT) fires when a DML operation is performed on a data base table. Form trigger(FT) Fires when user presses a key or navigates between fields on the screen

b) Can be row level or statement level No distinction between row level and statement level.

c) Can manipulate data stored in Oracle tables via SQL Can manipulate data in Oracle tables as well as variables in forms.

d) Can be fired from any session executing the triggering DML statements. Can be fired only from the form that define the trigger.

e) Can cause other database triggers to fire. Can cause other database triggers to fire, but not other form triggers.

14. What is an UTL_FILE? What are different procedures and functions associated with it.

UTL_FILE is a package that adds the ability to read and write to operating system files Procedures associated with it are FCLOSE, FCLOSE_ALL and 5 procedures to output data to a file PUT, PUT_LINE, NEW_LINE, PUTF, FFLUSH.PUT, FFLUSH.PUT_LINE,FFLUSH.NEW_LINE. Functions associated with it are FOPEN, ISOPEN.

15. Can you use a commit statement within a database trigger?

No

16. What is the maximum buffer size that can be specified using the DBMS_OUTPUT.ENABLE function?

1,000,000

Databases Concepts For Tester

2014-08-21T02:49:00.002-07:00

Databases

A database is an integrated collection of logically-related records or files consolidated into a common pool that provides data for one or more multiple uses. One way of classifying databases involves the type of content, for example: bibliographic, full-text, numeric, image. Other classification methods start from examining database models or database architectures: see below. Software organizes the data in a database according to a database model. As of 2010[update] the relational model occurs most commonly. Other models such as the hierarchical model and the network model use a more explicit representation of relationships.

Architecture

A number of database architectures exist. Many databases use a combination of strategies.

Databases consist of software-based "containers" that are structured to collect and store information so users can retrieve, add, update or remove such information in an automatic fashion. Database programs are designed for users so that they can add or delete any information needed. The structure of a database is tabular, consisting of rows and columns of information.

Online Transaction Processing systems (OLTP) often use a "row oriented" or an "object oriented" data store architecture, whereas data-warehouse and other retrieval focused applications like Google's BigTable, or bibliographic database (library catalog) systems may use a Column oriented DBMS architecture.

Document-Oriented, XML, knowledgebase, as well as frame databases and RDF-stores (also known as triple stores), may also use a combination of these architectures in their implementation.

Not all databases have or need a database schema ("schema-less databases").

Over many years [update] general-purpose database systems have dominated the database industry. These offer a wide range of functions, applicable to many, if not most circumstances in modern data processing. These have been enhanced with extensible data types (pioneered in the PostgreSQL project) to allow development of a very wide range of applications.

There are also other types of databases which cannot be classified as relational databases. Most notable is the object database management system, which stores language objects natively without using a separate data definition language and without translating into a separate storage schema. Unlike relational systems, these object databases store the relationship between complex data types as part of their storage model in a way that does not require runtime calculation of related data using relational algebra execution algorithms.

Database management systems

A database management system (DBMS) consists of software that organizes the storage of data. A DBMS controls the creation, maintenance, and use of the database storage structures of social organizations and of their users. It allows organizations to place control of organization wide database development in the hands of Database Administrators (DBAs) and other specialists. In large systems, a DBMS allows users and other software to store and retrieve data in a structured way.

Database management systems are usually categorized according to the database model that they support, such as the network, relational or object model. The model tends to determine the query languages that are available to access the database. One commonly used query language for the relational database is SQL, although SQL syntax and function can vary from one DBMS to another. A common query language for the object database is OQL, although not all vendors of object databases implement this, majority of them do implement this method. A great deal of the internal engineering of a DBMS is independent of the data model, and is concerned with managing factors such as performance, concurrency, integrity, and recovery from hardware failures. In these areas there are large differences between the products.

A relational database management system (RDBMS) implements features of the relational model. In this context, Date's "Information Principle" states: "the entire information content of the database is represented in one and only one way. Namely as explicit values in column positions (attributes) and rows in relations (tuples). Therefore, there are no explicit pointers between related tables." This contrasts with the object database management system (ODBMS), which does store explicit pointers between related types.

Components of DBMS

According to the wikibooks open-content textbooks, "Design of Main Memory Database System/Overview of DBMS", most DBMS as of 2009[update] implement a relational model. Other less-used DBMS systems, such as the object DBMS, generally operate in areas of application-specific data management where performance and scalability take higher priority than the flexibility of ad hoc query capabilities provided via the relational-algebra execution algorithms of a relational DBMS.

RDBMS components

· Interface drivers - A user or application program initiates either schema modification or content modification. These drivers are built on top of SQL. They provide methods to prepare statements execute statements, fetch results, etc. Examples include DDL, DCL, DML, ODBC, and JDBC. Some vendors provide language-specific proprietary interfaces. For example MySQL provides drivers for PHP, Python, etc.

· SQL engine - This component interprets and executes the SQL query. It comprises three major components (compiler, optimizer, and execution engine).

· Transaction engine - Transactions are sequences of operations that read or write database elements, which are grouped together.

· Relational engine - Relational objects such as Table, Index, and Referential integrity constraints are implemented in this component.

· Storage engine - This component stores and retrieves data records. It also provides a mechanism to store metadata and control information such as undo logs, redo logs, lock tables, etc.

ODBMS components

· Language drivers - A user or application program initiates either schema modification or content modification via the chosen programming language. The drivers then provide the mechanism to manage object lifecycle coupling of the application memory space with the underlying persistent storage. Examples include C++, Java, .NET, and Ruby.

· Query engine - This component interprets and executes language-specific query commands in the form of OQL, LINQ, JDOQL, JPAQL, others. The query engine returns language specific collections of objects which satisfy a query predicate expressed as logical operators e.g. >, <, >=, <=, AND, OR, NOT, GroupBY, etc.

· Transaction engine - Transactions are sequences of operations that read or write database elements, which are grouped together. The transaction engine is concerned with such things as data isolation and consistency in the driver cache and data volumes by coordinating with the storage engine.

· Storage engine - This component stores and retrieves objects in an arbitrarily complex model. It also provides a mechanism to manage and store metadata and control information such as undo logs, redo logs, lock graphs,

Primary tasks of DBMS packages

· Database Development: used to define and organize the content, relationships, and structure of the data needed to build a database.

· Database Interrogation: can access the data in a database for information retrieval and report generation. End users can selectively retrieve and display information and produce printed reports and documents.

· Database Maintenance: used to add, delete, update, correct, and protect the data in a database.

· Application Development: used to develop prototypes of data entry screens, queries, forms, reports, tables, and labels for a prototype application. Or use 4GL or 4th Generation Language or application generator to develop program codes.

Types

Operational database

These databases store detailed data needed to support the operations of an entire organization. They are also called subject-area databases (SADB), transaction databases, and production databases. For example:

· customer databases

· personal databases

· inventory databases

· accounting databases

Analytical database

These databases store data and information extracted from selected operational and external databases. They consist of summarized data and information most needed by an organization's management and other[which?] end-users. Some people refer to analytical databases as multidimensional databases, management databases, or information databases.

Data warehouse

A data warehouse stores data from current and previous years — data extracted from the various operational databases of an organization. It becomes the central source of data that has been screened, edited, standardized and integrated so that it can be used by managers and other end-user professionals throughout an organization. Data warehouses are characterized by being slow to insert into but fast to retrieve from. Recent developments in data warehousing have led to the use of a Shared nothing architecture to facilitate extreme scaling.

Distributed database

These are databases of local work-groups and departments at regional offices, branch offices, manufacturing plants and other work sites. These databases can include segments of both common operational and common user databases, as well as data generated and used only at a user’s own site.

End-user database

These databases consist of a variety of data files developed by end-users at their workstations. Examples of these are collections of documents in spreadsheets, word processing and even downloaded files.

External database

These databases provide access to external, privately-owned data online — available for a fee to end-users and organizations from commercial services. Access to a wealth of information from external database is available for a fee from commercial online services and with or without charge from many sources in the Internet.

Hypermedia databases on the web

These are a set of interconnected multimedia pages at a web-site. They consist of a home page and other hyperlinked pages[citation needed] of multimedia or mixed media such as text, graphic, photographic images, video clips, audio etc.

Navigational database

In navigational databases, queries find objects primarily by following references from other objects. Traditionally navigational interfaces are procedural, though one could characterize some modern systems like XPath as being simultaneously navigational and declarative.

In-memory databases

In-memory databases primarily rely on main memory for computer data storage. This contrasts with database management systems which employ a disk-based storage mechanism. Main memory databases are faster than disk-optimized databases since[citation needed] the internal optimization algorithms are simpler and execute fewer CPU instructions. Accessing data in memory provides faster and more predictable performance than disk. In applications where response time is critical, such as telecommunications network equipment that operates emergency systems, main memory databases are often used.

Document-oriented databases

Document-oriented databases are computer programs designed for document-oriented applications. These systems may be implemented as a layer above a relational database or an object database. As opposed to relational databases, document-based databases do not store data in tables with uniform sized fields for each record. Instead, they store each record as a document that has certain characteristics. Any number of fields of any length can be added to a document. Fields can also contain multiple pieces of data.

Real-time databases

A real-time database is a processing system designed to handle workloads whose state may change constantly. This differs from traditional databases containing persistent data, mostly unaffected by time. For example, a stock market changes rapidly and dynamically. Real-time processing means that a transaction is processed fast enough for the result to come back and be acted on right away. Real-time databases are useful for accounting, banking, law, medical records, multi-media, process control, reservation systems, and scientific data analysis. As computers increase in power and can store more data, real-time databases become integrated into society and are employed in many applications.

Relational Database

The standard of business computing as of 2009[update], relational databases are the most commonly used database today[citation needed]. It uses the table to structure information so that it can be readily and easily searched through.

Models

Post-relational database models

Products offering a more general data model than the relational model are sometimes classified as post-relational. The data model in such products incorporates relations but is not constrained by the Information Principle, which requires the representation of all information by data values in relation to it.

Some of these extensions to the relational model actually integrate concepts from technologies that pre-date the relational model. For example, they allow representation of a directed graph with trees on the nodes.

Some products implementing such models do so by extending relational database systems with non-relational features. Others, however, have arrived in much the same place by adding relational features to pre-relational systems. Paradoxically, this allows products that are historically pre-relational, such as PICK and MUMPS, to make a plausible claim to be post-relational in their current architecture.

Object database models

In recent years, the object-oriented paradigm has been applied[by whom?] to database technology, creating various kinds of new programming models known as object databases. These databases attempt to bring the database world and the application-programming world closer together, in particular by ensuring that the database uses the same type system as the application program. This aims to avoid the overhead (sometimes referred to as the impedance mismatch) of converting information between its representation in the database (for example as rows in tables) and its representation in the application program (typically as objects). At the same time, object databases attempt to introduce key ideas of object programming, such as encapsulation and polymorphism, into the world of databases.

A variety of these ways have been tried[by whom?] for storing objects in a database. Some products have approached the problem from the application-programming side, by making the objects manipulated by the program persistent. This also typically requires the addition of some kind of query language, since conventional programming languages do not provide language-level functionality for finding objects based on their information content. Others[which?] have attacked the problem from the database end, by defining an object-oriented data model for the database, and defining a database programming language that allows full programming capabilities as well as traditional query facilities.

Storage structures

Databases may store relational tables/indexes in memory or on hard disk in one of many forms:

· ordered/unordered flat files

· ISAM

· heaps

· hash buckets

· B+ trees

These have various advantages and disadvantages - discussed further in the articles on each topic. The most commonly used are B+ trees and ISAM.

Object databases use a range of storage mechanisms. Some use virtual memory-mapped files to make the native language (C++, Java etc.) objects persistent. This can be highly efficient but it can make multi-language access more difficult. Others break the objects down into fixed- and varying-length components that are then clustered tightly together in fixed sized blocks on disk and reassembled into the appropriate format either for the client or in the client address space. Another popular technique involves storing the objects in tuples (much like a relational database) which the database server then reassembles for the client.

Other important design choices relate to the clustering of data by category (such as grouping data by month, or location), creating pre-computed views known as materialized views, partitioning data by range or hash. Memory management and storage topology can be important design choices for database designers as well. Just as normalization is used to reduce storage requirements and improve the extensibility of the database, conversely demoralization is often used to reduce join complexity and reduce execution time for queries. Indexing

All of these databases can take advantage of indexing to increase their speed. This technology has advanced tremendously since its early uses in the 1960s and 1970s. The most common kind of index uses a sorted list of the contents of some particular table column, with pointers to the row associated with the value. An index allows a set of table rows matching some criterion to be quickly located. Typically, indexes are also stored in the various forms of data-structure mentioned above (such as B-trees, hashes, and linked lists). Usually, a database designer selects specific techniques to increase efficiency in the particular case of the type of index required.

Most relational DBMSs and some object DBMSs have the advantage that indexes can be created or dropped without changing existing applications making use of them, The database chooses between many different strategies based on which one it estimates will run the fastest. In other words, indexes act transparently to the application or end-user querying the database; while they affect performance, any SQL command will run with or without indexes to compute the result of an SQL statement. The RDBMS will produce a query plan of how to execute the query: often generated by analyzing the run times of the different algorithms and select the quickest process. Some of the key algorithms that deal with joins are nested loop join, sort-merge join and hash join. Which of these an RDBMS selects may depend on whether an index exists, what type it is, and its cardinality.

An index speeds up access to data, but it has disadvantages as well. First, every index increases the amount of storage used on the hard drive which is also necessary for the database file, and second, the index must be updated each time the data are altered, and this costs time. (Thus an index saves time in the reading of data, but it costs time in entering and altering data. It thus depends on the use to which the data are to be put whether an index is overall a net plus or minus in the quest for efficiency.)

A special case of an index is a primary index based on a primary key: a primary index must ensure a unique reference to a record. Often, for this purpose one simply uses a running index-number (ID number). Primary indexes play a significant role in relational databases, and they can speed up access to data considerably.

Transactions and concurrency

In addition to their data model, most practical databases ("transactional databases") attempt to enforce database transactions. Ideally, the database software should enforce the ACID rules, summarized here:

· Atomicity: Either all the tasks in a transaction must happen, or none of them. The transaction must be completed, or else it must be undone (rolled back).

· Consistency: Every transaction must preserve the integrity constraints — the declared consistency rules — of the database. It cannot leave the data in a contradictory state.

· Isolation: Two simultaneous transactions cannot interfere with one another. Intermediate results within a transaction must remain invisible to other transactions.

· Durability: Completed transactions cannot be aborted later or their results discarded. They must persist through (for instance) restarts of the DBMS after crashes.

In practice, many DBMSs allow the selective relaxation of most of these rules — for better performance.

Concurrency control ensures that transactions execute in a safe manner and follow the ACID rules. The DBMS must be able to ensure that only serializable, recoverable schedules are allowed, and that no actions of committed transactions are lost while undoing aborted transactions.

Replication

Replication of databases often relates closely to transactions. If a database can log its individual actions, one can create a duplicate of the data in real time. DBAs can use the duplicate to improve performance and/or the availability of the whole database system.

Common replication concepts include:

· master/slave Replication: All write-requests are performed on the master and then replicated to the slave(s)

· quorum: The result of Read and Write requests are calculated by querying a "majority" of replicas

· multimaster: Two or more replicas sync each other via a transaction identifier

Parallel synchronous replication of databases enables the replication of transactions on multiple servers simultaneously, which provides a method for backup and security as well as data availability. This is commonly referred to as "database clustering".

Security

Database security denotes the system, processes, and procedures that protect a database from unintended activity. Enforcing security is one of the major tasks of the DBA.

DBMSs usually enforce security through access control, auditing, and encryption:

· Access control ensures and restricts who can connect and what they can do to the database.

· Auditing logs what action or change has been performed, when and by whom.

· Encryption: many commercial databases include built-in encryption mechanisms to encode data natively into tables and to decipher information "on the fly" when a query comes in. DBAs can also secure and encrypt connections if required using DSA, MD5, SSL or legacy encryption standards.

In the United Kingdom, legislation protecting the public from unauthorized disclosure of personal information held on databases falls under the Office of the Information Commissioner. Organizations based in the United Kingdom and holding personal data in electronic format (databases for example) must register with the Data Commissioner.[4]

Locking

Databases handle multiple concurrent operations with locking. This is how concurrency and some form of basic integrity are managed within the database system. Such locks can be applied on a row level, or on other levels like page (a basic data block), extent (multiple array of pages) or even an entire table. This helps maintain the integrity of the data by ensuring that only one process at a time can modify the same data.

In basic file system files or folders, only one lock at a time can be set, restricting the usage to one process only. Databases, on the other hand, can set and hold mutiple locks at the same time on the different levels of the physical data structure. The database engine locking scheme determines how to set and maintain locks based on the submitted SQL or transactions by the users. Generally speaking, any activity on the database should involve some or extensive locking.

As of 2009[update] most DBMS systems use shared and exclusive locks. Exclusive locks mean that no other lock can acquire the current data object as long as the exclusive lock lasts. DBMSs usually set exclusive locks when the database needs to change data, as during an UPDATE or DELETE operation.

Shared locks can take ownership one from the other of the current data structure.[5] Shared locks are usually used while the database is reading data (during a SELECT operation). The number, nature of locks and time the lock holds a data block can have a huge impact on the database performances. Bad locking can lead to disastrous performance response (usually the result of poor SQL requests, or inadequate database physical structure)

The isolation level of the data server enforces default locking behavior. Changing the isolation level will affect how shared or exclusive locks must be set on the data for the entire database system. Default isolation is generally 1, where data can not be read while it is modified, forbidding the return of "ghost data" to end users.

At some point intensive or inappropriate exclusive locking can lead to a "deadlock" situation between two locks, where none of the locks can be released because they try to acquire resources mutually from each other. The database should have a fail-safe mechanism which will automatically "sacrifice" one of the locks, thus releasing the resource. Processes or transactions involved in the "deadlock" get rolled back.

Databases can also be locked for other reasons, like access restrictions for given levels of user. Some DBAs also lock databases for routine maintenance, which prevents changes being made during the maintenance. See "Locking tables and databases" (section in some documentation / explanation from IBM) for more detail.) However, many modern databases do not lock the database during routine maintenance. e.g. "Routine Database Maintenance" for PostgreSQL.

Applications

Databases function in many applications, spanning virtually the entire range of computer software. Databases have become the preferred method of storage for large multiuser applications, where coordination between many users is needed. Even individual users find them convenient, and many electronic mail programs and personal organizers are based on standard database technology. Software database drivers are available for most database platforms so that application software can use a common API to retrieve the information stored in a database. Commonly used database APIs include JDBC and ODBC.