Let’s make sure everything is covered.
Here’s a complete and detailed answer for each of the
topics listed:
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1. Quality Assurance (QA) vs Quality Control (QC)
Quality Assurance (QA) is a process-oriented approach focused on establishing processes,
methodologies, and standards to ensure product quality throughout the software development
life cycle. QA includes setting quality goals, systematic processes, and continuous improvement
initiatives. For instance, an ISO 9001 quality management system could be implemented to
define and track processes across the development cycle.
Quality Control (QC) is product-oriented, focusing on actual testing and inspection of the
software to find and fix defects before release. QC is conducted after QA processes are set up
to ensure the final product adheres to quality standards.
QA Activities: Process audits, quality planning, staff training, preventive measures.
QC Activities: Testing (unit, integration, system), peer reviews, and defect tracking.
Benefits of QA and QC Working Together: QA ensures defect prevention, while QC focuses on
detection. Together, they improve product reliability, reduce rework, and save costs.
Example in Industry: In a financial software company, QA might establish coding standards and
testing guidelines, while QC involves rigorous testing to ensure all features meet standards.
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2. Phases of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Requirements Analysis:
Purpose: Identifies and documents software requirements to ensure they meet user needs.
Tools: Use case diagrams, user stories, JIRA, and Confluence.
Output: Requirements Specification Document guiding development.
Design:
High-Level Design: Outlines the overall system architecture, modules, and data flows.
Low-Level Design: Details components within each module.
Best Practices: Following SOLID principles for modularity and maintainable documentation.
Implementation:
Code Development: Writing code with version control (Git) and coding standards.
Code Reviews and Pair Programming: Improve quality and catch defects early.
Testing:
Types: Unit, system, integration testing.
Best Practice: Automate tests for consistent results and efficiency.
Deployment:
Types: Phased rollout, blue-green deployment, continuous deployment.
Challenges: Ensuring compatibility with the live environment and rollback plans.
Maintenance:
Types: Corrective (fixing bugs), Adaptive (for new environments), Preventive (enhancing
performance).
Importance: Essential to address user feedback and keep software updated.
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3. Static Analysis Tools
Purpose and Benefits: Static analysis tools identify potential issues without running code, ideal
for catching errors early in the SDLC. They enforce code quality, standards, and detect security
vulnerabilities.
Types of Tools:
SonarQube: Dashboard with code smells, vulnerabilities, duplicate code.
PMD: Detects common code issues and style violations in Java.
Benefits: Reduced bug fixing costs by identifying issues before testing; enforces coding
standards for maintainability.
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4. Structured Testing as White Box Testing
Purpose and Approach: Structured testing involves examining the application’s internal logic,
making it a white box approach. Testers develop test cases based on code structures, paths,
and logic.
Types:
Statement Coverage: Ensures each line of code is executed.
Branch Coverage: Tests every branch from decision points.
Path Coverage: Validates all execution paths through the code.
Example: In a banking application, structured testing ensures that complex decision points in
loan approval calculations are thoroughly tested.
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5. Integration Testing
Purpose: Ensures combined modules interact correctly, revealing any communication issues.
Types of Integration:
Big Bang: Tests all modules together once integrated.
Incremental:
Top-Down: Testing starts from high-level modules down.
Bottom-Up: Testing starts from lower modules and moves upward.
Sandwich: A mix of top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Example: In an e-commerce application, integration testing checks that cart, checkout, and
payment modules work together seamlessly.
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6. Black Box Testing
Purpose: Tests software’s external behavior without knowledge of internal code.
Types:
Boundary Value Analysis: Tests edges of input ranges.
Equivalence Partitioning: Divides input data into representative classes.
Example: Testing an online form to validate input fields without knowing how data is processed.
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7. Scenario Testing
Approach: Tests software behavior in real-world scenarios to ensure functionality under realistic
conditions.
Examples: In a banking app, scenario testing might simulate a user depositing a check,
transferring funds, and paying a bill.
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8. Compare Functional and Non-Functional Testing
Functional Testing:
Objective: Verifies specific actions like calculations, user commands, and interactions.
Example: Testing login functionality.
Non-Functional Testing:
Objective: Evaluates software’s performance, usability, reliability.
Example: Testing page load under heavy traffic (Load Testing) and stability (Stress Testing).
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9. Acceptance Testing
Phases:
User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Real users test software to confirm it meets their needs.
Contractual/Regulatory Testing: Ensures adherence to industry standards and legal
requirements.
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10. Stress Testing
Purpose: Tests software under extreme conditions to ensure stability.
Example: Testing a video streaming app during peak traffic.
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11. Regression Testing
Purpose: Ensures that recent code changes don’t impact existing functionality.
Types:
Unit Regression: Tests specific, changed units.
Partial Regression: Tests interacting components.
Complete Regression: Tests the whole application.
Best Practices:
Automate tests for consistency.
Prioritize critical functions to reduce testing time.
Maintain a history of test results.
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12. Tools for Performance Testing
Purpose: Simulate user load and monitor responses under stress to identify bottlenecks.
Examples:
LoadRunner: Simulates virtual users and monitors performance.
JMeter: Open-source tool for load testing web applications.
NeoLoad: Useful for distributed systems testing.
Benefits: Identifies bottlenecks and verifies scalability by simulating real-life usage.
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13. Phases of Performance Testing
Requirement Gathering: Defines benchmarks (e.g., load times).
Design and Planning: Decides strategies, tools, and scenarios.
Test Environment Setup: Prepares servers, networks, databases.
Execution: Conducts tests under varied load conditions.
Analysis: Identifies bottlenecks and analyzes results.
Reporting: Summarizes findings for improvement.
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14. Factors Governing Performance Testing
Network Bandwidth: Handles user load for smooth performance.
Server Configuration: CPU, memory, disk I/O impact performance.
Software Configuration: Caching, compression, and data retrieval strategies affect speed.
Concurrent Users: Ensures performance under peak user count.
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15. Best Practices in Regression Testing
Automate Frequently Tested Cases: Saves time, ensures reliability.
Prioritize Based on Impact: Focuses on high-impact areas.
Maintain Test Cases: Keeps tests relevant.
Use Version Control: Tracks test changes with code updates.
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16. Methodologies of Performance Testing
Load Testing: Measures behavior under expected loads.
Example: Simulating 1,000 users accessing a webpage.
Stress Testing: Pushes limits to find breaking points.
Example: Overloading server with concurrent users.
Endurance Testing: Checks long-term stability.
Scalability Testing: Determines how the system handles increased loads.
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1. Difference Between Project Metrics and Progress Metrics
Project Metrics: These metrics provide a holistic view of the entire project’s performance and
health. They focus on the overall progress, quality, and adherence to project timelines and
budget. Examples include:
Cost Performance Index (CPI): Measures budget efficiency.
Schedule Performance Index (SPI): Tracks adherence to timelines.
Defect Density: Indicates defects per thousand lines of code, providing insights into product
quality.
Progress Metrics: These metrics focus on tracking specific tasks or milestones within the
project. They measure the day-to-day progress, helping project managers monitor the
completion rate of tasks and quality of deliverables. Examples include:
Test Case Execution Rate: Shows the percentage of completed test cases in the testing phase.
Bug Fix Rate: Measures how many identified bugs are resolved over time.
Sprint Burndown: In Agile, shows remaining work within each sprint to track task completion.
Example: In a software project, project metrics might include the total project cost, timeline, and
defect density, while progress metrics could focus on testing milestones, like the percentage of
test cases executed each week.
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2. Test Defect Metrics
Purpose: Test defect metrics measure the quality of the software by analyzing the defects found
during testing. They help track testing effectiveness and identify areas of the software that
require improvement.
Types of Test Defect Metrics:
Defect Density: Calculates the number of defects per unit size (e.g., per thousand lines of code
or per module), helping teams identify modules with a higher defect rate.
Defect Severity: Classifies defects by impact level (critical, major, minor), helping prioritize which
issues need to be addressed first.
Defect Leakage: Measures the number of defects that were missed in testing but found after
release. High defect leakage indicates gaps in the testing process.
Defect Removal Efficiency (DRE): Calculates the percentage of defects found and fixed before
release. It shows the effectiveness of the testing process in catching defects early.
Example: If a project has a high defect density in certain modules, those areas may need more
focused testing or code refactoring. High defect leakage might indicate the need for additional
testing phases or different testing approaches.
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3. Release Metrics
Purpose: Release metrics assess software readiness for deployment by evaluating various
aspects of quality, stability, and user acceptance. These metrics help determine if the software is
prepared for production.
Examples of Release Metrics:
Test Coverage: Measures the percentage of code or features tested to ensure that testing has
been thorough.
Defect Status: Tracks the count and severity of unresolved defects to determine if any critical
issues remain before release.
Code Coverage: Indicates the percentage of code lines executed during testing, giving insights
into areas potentially left untested.
User Acceptance Rate: Reflects the percentage of acceptance tests passed, showing whether
the software meets end-user requirements and expectations.
Example: If code coverage is below a set threshold or critical defects are unresolved, the
release may be