80+ Automation Tester Interview Questions and Answers

Answers to common questions asked in an Automation Tester interview

• Sanity testing is a subset of regression testing and is done to check if the critical functionalities of the application are working fine after a small change

• Smoke testing is done to check if the application is stable enough for further testing

• Regression testing is done to ensure that the changes made to the application do not affect the existing functionalities

• The number of test cases executed per day depends...read more

Answers to common questions asked in an Automation Tester interview.

• To mouse hover an element, you can use Actions class in Selenium WebDriver.

• Xpath for an element can be written using various attributes like id, class, etc.

• To run tests parallel in TestNG, you can use 'parallel' attribute in testng.xml file.

• Automation test framework I worked in was based on Page Object Model design pattern.

• Data provider in TestNG is used to provide data for test methods.

• Collections in Java ar...read more

Use SQL query to display 60 pass and 40 fail from a table of students.

• Use SELECT statement with COUNT function to count the number of pass and fail statuses.

• Use WHERE clause to filter out pass and fail statuses.

• Use GROUP BY clause to group the statuses together.

• Use CASE statement to display the count of pass and fail statuses.

To validate the correct URL loaded, check the current URL in the browser.

• Get the current URL from the browser using driver.getCurrentUrl() method in Selenium.

• Compare the current URL with the expected URL to validate correctness.

• Use assertions or conditional statements to confirm if the URL is correct.

• Consider handling any redirects or dynamic URLs that may affect validation.

• Utilize regular expressions for more flexible URL validation.

Both hard assert and soft assert are used depending on the scenario.

• Hard assert stops the execution immediately if the assertion fails.

• Soft assert continues the execution even if the assertion fails and logs the failure.

• Hard assert is used when the failure of the assertion means the test case cannot continue.

• Soft assert is used when the failure of the assertion does not mean the test case cannot continue.

• Both asserts are important and should be used appropriately based on the...read more

Access Specifiers and Functional Flow of Application

• Access Specifiers define the scope of a class member

• Public members can be accessed from anywhere

• Private members can only be accessed within the class

• Protected members can be accessed within the class and its subclasses

• Functional flow of the application describes the sequence of actions performed by the user

• It includes login, navigation, data entry, submission, and logout

• For example, in an e-commerce website, the flow would b...read more

Use XPath to count the number of links with the text 'selenium'

• Use XPath to locate all the links containing the text 'selenium'

• Count the number of links found using the XPath expression

Answers to common questions asked in an Automation Tester interview.

• System testing is a type of testing that verifies the behavior of a complete and fully integrated software system.

• Sanity testing is a type of testing that is performed to ensure that the critical functionalities of the application are working fine.

• Performance testing is a type of testing that is performed to determine how a system performs in terms of responsiveness and stability under a particular workload.

• B...read more

Annotations in Selenium WebDriver are used to provide additional information about the test methods.

• Annotations help in organizing and managing test cases

• Some common annotations in Selenium WebDriver are @Test, @BeforeTest, @AfterTest, @BeforeClass, @AfterClass, @BeforeMethod, @AfterMethod

• Annotations are used to define the sequence of execution of test methods

TestNG allows running tests in parallel mode using groups and priorities.

• Use 'parallel' attribute in testng.xml file to specify parallel mode (e.g. )

• Use 'groups' attribute in testng.xml file to group tests that should run in parallel (e.g. )

• Use 'priority' attribute in testng.xml file to specify the order in which tests should run (e.g. )

To read and validate data from a PDF file, use a PDF parsing library to extract text and then validate the extracted data.

• Use a PDF parsing library like Apache PDFBox or iText to extract text from the PDF file

• Validate the extracted data by comparing it with expected values or patterns

• Consider using regular expressions for data validation

• Handle different types of data formats within the PDF file, such as text, tables, or images

Data driven testing syntax using XSSF Workbook

• Create XSSFWorkbook object

• Get the sheet from the workbook

• Iterate through rows and columns to fetch test data

• Use test data in your test cases

Print duplicates in a string with their count

• Convert string to char array

• Use HashMap to store character count

• Iterate through HashMap to print duplicates

Multiple inheritance is used in automation frameworks to inherit properties and methods from multiple parent classes.

• Multiple inheritance allows a class to inherit from more than one parent class.

• It helps in reusing code and promoting code organization.

• Example: A test case class can inherit from a base test class and a utility class to access test methods and utility functions.

Background keyword in BDD is used to define common steps that are executed before each scenario in a feature file.

• Background keyword is used to reduce duplication of common steps in scenarios.

• It is placed at the beginning of a feature file before scenarios.

• All steps defined under Background keyword are executed before each scenario in the feature file.

• It helps in maintaining consistency and readability of feature files.

• Example: If all scenarios in a feature file require loggi...read more

You can read data from an Excel file using Apache POI library in Selenium.

• Use Apache POI library to interact with Excel files

• Create a FileInputStream object to read the Excel file

• Create a Workbook object to represent the Excel file

• Get the desired sheet from the Workbook

• Iterate through rows and cells to read data

Program to find common elements from an array of strings and store in a list

• Iterate through each element in the array

• Use a HashMap to store the frequency of each element

• Add elements with frequency greater than 1 to the list

Gherkin words are keywords used in Gherkin syntax for writing test scenarios in Behavior Driven Development (BDD).

• Feature

• Scenario

• Given

• When

• Then

• And

• But

Sanity testing is a subset of regression testing. Black box testing is a testing technique that focuses on the functionality of the software. Selenium is a popular open-source automation tool for web applications.

• Sanity testing is a quick test to ensure that the critical functionalities of the application are working fine after a minor change.

• Black box testing is a testing technique that focuses on the functionality of the software without looking at its internal structure.

• Se...read more

To deliver a quality product to the client, thorough testing, continuous communication, and adherence to requirements are essential.

• Conduct thorough testing at every stage of development to catch bugs early on

• Communicate regularly with the client to ensure their needs and expectations are being met

• Follow the requirements and specifications provided by the client to deliver a product that meets their criteria

Arraylist vs linked list, interface vs abstract, locators

• ArrayList and LinkedList are both used to store collections of data, but ArrayList is faster for accessing elements while LinkedList is faster for adding or removing elements.

• Interfaces are used to define a contract for a class to implement, while abstract classes can provide some implementation and cannot be instantiated.

• Locators are used in test automation to identify web elements on a page, such as ID, name, class, o...read more

Count the occurrences of consecutive characters in a given string.

• Iterate through the string and compare each character with the next one

• Keep track of the count when consecutive characters are found

• Store the consecutive characters and their counts in an array of strings

A framework is a set of guidelines and standards for creating and maintaining automation scripts. Day to day tasks include script creation, execution, and maintenance.

• Designing and implementing automation scripts

• Executing automated tests and analyzing results

• Maintaining and updating existing scripts

• Collaborating with developers and other team members

• Reporting and tracking defects

• Continuous improvement of the automation framework

Config file in Playwright is used to store settings and configurations for the automation tests.

• Config file is typically a JSON or JavaScript file where you can define settings such as browser type, launch options, timeouts, etc.

• It helps in centralizing and managing configurations for multiple tests.

• Example: playwright.config.js file in Playwright project.

Playwright is a Node.js library for browser automation that allows you to write reliable and maintainable tests.

• Playwright supports multiple browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and WebKit.

• It provides a single API to automate web applications across different browsers.

• Playwright has built-in support for headless mode, network interception, and device emulation.

• It allows you to take screenshots, record videos, and trace network activity during test execution.

Program to find the highest number in an array of strings.

• Convert each string element in the array to an integer

• Iterate through the array to find the highest number

• Return the highest number found

Plugins are used to extend the functionality of a software application.

• Plugins are additional software components that can be added to an existing application to provide new features or functionalities.

• They can be used to customize the behavior of the application without modifying its core code.

• Examples of plugins include browser extensions, WordPress plugins, and Adobe Photoshop filters.

Dependent methods are used to execute test cases in a specific order to avoid failures.

• Dependent methods ensure that the test cases are executed in a specific order.

• They help in avoiding failures due to dependencies between test cases.

• If a test case is dependent on the output of another test case, dependent methods ensure that the first test case is executed before the second.

• They are useful in automated testing where multiple test cases need to be executed in a specific orde...read more

Code snippet to open a link using WebDriver

• Instantiate a WebDriver object

• Use the get() method to open the desired URL

Dynamic table elements can be handled by locating the table, identifying the rows and columns, and using appropriate methods to interact with the data.

• Locate the table element using a unique identifier such as class, id, or xpath

• Identify the rows and columns within the table using HTML tags like and

• Use methods like getText() or getAttribute() to retrieve data from the table cells

• Handle dynamic changes in the table by using dynamic xpath or waiting for specific elements to lo...read more

The def keyword is used in Selenium to define a function or method.

• Used to define reusable code blocks

• Helps in organizing code and improving readability

• Allows for easier maintenance and updates

• Example: def login(username, password) { //code to login }

Black box testing focuses on functionality without knowledge of internal code, while white box testing examines internal code structure.

• Black box testing tests the functionality of a system without knowledge of its internal code

• White box testing tests the internal code structure and logic of a system

• Black box testing is more focused on end-user perspective

• White box testing is more focused on developer perspective

• Example: Testing a website's login functionality without knowing...read more

Hard assert stops the execution of the test case if it fails, while soft assert continues the execution and logs the failure.

• Hard assert is used when the failure of a particular step makes the further steps irrelevant.

• Soft assert is used when you want to continue with the test case execution even if some steps fail.

• Hard assert is implemented using 'assert' keyword in testing frameworks like TestNG or JUnit.

• Soft assert is implemented using libraries like AssertJ or TestNG's So...read more

The framework used in the project is a combination of data-driven and keyword-driven frameworks.

• The framework allows for easy maintenance and scalability of test cases.

• It separates test data from test scripts, making it easier to update test data without changing the scripts.

• Reusable functions and libraries are used to reduce redundancy in test scripts.

• Test cases are written in a modular fashion, allowing for easy debugging and troubleshooting.

• Automation tools like Selenium a...read more

To run a runner class, you can use a test runner tool like JUnit or TestNG in your automation testing framework.

• Use a test runner tool like JUnit or TestNG to execute the runner class

• Add the @RunWith annotation in JUnit or specify the runner class in TestNG XML file

• Make sure the runner class includes the necessary setup and teardown methods for test execution

Java code to identify duplicates in a given string

• Convert the string into an array of characters

• Use a HashMap to store each character and its frequency

• Iterate through the array and check if the character already exists in the HashMap

• If it does, increment the frequency count, if not, add it to the HashMap

• Finally, iterate through the HashMap and print out the characters with frequency greater than 1

Reverse the word 'I love automation' using Java

• Create a StringBuilder object and pass the word to be reversed as a parameter

• Use the reverse() method of the StringBuilder class to reverse the word

• Convert the reversed word back to a string using the toString() method

Regression testing is testing the entire application after a change, while re-testing is testing a specific part after a bug fix.

• Regression testing involves testing the entire application to ensure that new changes have not affected existing functionality.

• Re-testing involves testing a specific part of the application that was previously found to have a bug, after the bug has been fixed.

• Regression testing is done to ensure that new changes do not introduce new bugs, while re-t...read more

To download a PDF file, you can use a web browser or a command line tool like wget or curl.

• Use a web browser to navigate to the webpage containing the PDF file link

• Right-click on the link to the PDF file and select 'Save link as' or 'Download linked file'

• Alternatively, you can use command line tools like wget or curl to download the PDF file

Program to reverse a string using array of characters

• Create an array of characters from the input string

• Iterate through the array in reverse order and append each character to a new string

• Return the reversed string

CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment. It is a software development practice that enables frequent and automated code integration, testing, and deployment.

• CI/CD is a set of practices and tools that aim to automate the software development process.

• Continuous Integration involves regularly merging code changes into a shared repository and running automated tests to detect integration issues.

• Continuous Deployment focuses on automating the release and depl...read more

Java program to reverse a string

• Create a char array from the input string

• Use two pointers to swap characters from start and end of the array

• Convert the char array back to a string and return

Mouse actions can be performed using Selenium WebDriver by using Actions class

• Create an instance of Actions class

• Use methods like moveToElement, click, doubleClick, contextClick, dragAndDrop, etc.

• Perform the desired action by calling the respective method on the Actions object

find elements is used to locate multiple elements on a web page, while element is used to locate a single element.

• find elements returns a list of elements matching the locator, while element returns the first element found

• find elements is useful when there are multiple elements with the same locator, while element is used when only one element is expected

• find elements can be used with methods like findElements() in Selenium, while element is used with methods like findElement...read more

Desired Capabilities are a set of key-value pairs used to configure the WebDriver browser during test automation.

• Used to set properties for WebDriver browser

• Can be used to configure browser settings like browser name, version, platform, etc.

• Helps in customizing the behavior of the browser during automation tests

Find the second largest element in an array of strings.

• Convert the strings to integers for comparison.

• Sort the array in descending order.

• Return the second element in the sorted array.

Parallel execution can be achieved by running multiple test cases simultaneously to save time and increase efficiency.

• Use test automation frameworks like TestNG or JUnit to run tests in parallel

• Configure test suites to run in parallel using tools like Selenium Grid

• Leverage cloud-based testing platforms for parallel execution

• Use tools like Jenkins to schedule and execute tests in parallel