Top Interview Questions for Automation Testing for 2024

Testing plays a critical part in the success of the software application. The quality, reliability, effectiveness, efficiency, and robustness are all determined through the testing process. Also, Software testing aims to achieve all this in an optimized time and cost. But, going forward through the path of manual testing cannot fulfill our aim. This is because finding errors and bugs manually present in the software application can be time-consuming, costly, repetitive, and prone to human error. And here, automation testing comes into existence.

Companies require automation testers to perform automation testing. This is because the skills and capabilities of an automation tester are sufficient to provide a competitive advantage in the software industry. The articles presented on the internet can perfectly guide you on how to become an automation tester. Test automation or automated testing utilizes the support of tools, scripts, and software to execute test cases by repeating predefined actions.

As automation testing is getting more widespread, software testers with only manual testing skills will no longer be able to compete in today’s job market. If you are preparing for an automation testing interview, you should know this field’s most frequently asked questions. With this in mind, this article covers common automation testing interview questions and answers.

Table of Contents

Basic Automation Testing Interview Questions

What is a Test Automation Framework?

A test automation framework is a universal set of guidelines and rules designed to produce useful results for test automation activities. Automation frameworks combine function libraries, test data sources, object details, and other reusable modules and methods. Automation frameworks ensure consistent testing.

What are the benefits of using a test automation framework?

The benefits of using a test automation framework are as follows:

The test automation framework permits steady testing. It gives testers a widespread standard for accomplishing particular objectives of automated testing.
When planned and actualized accurately, automation systems give frequent and steady automated testing code. Utilizing the correct framework makes your code simpler to preserve and reuse.
Even if testers have restricted information on how to build test cases, the system gives easy-to-follow information to execute test cases effectively.
Is documentation necessary in Automation Testing?

Yes, documentation is necessary for automation testing. It helps serve the following purposes of automation testing.

Documentation makes test cases easier to understand. This clarifies the scope of automated testing. It also provides an overview of the expected results of automated tests.
Documentation enables the effective onboarding of new members to the development team. He easily understands the basics of automated testing and can contribute to the testing process.
Documentation facilitates the maintenance and updating of software applications. Testers can easily read the documentation to understand the testing strategy and proceed similarly.
The documentation contains clearly defined descriptions for each test case. It can also be used to eliminate complexity and fix bugs present in software applications.
Documentation facilitates knowledge sharing and seamless collaboration between different team members.
What are the main differences between automation testing and manual testing?

The main differences between automation testing and manual testing are as follows:

Manual testing is prone to human error, which reduces the accuracy and reliability of test cases. On the other hand, automated testing uses tools and scripts to perform tests and is, therefore, more reliable.
Manual testing increases total development time. In comparison, automated tests take less time.

Manual testing has a lower investment cost and return on investment (ROI). However, it is relatively high for automated testing.

Manual testing is considered when a test case needs to be executed once. However, if you need to run test cases continuously, run automated tests.

Manual testing improves customer experience. Automated testing, on the other hand, does not give such a guarantee.

What is an automated test script?

An automated test script is a brief program composed in a programming language to execute a set of instructions for an application. It is usually done to check whether the application meets the prerequisites. After executing the test script, the test results will be shown as pass or fail, depending on whether the application runs as anticipated.

Advanced Automation Testing Interview Questions

When should you prefer manual testing over automation testing?

Automation testing is preferred in this advanced era of software technology. But sometimes, testers prefer using manual testing rather than automated testing. Here are a few scenarios when automation testing is preferred over automation testing.

During short-time projects: Automated testing requires time and resources for maintaining the framework. Therefore, for the short-time project, it may exceed the overall budget. Hence, manual testing is preferable in such cases.

During Ad-hoc Testing: Ad-hoc testing does not have an appropriate strategy or planning for testing the software applications. Automation testing, on the other hand, needs proper planning and strategy. Therefore, test automation is not a good choice for performing Ad-hoc testing.

During Exploratory testing: Exploratory testing is completely human-based and cannot be performed through test automation tools. Testers utilize their knowledge, experience, skills, and intuitions to perform exploratory tests.

During usability testing: For usability testing, the tester has to measure how easy, efficient, and practical the software application is for the end user. Thus, a manual approach is preferable, as the most important factor is human observation.

What are the attributes of a good test automation framework?

The attributes of a good test automation framework are as follows:

A test automation framework should be modular. This means that the framework must be capable of dividing the test cases into smaller independent modules.

A framework should be able to design test case scripts that can be reused for multiple test scenarios. The reusability of the test case saves an ample amount of time and resources.

Consistency guarantees that the automation framework follows standardized practices and conventions over all test cases and modules.

An independent framework isolates test cases from each other and allows them to run independently without dependence on other tests.

Logging is essential to obtain detailed information about automated test execution. A good logging mechanism provides visibility into test execution, facilitates troubleshooting, and enables traceability of test results.

The reporting feature generates comprehensive and insightful reports summarizing the results of automated test runs.

Integration capabilities enable seamless integration of automation frameworks with other tools and technologies commonly used in the software development and testing ecosystem. One such tool that can be used is LambdaTest.

LambdaTest is an AI-powered test orchestration and execution platform to run manual and automated tests at scale. The platform allows you to perform real-time and automation testing across 3000+ environments and real mobile devices.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using automation testing?

The advantages of using automation testing are as follows:

It enhances the reliability of tests.
The overall maintenance cost is reduced.
The test coverage is improved through automated testing
The overall speed for test execution is increased.
The software applications are tested accurately.

The disadvantages of using automation testing are as follows:

Automation testing requires more development and maintenance time.
We need a good investment for starting an automation testing
To begin with automation testing, we need to learn the skills ourselves.
Automation testing configuration and environment setup are complex.
Automation testing may debug bugs easily, but debugging a test script is not easy.

What are the important modules of the test automation framework?

The important modules of the test automation framework are as follows:

Test assertion tools are used to verify the expected behavior of the software application under test execution.

Data setup is responsible for retrieving user data embedded in a data source.

Build Management Tool is a tool that allows the creation of a framework for writing test scripts.

Continuous Integration Tools integrate and deploy changes within the framework at each iteration.

Reporting tools are required to create easy-to-read reports after running test cases.

Logging Tools are present within the framework to help improve error and bug debugging.

What are the points that are covered while planning the phase of automation?

The points that are considered while planning the phase of automation are as follows:

First, you must choose the right tool that works well for your software application.
Then, if your software application requires a framework, you need to choose the most appropriate one.
Next, you need to define the objective for your automation testing.
Once your objective is clear, you can begin planning and classifying test cases into appropriate test suits.
You then have to identify test deliverables and prioritize them accordingly.
At last, you need to set up a test environment and configure it for test execution.

Conclusion

The interview questions in this article showcase the advancement software applications have gone through. It reflects the importance of automation testing in this fast-growing software industry. The interviewer asks questions about the increasing importance of automation testing. And how the automation framework provides a seamless and high-quality software application to the end user. The candidates are supposed to answer these questions. It provides a glimpse of the technical knowledge carried by the candidate. Also, this showcases their ability to carry forward emerging trends and overcome upcoming challenges. The answers provided by the candidate to the interviewer reflect their contribution towards the advancement in automation testing methodology.

These questions also serve as a means for organizations to assess candidates’ problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills, and readiness to handle complex exam scenarios in today’s dynamic environment. As automated testing continues to play a central role in the software development process, candidates who excel at answering these interview questions will be able to drive innovation, improve testing processes, and deliver high-quality software in 2024.