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A4Q Selenium Tester Interview Questions

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A4Q Selenium Tester Foundation Interview Questions

The A4Q Selenium Tester Foundation certification is an entry-level certification that trains testers on how to use the Selenium WebDriver. If you want to test and automate web applications, then A4Q Selenium Tester Foundation is definitely the right exam for you. To pass the interview, you must be able to showcase expertise in implementing Selenium WebDriver scripts used in executing functional web application tests and also implementing maintainable scripts. Apart from this, you must essentially have a hands-on mastery for correctly applying the test automation principles for building a maintainable test automation solution.

So, we’ve compiled below an exhaustive list of A4Q Selenium Tester Foundation interview questions so not only will you be prepared with the fundamentals, but you’ll also have the confidence to face the panel. Let’s begin!

1. What does automation testing entail?

Automation testing is the process of testing applications using special scripts to verify that a software application meets its design and functional requirements. It is often used to validate software or websites. Automation testing is useful for testing any complex and dynamic application effectively. It is all about improving the quality of software testing, making the whole process more accurate and faster.

2. How can automation testing be beneficial?

Some prominent benefits of Automation testing are listed below:

  • Firstly, it saves both, time and money, as it is faster in execution
  • The codes are reusable, ie., when created one time, they can be executed multiple times with lesser or no maintenance at all
  • Reporting is made easy as it generates automatic reports after each test execution.
  • Also, it makes the compatibility testing much simpler, by enabling a parallel execution in different OS and also browser environments
  • Low-cost maintenance compared to other manual testings
  • Further, it is reliable, powerful, and versatile – It permits us to integrate using Cross Browser Testing Tools, Jenkins, Github, etc.,
  • Last but not the least, it offers maximum test coverage

3. Can you highlight some of the limitations with the Selenium WebDriver?

A Selenium WebDriver test mimics real user actions on the web by automating the browser’s behavior. Some limitations with Selenium WebDriver are listed below:

  1. Firstly, we cannot test the windows application and mobile apps
  2. Then, limited reporting
  3. Handling dynamic Elements
  4. Also, handling page load
  5. Handling pop up windows
  6. Finally, handling captcha

4. How would you describe a Framework?

Frameworks are not just a collection of rules, best practices, and tips. They are also ways for us to think about problems and solve them effectively. An effective framework will help us find our own unique path. The most common types of frameworks are as follow:

  • Data-Driven Testing Framework
  • Keyword Driven Testing Framework
  • Hybrid Testing Framework
  • Behavioural Driven Framework

5. Can you name the tests cases that can be automated and the ones that cannot be automated?

The test cases that are automated are: 

  • Data-driven test cases
  • Test cases with higher complexity
  • Test case with many database updates
  • The test execution rate is high
  • Smoke/Critical tests
  • Tests with several combinations
  • Graph test cases
  • Higher manual execution time

Whereas, the test cases that aren’t automated are:

  • Subjective Validation
  • New Functionalities
  • Strategic Development
  • User Experience
  • Complex Functionality
  • Quality Control
  • Low return on investment
  • Installation and setup testing

6. Can you explain what is selenium?

Selenium is one such open-source type of web automation tool that allows you to automate and test web applications across various browsers, platforms, and operating systems.

There are four components to Selenium namely,

  • Firstly, the Selenium IDE (Selenium Integrated Development Environment)
  • Selenium RC (Selenium Remote Control)
  • Also, the Selenium WebDriver
  • Finally, the Selenium Grid

7. Can you differentiate between Selenium IDE and Selenium RC?

Selenium IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is an add-on for Firefox. It provides a simple interface that allows us to record and playback the scripts. We can use it to create scripts, but only Selenium RC and WebDriver provide more capabilities to write robust test cases. While Selenium RC is the original open-source record/playback tool for testing web applications. It’s easy to learn and start using, with a very active and friendly community.

8. Can you define Selenium WebDriver?

When it comes to unit testing, Selenium WebDriver makes testing easier and quicker with the help of a web browser. It empowers you to make web app unit tests by just choosing a programming language you are familiar with. It’s based on a simple Java library and allows you to select, modify and automate the page content, then validate the results.

9. Where do Selenium 3 and Selenium 4 differ?

In Selenium 3 Webdriver APIs were communicated with browser native APIs via the JSON wire protocol. All protocol-based requests and responses were encrypted and decoded. Whereas Selenium 4 uses the standardized protocol of the W3C. Therefore, the encoding and decoding APIs are not required for this request.

10. What do you understand by Selenium Grid and when do we use it?

Selenium Grid is a tool used along with Selenium RC to run tests on different machines while they are running different browsers simultaneously. It also enables users to run tests in parallel, which means that a user can run tests on as many machines as he wants.

In a fast-paced and competitive marketplace, distributed testing is key to efficiency and accuracy. Moreover, it can help you test multiple platforms in multiple environments simultaneously for speedy test execution. 

11. Can you name a few merits of the Selenium Grid?

  • Firstly, it allows running test cases parallelly and helps save test execution time.
  • It also allows multi-browser testing
  • Last but not the least, it enables us to execute test cases on multi-platform

12. Can you give one distinction between a hub and node in?

Servers or central points act as hubs that control the execution of tests on multiple machines. Essentially, nodes are machines connected to hubs. It is possible for the Selenium Grid to have multiple nodes.

13. What implementation of WebDriver is claimed to be the fastest?

HTMLUnitDriver (HUDR) is the fastest implementation of WebDriver. HUDR has been widely used for the testing of web applications where test cases do not require the automation of browsers. It does not execute test cases in the browser. By running test cases without starting a browser, it provides significant benefits in terms of speed and performance compared to other implementations which require a browser.

14. What programming languages are supported by Selenium WebDiver?

The Selenium development environment supports most major programming languages, such as Java, C#, Perl, Python, Ruby, PHP, Scala, and Groovy. 

15. Which types of testing is Selenium capable of handling?

There are a number of testing types that can be supported by Selenium, namely:

  • Functional Testing
  • Regression Testing
  • Retesting
  • Acceptance Testing
  • End-to-End Testing
  • Smoke Testing
  • Sanity Testing
  • Responsive Testing
  • Cross Browser Testing
  • UI Testing
  • Integration Testing

16. What is XPath? What should you do if XPath can’t identify the web element?

XPath lets you find your way through elements and attributes in an XML document to locate web elements such as text box, button, checkbox, and images on the web page. XPath is one of the powerful tools to navigate and manipulate elements of an XML document or web page.

In the initial stages of software development, developers change identifiers and elements frequently. When XPath is used, you’ll identify web elements dynamically changing during execution. Then you could use XPath axes with XPath functions to overcome this.

17. When according to you should one use locators like ID, Name, XPath, Or CSS Selector?

  • ID & Name locators are generally used when unique identifiers & unique names are available on the web page.
  • CSS Selectors are used for the performance and especially when ID & Name locators are not unique.
  • XPath is often used when there are no preferred locators

18. What is the basic point of distinction between Assert and Verify conditions?

In the assert condition, if the assert condition is true, test step execution will continue. If the assert condition is false, the program control will skip all further steps in the steps definition and resume the next test step after it.

However, in the verify condition, you can consistently run your automated tests even if the verify condition returns true or false.

19. What do you understand by Soft Assert and Hard Assert?

Soft Assert helps you detect whether your test cases are working as intended. It collects errors during @Test and does not throw an exception when an assert fails, so it doesn’t stop the execution of the test. Instead of that, it will continue with the next step in line, after the assert statement. Whereas, the hard assert makes testing much easier for the user, simply by throwing an AssertException immediately when an assert statement fails and tests continue with the next test case.

20. How does the setSpeed () method differ from sleep ()?

  • The setSpeed() sets the speed which will apply a delay time before each  Selenium operation. Example: setSpeed(“5000”) – It will wait for 5 seconds
  • The sleep() sets up the wait only once when it is called in the Selenium script. Example: sleep(5000) – It will wait for 5 seconds

21. What verification points are available in Selenium?

In Selenium, we use verification points that indicate specific elements. They are like marker points to let us know something should be there. We use them in both Selenium IDE and WebDriver. In Selenium IDE, they are called Selenese Script Commands, but in WebDriver they were renamed to Verification Points. Some of these

  • To check for the page title
  • To check for a certain text
  • Also, to check for certain elements including text box, button, drop-down, etc.

22. In what ways does Selenium Automation Tool differ from other testing tools?

Selenium automation tools hold some benefits over other automation testings. These are:

  • Free and open-source – Selenium automation offers free open source tools
  • Help – It has a larger user base, in helping communities
  • Cross-browser compatibility – Selenium automation works on several popular browsers including, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari
  • Cross-Platform compatibility – It also works on platforms like Windows, Linux, and Mac
  • Multiple programming languages – Selenium automation supports different programming languages such as Java, Phyton, Perl, Php, C#, Ruby, etc.,
  • Parallel Execution – It supports the parallel execution of all Selenium Scripts.
  • Continuous Integration – Users can achieve nightly execution using Jenkins

23. In Selenium Webdriver, why is session handling necessary?

From executing test commands to locating and filling forms, the Selenium WebDriver needs to communicate with the browser. In fact, it draws a session from the browser and saves its session identifier in order to locate it during subsequent calls. This is made possible by using Session Handling in Selenium.

24. Using which communication technology does Selenium communicate with the client and the browser driver?

Selenium Web Driver uses a REST API, JSON Wire Protocol to communicate from the server to the browser. This protocol helps in transferring information over HTTP.

25. Are there any prerequisites for creating and executing Selenium test scripts?

To use Selenium, the following prerequisites must be met:

  • Firstly, installing JDK
  • Then, configuring environment variables
  • IDE like Eclipse (for JEE Developers) must be available
  • Also, the availability of the selenium server
  • An appropriate language client
  • Finally, an appropriate browser driver

26. What is Selenium’s way of identifying elements in a web page?

Selenium locators are a great way to identify exactly what you want to interact with on a web page. Selenium locators are essentially tags that you can use on a web page, just like HTML tags, except they will recognize to find a specific group of information.

27. Why are CSS selectors important?

CSS selectors, also known as CSS locators, are a combination of an element selector and a selector value that is used for identifying the web element within any given web page. Classes, ids, and tag names can also be used for the selection. These selectors are used to locate HTML elements in the web page, without an ID or class. The syntax is [tag][attribute=value]

28. How can relative XPath be more beneficial than absolute XPath?

Relative XPath is a stable element. It will keep working as the underlying web page changes, which helps reduce code maintenance efforts for script developers. Moreover, the Relative XPath expression is easy to write and is always case-sensitive. It follows the start tag-end tag traversal of an XML document. When an XPath expression is relative, it’s often easier to tell where it points. This reduces the chances of mistakenly sending a script to the wrong part of a page. 

29. Do you prefer the CSS Selector or XPath as Selenium Locators?

There are pros and cons to both locators. Each must be considered based on how their advantages apply in the particular context of a given project

The merits of using CSS Selector are:

  • It is faster than XPath.
  • Also, it is easier to learn and implement
  • The probability of finding elements is higher
  • Last but the least, it is compatible with most browsers

Whereas the advantages of using XPath are:

  • Firstly, the queries are compact and easily parsed
  • It is compatible with older browsers
  • Then, the design in XPath is way more flexible than that in CSS Selector
  • Subsequently, it uses “contains” to search possible matches

30. Can you provide an explanation of the types of waits?

There are two types of waits in Selenium, namely:

  • Implicit Wait —Implicit wait is an API used to tell the web driver to wait for a certain amount of time before it throws an exception. Typically, this API is used with a test case that has a maximum time limit. The default setting is 0 here
  • Explicit Wait — Explicit wait is used to tell a browser to wait for some conditions or until the maximum time is exceeded. It can be applied in some specific elements such as Ajax dynamic elements, and we should provide the best condition to check this

Final Words

We hope these interview questions will help you achieve a pass result for your  A4Q Selenium Tester Foundation interview. Besides, we believe with our free practice exam questions will help you feel confident when answering questions in the actual test. We’ve developed our A4Q Selenium Tester Free Practice Tests to be a realistic representation of the exam. So start preparing Now!

A4Q Selenium Tester Foundation Practice test
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