Top 40 Automation Testing Interview Questions (2024)

LinkedIn data reveals a booming job market for automation testers, with 16000+ open positions in the US alone with a staggering global total exceeding 42000 (as of September 2024). This surge in demand is mirrored by Salary.com reporting a US average salary of $117,397 (as of August 2024) for automation test engineers.  In this article, we’ve covered the top 40 automation testing interview questions you’ll most likely come across in your interviews.

Also Read: Top 50+ React Interview Questions

1 - What is automation testing?

Automation testing is a software testing approach that involves QA and developers executing test cases for a system using automation scripts. Automation isn’t a replacement for manual testing methods, but rather a preferred way to run testing activities using automation frameworks and tools for repetitive tests, tasks that require complex calculations, and long-running tasks prone to human errors.

Also Read: Automation Testing 101: Explained

2 - What are the benefits of test automation?

Among many, here are some noteworthy benefits that test automation is typically known for:

• Automates monotonous, repetitive, and long-running tasks.
• Improves testing accuracy for error-prone tasks.
• Optimizes resources for complex tasks best suited for manual methods.
• Saves time and dollars by speeding up testing cycles.
• Simulates scenarios with huge user volumes and a variety of configurations in controlled environments.
• Compliments manual testing methods by improving test coverage significantly.

Also Read: Professional Courses and Certifications for QA Testers & Developers

3 - What is an automation testing framework?

An automation testing framework is software that provides pre-defined guidelines, tooling, and best practices to run automated testing. Test automation frameworks offer reusable methods, functional libraries, object details, and test data sources for testers to create, organize, and execute test cases for software apps in a structured way.

Also Read: Top 10 Automation Testing Tools and Frameworks: With Key Features and Pricing

4 - What is the difference between an automation testing framework and an automation testing tool?

Here’s a table that summarizes “automation testing framework vs. automation testing tool”:

5 - What are the key components of an automation framework?

Key components of a test automation framework include:

• Test scripts — simulate user interactions and represent test cases written as programs to be executed for test automation activities. Java, Python, and JavaScript are some prominent languages used for writing test scripts.
• Test case design — helps decide the level of automation for the app under test. It’s important to design test scripts that ensure maximum test coverage, reusable, modular, and maintainable.
• Test execution engine — within an automation framework interprets test scripts, executes them, and provides outcomes for the executed test cases. 
• Test environment — and configuration management components help manage the necessary software, hardware, and network requirements to run and execute automated tests in a controlled and consistent manner.
• Test data management — provides relevant methods, functions, and tools to generate, oversee, and manage data for executing test scripts and verifying expected results. Test data typically includes relevant input values, expected outputs, and configuration settings.
• Logging, reporting, and debugging mechanisms — help analyze test outcomes and identify areas to improve with features for generating reports on test results, including pass/fail rates, execution time, and error details.
• Object repository — works as a centralized place to store information about the objects (elements) within the app under test for maintaining consistency and reducing script maintenance efforts.
• Integration options for CI/CD pipelines — enable frameworks to connect with external tools like continuous integration (CI) servers, version control systems, and other automation tools to run automated tests in the case of any code commits, system updates, or deployment activities. Moreover, they help in early bug detection and bug-tracking activities.
• Other components — include maintenance modules, parallel testing execution features, test scheduling methods, and test assertion options.

Also Read: How to Write Test Cases? A Stepwise Guide

6 - What are the popular automation testing tools/frameworks?

Some of the most widely adopted test automation tools and frameworks include:

• Selenium — is widely used for web app testing with support for various programming languages and browsers.
• Postman — is an API development and testing tool with automated integration and API testing features.
• Appium — is a mobile app testing framework that enables cross-platform testing of native, hybrid, and web apps.
• Apache JMeter — is a performance testing tool to simulate heavy load and measure web apps and server performance.
• Cypress — is a JavaScript automation framework for running end-to-end testing with CI/CD, BDD, and TDD support.
• Playwright — is an end-to-end automation and API testing framework.
• Robot — is an open-source automation framework that uses a keyword-driven approach.
• Cucumber — is a behavior-driven development (BDD) automation framework that uses English-like Gherkin syntax (Given, When, Then), suitable for both technical and non-technical users.

7 - What are the limitations of automation testing?

Here are some common limitations associated with automation:

• Inability to handle very complex scenarios or custom business logic.
• Automation can be expensive when compared to manual methods.
• Flaky tests can be a challenge for automation that requires manual efforts to double-check for correctness. 
• Automation test scripts require regular updates based on user feedback, UI changes, and frequently changing project requirements.
• Inability to identify unexpected errors.
• High-maintenance costs. 
• Resource intensive.
• Inability to simulate end-user perspective that’s typically very dynamic.
• Automation tests for mobile devices can be a challenge owing to the myriad of devices in the market.

Also Read: What are End Users and How to Identify End User Types?

8 - Is automation always a good idea?

While automation can significantly enhance testing efficiency and coverage, it's not a one-size-fits-all solution. The suitability of automation depends on various factors, including project complexity, scope, and the resources available. 

For instance, projects with frequent UI updates often benefit more from exploratory testing than automation, as the latter can become less effective due to the constant need for automation script updates. Moreover, setting up and maintaining automation frameworks isn’t cheap, making it less practical for apps with limited resources and budget constraints.

9 - What’s a test environment?

A test environment is a controlled setup for running tests on a system that closely matches the production environment in which a system would ultimately run. It typically includes setting up and configuring hardware, software, network, external dependencies, and other components necessary to execute tests just like the live environment. 

10 - What is parallel testing?

Parallel testing refers to the process of executing the same test cases simultaneously across different environment configurations, browsers, and device combinations. It’s a cost-efficient way to validate system performance on various platforms, devices, or browsers. Automation tools are typically used for testing in parallel to speed up the testing process. 

11 - What is cross-browser testing?

Cross-browser testing verifies that an app runs correctly across popular web browsers, and OSs, and is compatible with assistive tools. It ensures that the application is browser-agnostic and performs well in diverse environments. Moreover, it can identify defects and performance issues on browsers with different rendering engines, CSS support, and JavaScript execution capabilities.

12 - What is browser automation?

Browser automation involves using scripts or tools to control web browsers automatically typically used for running repetitive tasks, such as form submissions, link clicks, and navigation, to facilitate test automation and web scraping.

13 - What are the most common tests you would automate?

Common tests suitable for automation include:

• Regression testing — to ensure new code changes, bug fixes, or new feature additions do not affect existing functionalities.
• Performance Testing — to assess the system’s responsiveness and stability under heavy traffic loads and variable network conditions.
• Unit testing — to test individual components, modules, and functions run as expected.
• API testing — to validate the functionality of APIs that power the system with data exchange.
• End-to-end testing — to simulate real-world user scenarios to verify the overall fully integrated system from start to finish.
• Smoke testing — to run preliminary tests and verify the basic functions of the system.
• Sanity testing — is a subset of smoke testing to ensure critical functions in a system work fine after a major change or release.

14 - What are some best practices for test automation?

Here are some best practices to consider for test automation: 

• Define clear objectives — to establish specific goals for automation, such as reducing testing time or increasing test coverage.
• Select the right tools — that align with your project requirements, team skills, and technology stack.
• Develop maintainable test scripts — that are clear, modular, and reusable to simplify maintenance and update cycles.
• Use version control systems — for test scripts to track changes and be in sync with the development processes.
• Regularly review and update tests — to assess and refine test cases and ensure they remain relevant.
• Leverage CI/CD pipelines — to automate the execution of tests within CI and delivery processes.
• Prioritize test cases — to focus on automating high-value tests, such as regression tests, that are run frequently.

Also Read: Types of Software Testing Tools: Choosing the Best One

15 - What are the benefits of an automation testing framework?

Here are some top benefits of using an automation framework:

• Faster than manual testing.
• Requires minimal human supervision.
• Provides a systematic method for designing, organizing, and executing automated tests.
• Allows for reusing test scripts, libraries, and components.
• Outlines best practices and guidelines for consistent testing.
• Can be integrated with other tools, such as CI pipelines, version control systems, and bug-tracking tools.
• Provides built-in reporting features for getting detailed test results and metrics.

Also Read: What is Bug Tracking?

16 - What are test scripts?

Test scripts are programs with logical instructions to automate the execution of test cases in software. With test scripts, you can:

• Simulate user interactions — to replicate user actions and validate that the system functions correctly.
• Define test scenarios — that outline specific conditions and inputs for testing various functions of the system.
• Execute tests automatically — using automation tools and frameworks.
• Record outcomes — of test executions and use them for data analysis and bug reporting purposes.
• Automate various types of testing — such as regression testing, API testing, performance testing, and unit testing.

17 - What is UI Testing? 

UI Testing aims to verify an app's user interface (UI) and UI elements function as expected for a positive and cohesive user experience. UI testing is typically aimed towards ensuring that the system UI is:

• Usable, user-friendly, and intuitive for end users
• Responsive across different devices, screen sizes, and resolutions.
• Verified for visual elements and UI components, such as buttons, text fields, menus, and modals.
• Compatible with diverse browsers, devices, and operating systems.
• Defect-free from UI bugs and glitches.

18 - What are the differences between manual testing and automation testing?

Here are some common ways in which manual testing differs from automation:

19 - How would you choose an automation testing tool or a framework?

Here’s a list of criteria to keep note of while going for automation:

• Check your project requirements — such as the business needs, automation scope, test coverage target, and CI/CD integration capabilities. 
• Consider budget constraints and resources available — carefully as commercial test automation tools can be expensive to use and maintain.
• Programming expertise — is also a crucial requirement when considering automation. 
• Check the pros and cons of automation tools — before locking in with one. Moreover, choose a tool that best fits your project needs rather than the one that boasts features that you probably won’t need.
• Consider the learning curve — and the ease of use. It’s best to go with a tool that’s intuitive to use, has good documentation, and enjoys strong community support.
• Ensure the automation tool integrates well — with your existing development tools, such as your source control system, bug tracking tool, and CI servers.
• Select a tool that’s actively maintained — and receives regular updates to address bugs.
• Consider the tool's capabilities for mobile testing — such as support for different devices, operating systems, and emulators.

20 - What is shift-left testing?

Shift-left testing is a software testing approach that pushes testing activities to the early phases of development. In the traditional testing approach (shift-right), testing activities are performed once the development activities are complete. Shift-left flips the shift-right approach by bringing in the developers, QA engineers, and testers together as soon as a project kicks off aiming to detect and identify defects in the early stages of SDLC rather than at the end of it, thus, preventing problems from snowballing.

Read More: What is Shift-left Testing? Explained

21 - What is the difference between regression testing and retesting?

Here’s a table summarizing “regression testing vs. retesting”:

Read More: What is Regression Testing?

22 - When should you avoid using automation?

While automation can be beneficial, there are scenarios where it may not be the best choice:

• For projects with a limited lifespan, the time and cost of setting up automation may not be justified.
• If the system UI is subject to constant changes, maintaining automated tests can become cumbersome and resource-intensive.
• Automation may struggle with complex user interactions or scenarios that require human expertise.
• If the team lacks the necessary skills or resources to implement and maintain automation.
• For testing that requires human creativity and exploration.

23 - What is API automation testing?

API automation involves creating test scripts that simulate interactions with APIs, sending requests, and validating the responses to ensure APIs function as expected, are reliable, and meet performance requirements.

Also Read: Top 30+ API Testing Interview Questions

24 - What is CAPTCHA?

CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) is a challenge-response test used to check whether the user is a human or a computer. CAPTCHAs are typically used to prevent automated bots from performing malicious activities like DDoS attacks, spamming, or account creation fraud. CAPTCHAs often include tasks that humans can easily complete (like identifying distorted text or images) but are very challenging for bots.

25 - What is the automation test pyramid? 

The test automation pyramid is a visual representation that shows the optimal distribution of automated tests across different testing levels in the STLC. It suggests that the majority of automated tests should be at the unit level, followed by integration tests, with a smaller number of end-to-end tests and UAT tests.

It includes the testing types considered suitable for automation at four levels:

• Level 1: Unit testing — to verify isolated software functions, modules, and components. It includes the most number of tests and is the fastest to run.
• Level 2: Integration testing — to verify the correct functioning of integrated components.
• Level 3: End-to-end testing — to check the fully integrated system for errors from start to finish. 
• Level 4: UAT (User-acceptance Testing) — to verify the correctness of system functions from a user’s perspective.

Also Read: Unit Testing Vs. Integration Testing

26 - What is the role of continuous integration (CI) in automation testing? 

Continuous integration (CI) is a DevOps workflow that involves QA and development engineers merging their code changes into a shared repository and running automated tests to identify any issues.

27 - How do you check the effectiveness of automation testing in a project?

Here’s how to check the effectiveness of test automation in a project:

• Test Coverage — Evaluate the extent of test coverage achieved through automation. See if they effectively cover critical functions, business requirements, and edge cases.
• Error Detection Rate — Check the error detection rate to get data-backed facts on how effective the tests were. A high detection rate indicates that the automation is working well. 
• Flaky Tests — Assess automated tests for flaky test results to ensure they are minimal. It’s best to review and refine test scripts regularly to reduce flakiness.
• Time Saved — Measure the time saved by using automation compared to manual methods.
• Ease of Use — Evaluate how easy it is for team members to understand and use the automated tests.
• Return on Investment (ROI) — Calculate the ROI of the automation efforts to check the cost savings over time. This can help justify initial (and long-term) investment in using automation.
• Feedback Loop — Analyze the speed of the feedback loop while running automated tests to see how effective they are in resolving issues.

28 - What is data-driven testing?

Data-driven testing involves executing the same test cases with different sets of test data for various scenarios and input combinations without modifying the test scripts.

29 - What are the key components of a test automation report? 

A test automation report typically includes:

• Test summary — to get an overall pass/fail status and related statistics.
• Test execution details — such as test case names, execution time, results (pass/fail), and any errors.
• Test coverage details — with stats on the percentage of code tested or functionality covered by the tests.
• Defect list — with identified defects, including their severity and priority levels.
• Performance metrics — like execution time, response time, and resource utilization.

Also Read: Project Reporting 101: Essentials for Every Team

30 - What is load testing in test automation? 

Load testing involves simulating heavy loads on a system to evaluate its performance under peak conditions aiming to identify bottlenecks, performance issues, and ensure the system doesn’t tank, break, or underperform while handling heavy user traffic.

31 - What’s a test suite? 

A test suite is a group of related test cases designed to verify a particular aspect of software. These cases are typically organized based on functionality, modules, or any other custom business logic.

32 - What is Selenium?

Selenium is an automation testing framework for browser automations and cross-browser automations for web apps. It’s an open-source framework that supports all popular browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge) and offers a collection of tools and libraries for automation purposes. Selenium can be used with Java, Python, CSharp, Ruby, JavaScript, and Kotlin. 

33 - What are the key components of the Selenium Framework? 

Key components of Selenium include:

• Selenium WebDriver — for browser-based automation testing. 
• Selenium IDE — to create bug reproduction test scripts with record and playback features.
• Selenium Grid — to run automated tests parallelly across multiple browsers, operating systems, and machines.

34 - What are some limitations of the Selenium framework?

Here are some limitations of the Selenium framework:

• Setup takes work.
• Runs slower than other modern automation frameworks.
• Steep learning curve.
• Requires expertise in programming.
• While using it, tracing errors and handling exceptions can be tricky.
• Difficult and complex to maintain.
• Expensive to scale.
• Poses challenges while handling dynamic UI elements on web pages.

35 - Can you achieve 100% test automation?

No. Achieving 100% test automation is practically impossible. Approx. 65-70% of all the tests performed for a system require at least some human involvement. These include several important tests that just can’t be automated, such as exploratory tests, ad-hoc tests, UI tests, usability tests, tests that cover complex scenarios, and the ones aimed at covering critical business logic. 

Unit tests, API tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests are typically considered for automation and comprise around 30-35% of all tests. The exact percentage of tests that can be automated varies depending on the specific project and the business requirements. In some cases, it may be possible to automate a higher percentage of tests, while in others, a lower percentage fits best and is realistic to achieve.

36 - What is the Robot framework? 

Robot is an automation testing framework that uses the keyword-driven approach to write and run automation test scripts. It’s an open-source tool based on a modular architecture. 

The Robot framework is typically used to automate functional testing, UAT (User acceptance testing), and unit testing. It also provides built-in libraries for testing databases and user interfaces. It’s an easy-to-use framework suitable for both technical and non-technical users.

37 - What is Cypress?

Cypress is a JavaScript automation testing framework for web apps. It’s a free and open-sourced framework typically used for running end-to-end testing, component testing, integration testing, and unit testing. Cypress can also be connected with CI pipelines with popular tools such as GitHub Actions, CircleCI, and GitLab CI. It can be installed locally on a system and works well with the TDD or Test-Driven Development approach while writing web apps. You can also record tests using Cypress Cloud.

Also Read: GitHub vs GitLab: Winner!

38 - What is the difference between TDD and BDD frameworks? 

Here are some key differences between TDD and BDD frameworks:

39 - What are the types of automation testing frameworks?

Here are the six prominent automation testing framework types:

• Linear framework — uses a sequential approach where tests are executed one after the other.  
• Modular framework — works with the principle of creating and running tests for smaller, reusable modules or functions.
• Data-driven framework — executes automation tests based on data stored in external files (e.g., CSV, Excel Sheets).
• Keyword-driven framework — uses keyword inputs for executing test cases.
• Library architecture framework — uses abstracted code containing functional implementations that can be imported from third-party libraries.  
• Hybrid framework — includes a mix of two or more types of other automation frameworks.

40 - What are the key steps involved in an automation testing cycle?

Here are the key steps for the automation testing cycle:

1. Select a preferred approach — based on the project needs, budget, and team expertise. You could go with using an automation tool or an automation framework.
2. Run exploratory tests — to determine what parts need to be tested.
3. Determine the scope — of automation such as the critical paths, functions, or business logic.
4. Select an automation framework or tool — based on the tech stack of the project. It’s equally important to weigh the pros and cons of the automation system as well.
5. Set up a test environment — with hardware, software, network settings, and other configurations that closely match live environment settings.
6. Design and write test scripts — to outline the steps of automation. It's best to use project resources such as business requirements, RTM documents, and other assets to ensure the correctness and relevance of test scripts.
7. Ensure proper test data — for the automation scripts. Make sure they check green on important aspects such as data relevance, data policies, data sensitivity, and data volume.
8. Run the automation scripts — for the system. Use CI/CD pipelines to automate the process and to identify issues at the earliest.
9. Analyze test results — and document them for future reference.

Also Read: What is Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)?