CRED Automation Testing Interview Questions & Answers

this refers to the current object; super refers to the parent class, used to call parent constructors and methods.

A test framework offering annotations, grouping, prioritisation, parallel runs, data providers and reports, which structure and scale Selenium tests.

Use CSS or XPath with contains(), starts-with() or stable attributes, relative axes, or data-test attributes agreed with developers.

A lightweight text format of key-value pairs and arrays used in API requests and responses, validated field by field in tests.

A callback where one system sends an HTTP request to another when an event occurs. Test with a mock receiver or tools such as webhook.site and verify the payload.

Use then().statusCode(200).body("data.id", equalTo(5)), or extract() the response and assert fields with JsonPath.

//button[normalize-space()='Login'] //button[contains(text(),'Login')]

A framework combining data-driven, keyword-driven and POM approaches with reporting and utilities, giving flexibility and reuse.

A try block that automatically closes resources such as file readers or streams, preventing leaks without a finally block.

It makes a test run only after specified tests pass, otherwise it is skipped. Use sparingly as it creates coupled tests.

One interface, many forms. WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver() lets the same test code run on any browser class that implements WebDriver.

Locators such as above, below, toLeftOf and near that find elements by their position relative to another element.

200 OK, 201 Created, 204 No Content, 400 Bad Request, 401 Unauthorized, 403 Forbidden, 404 Not Found, 500 Internal Server Error.

A subclass redefines a parent method. Frameworks use it to customise base behaviour, such as overriding a wait or click method in a base page class.

Use external files or APIs and database setup scripts, generate unique data per run, and clean up afterwards so tests stay independent.

close() closes the current window; quit() closes all windows and ends the driver session.

Use then().time(lessThan(2000L)) and then().header("Content-Type", containsString("json")) along with body assertions.

BeforeSuite, BeforeTest, BeforeClass, BeforeMethod, Test, AfterMethod, AfterClass, AfterTest and AfterSuite.

Git tracks changes, enables code review, branching and rollback and lets teams collaborate on the framework safely.

Classes like ITestListener that react to events such as test start, success or failure, commonly used for screenshots and reporting.

A helper that initialises @FindBy elements lazily using initElements; some teams skip it in favour of plain By locators.

A design pattern where each page is a class holding its locators and actions, so tests stay readable and a locator change is fixed in one place.

Do not automate it; ask for a test environment where CAPTCHA is disabled or use test keys, or a bypass token agreed with developers.

switchTo().frame(index, name or element) enters the frame, and switchTo().defaultContent() returns to the main page.

An abstract class can hold state and concrete methods; an interface defines a contract (with default methods since Java 8). A class extends one abstract class but can implement many interfaces.

Compare effort saved by running automated tests repeatedly against the cost of building and maintaining scripts, counting execution time, defects found earlier and release speed.

Overloading: same method name, different parameters, in the same class (compile time). Overriding: a subclass redefines a parent method with the same signature (runtime polymorphism). WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver() is runtime polymorphism.

It manages dependencies through pom.xml, builds the project, runs tests with Surefire and standardises structure across teams.

throw actually raises an exception object inside a method; throws declares in the method signature that it may pass an exception to the caller.

Click to open the dropdown, then locate the option by its text, e.g. //li[text()='India'], and click it. Add an explicit wait for the animation.

Keep credentials in external data, parameterise the test with a data provider, reuse a login method in a page class, and clear sessions between roles.

Static members belong to the class and are shared by all instances; non-static members belong to each object.

A scripted or declarative Jenkinsfile that defines stages such as build, test and deploy as code stored with the project.

A special method that initialises an object. It can be overloaded with different parameters, and testers use it to pass the WebDriver into page classes.

Lambdas are short anonymous functions; streams process collections declaratively with filter, map and collect, for example filtering link text from a list of elements.

Classes such as Integer and Double that wrap primitive types as objects, needed for collections and for parsing text from web elements.

findElement returns the first match and throws NoSuchElementException if nothing is found. findElements returns a List (empty if nothing is found) — handy to check whether an element exists.

An API client. Add tests in JavaScript, use environments and collections, and run them with Newman in a CI pipeline.

Use mocks or stubs such as WireMock to simulate the dependency and test your service in isolation.

An interface for systems to talk to each other. GET reads, POST creates, PUT replaces, PATCH updates partially and DELETE removes.

Encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism and abstraction. Testers use them to build reusable page classes, base tests and utility libraries.

A method annotated with @DataProvider returns a 2D object array and the test with dataProvider = "name" runs once per row.

@BeforeTest runs once before all methods in a test tag of testng.xml; @BeforeMethod runs before every test method.

An open-source suite for browser automation: WebDriver, IDE, Grid and the older RC. WebDriver controls browsers through their native drivers.

id, name, className, tagName, linkText, partialLinkText, CSS selector and XPath. Prefer stable ids or CSS, using XPath when needed.

Relative locators, improved Grid, W3C compliance, new window or tab creation, Chrome DevTools Protocol access and element-level screenshots.

Re-locate the element after the DOM refreshes, use explicit waits for the refreshed element, don't keep element references for long, or wrap the action in retry logic.

Keep URLs and credentials in per-environment config files or variables, choose with a command-line parameter and never hard-code secrets.

POST creates a resource, PUT replaces the whole resource (idempotent) and PATCH updates part of it.

Schedule the job, spin up environments or containers, run suites in parallel, store reports and screenshots, notify failures on Slack or email and track trends.

Tag tests with groups = {"smoke","regression"} and include or exclude them in testng.xml to run chosen sets.

Use TestNG parallel="methods | classes | tests" with thread-count, keep WebDriver in a ThreadLocal, and use Selenium Grid or a cloud grid for multiple browsers.

Use headers such as Bearer tokens, basic auth, API keys or OAuth flows; fetch a token in a setup step and reuse it.

String is immutable — every change creates a new object. StringBuilder is mutable and faster for repeated changes (not thread-safe; StringBuffer is).

It runs tests in parallel across multiple machines and browsers using a hub and nodes, cutting execution time and increasing browser coverage.

A configuration file to define suites, tests, classes, groups, parameters and parallel execution settings.

Implicit wait applies globally to element lookups. Explicit wait waits for a specific condition (WebDriverWait + ExpectedConditions). Fluent wait is an explicit wait with custom polling and ignored exceptions.

200 OK, 201 Created, 400 bad request, 401 unauthenticated, 403 forbidden, 404 not found and 500 server error.

Implement ITestListener.onTestFailure(): File src = ((TakesScreenshot) driver).getScreenshotAs(OutputType.FILE); then copy it into the reports folder.

Mouse and keyboard actions such as hover, drag and drop, double click, right click and key combinations, built with moveToElement(...).perform().

Use isDisplayed(), isEnabled() and isSelected() on the WebElement before interacting or asserting.

Headless mode or screen resolution, timing issues, environment data, missing dependencies, browser–driver version mismatch or parallel conflicts. Check logs and failure screenshots and make waits robust.

Use Apache POI for Excel and the Properties class for config files, loaded in a utility class so tests read data instead of hard-coding it.

WebDriver sends commands over HTTP (W3C protocol) to a browser-specific driver such as chromedriver, which controls the actual browser.

Maven project → POM with a BasePage → driver factory with ThreadLocal → config files → data-driven utilities (Excel/JSON) → TestNG or Cucumber runner → logging → Extent reports with screenshots on failure → Jenkins pipeline.

It uses the key's hashCode to find a bucket and equals to resolve collisions, giving O(1) average lookups; Java 8 converts long buckets into trees.

Define parameter name and value in the XML and read them with @Parameters in the test or configuration method.

Comparable defines the natural order inside the class (compareTo); Comparator defines custom orders externally (compare), useful for sorting test data in several ways.

Running the same test logic with multiple data sets from Excel, CSV, JSON or a database, so coverage increases without duplicating code.

driver.switchTo().alert() lets you accept, dismiss, read text or send keys. Browser windows are handled with window handles.

ArrayList and LinkedList for lists, HashSet for unique values, HashMap for key-value test data, and Iterator for traversing them, for example collecting web elements in a list.

public (everywhere), protected (package and subclasses), default (package) and private (same class), used to control visibility of test utilities.

Use JavascriptExecutor with window.scrollTo or scrollIntoView, or the Actions class scroll methods in Selenium 4.

Implement IRetryAnalyzer with a retry count and attach it through the test annotation or a listener to rerun flaky tests.

Get getWindowHandles(), loop to find the target, and call driver.switchTo().window(handle); switch back using the stored parent handle.

Verifying that a provider and consumer agree on request and response formats, using tools like Pact, to catch breaking changes early.