HCLTech Automation Testing Interview Questions & Answers

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

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

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

Docker packages tools in containers so tests run identically everywhere; Selenium Grid and browsers can be started quickly in containers.

Arrays have a fixed size and can hold primitives; ArrayList grows dynamically, holds objects and offers helper methods.

ArrayList stores an ordered list (e.g. all product names on a page). HashMap stores key–value pairs (e.g. test data or config properties).

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Create a job or pipeline that checks out code, runs mvn test, publishes reports and triggers on commits or schedules.

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

Encapsulation: private locators with public page methods. Inheritance: pages extend a BasePage. Polymorphism: the WebDriver interface for different browsers. Abstraction: utility layers hiding Selenium details.

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.

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

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

Implicit, explicit (WebDriverWait with ExpectedConditions) and fluent waits; avoid mixing implicit and explicit waits and never rely on Thread.sleep.

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

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

Code pushed to Git → Jenkins job triggers (webhook or schedule) → mvn clean test with the suite XML → reports and screenshots published → notifications on Slack/email → failures triaged before release.

final makes a variable, method or class unchangeable; finally is a block that always runs after try-catch; finalize is a deprecated method called before garbage collection.

Set window size explicitly, use proper waits, check animations and viewport differences, and capture screenshots and logs to find timing issues.

Cast the driver to JavascriptExecutor and use executeScript, for example to scroll into view or click hidden elements.

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

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.

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

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 the Select class with selectByVisibleText, selectByValue or selectByIndex; for custom dropdowns click and choose from the 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.

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

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.

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

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

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

getText returns visible inner text; getAttribute returns an HTML attribute or property such as value, href or class.

TestNG reports, ExtentReports and Allure give charts, screenshots and logs that are easy to share with the team.

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.

Store each driver in a ThreadLocal so every thread gets its own instance and tests do not interfere.

given().baseUri(url) .when().get("/users/1") .then().statusCode(200).body("id", equalTo(1));

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.

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

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

ArrayList has fast random access and slower inserts in the middle; LinkedList has fast inserts and deletes but slow access by index.

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

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

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

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

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

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

== compares references (or primitive values); equals() compares content when overridden, as in String.

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

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.

SOAP is a strict XML protocol with WSDL and WS-Security; REST is a lighter architectural style using HTTP and usually JSON.