Top 20 Software Engineering Questions with Answers

Top 20 Software Engineering Questions with Answers

Software engineering interviews often include technical, problem-solving, and behavioral questions designed to assess a candidate’s knowledge, skills, and approach to handling real-world challenges in the field. The following list presents 20 commonly asked questions, ranging from algorithmic problem-solving to software design principles and system architecture. Each question is accompanied by a comprehensive answer to provide insight into the thought process and methodology behind solving these challenges. Mastery of these questions not only demonstrates proficiency but also showcases a candidate’s ability to tackle diverse scenarios within the dynamic realm of software engineering.

Now, let’s move on to the Top 20 Software Engineering Questions with Answers

  1. Q1. The main purpose of testing includes which of the following?

    Select one or more:
    a. Finding faults
    b. Assessing and ensuring quality
    c. Estimating defect repair effort
    d. All of these are correct.

  2. Q2. During _ testing, the testers do not have access to the source code.

    Select one:
    a. blackbox
    b. whitebox
    c. user
    d. acceptance

  3. Q3. Consider the situation where we have two input variables X and Y, where X can take on 7 valid values and Y can take on 10 valid
    values. If one wanted to test all the combinatorics of just the valid values of these two input variables, how many test cases need to
    be developed and executed?

    Select one:
    a. 70
    b. 80
    c. 90
    d. 100

  4. Q4. The severity of a defect measures the ______ of that defect.

    impact

  5. Q5. The white box testing technique requires the development of test cases from _____.


    source code

  6. Q6. We have seeded a software with 10 defects. If we desire an 80% defect discovery rate in our testing and have discovered 32 total
    defects through our testing, then ___ of those 32 defects found need to be from the nonseeded ones.

    24

  7. Q7. QA Engineers are the only ones responsible for the testing of a system.

    Select one:
    a. True
    b. False

  8. Q8. As we grow the software,ÿ _____ is one of the two major examples of growth in depth of complexity.

    decision branch

  9. Q9. As software becomes present in every part of our daily lives, it also becomes more ____.

    complex

  10. Q10. The chance of an error in communication increases with the number of communication paths, not with the number of people who
    need to communicate.

    Select one:
    a. True
    b. False

  11. Q11. More people means there are more communication paths.

    Select one:
    a. True
    b. False

  12. Q12. Once the requirements are documented, a review with the users/customers is done before the design of the software.

    Select one:
    a. True
    b. False

  13. Q13. The _______ requirement statements qualify the functional requirements and specify in what manner they need to be
    achieved.

    non-functional

  14. Q14. In ___ testing, the test cases are based only on the requirements specification, not on the implementation
    code.

    black box

  15. Q15. An example of a design constraint imposed by the client may be the programming language for implementation.

    Select one:
    a. True
    b. False

  16. Q16. It does not make any performance difference to sort 100 numbers versus sorting close to a million numbers.

    Select one:
    a. True
    b. False

  17. Q17. An example of a functional requirement is: ?Your client wants the newest platform.?

    Select one:
    a. True
    b. False

  18. Q18. Royce's principles that pertain to testing included:

    Select one or more:
    a. planning to have incremental releases, each composed of a group of usage scenarios, with evolving levels of detail.
    b. All of these are correct.
    c. establishing the process for objective quality control and project progress assessment that includes the assessment of
    all the intermediate artifacts.
    d. using a demonstration-based approach in which intermediate artifacts are transitioned to executable demonstration of the
    user scenario so that these artifacts can be assessed earlier.

  19. Q19. Software engineering must include the code and regulations that its members must uphold to be judged as a(n):

    Select one:
    a. engineer.
    b. professional engineering practice.
    c. certified professional engineer.
    d. All of these are correct.

  20. Q20. Software engineers must conduct their practices at some level of professionalism to minimally ensure that their work results in which
    of the following?

    Select one:
    a. All of these are correct.
    b. Valuable intellectual property
    c. A disciplined profession
    d. No harm

Answers

  1. a
  2. a
  3. a
  4. impact
  5. source code
  6. 24
  7. b
  8. decision branch
  9. complex
  10. b
  11. a
  12. a
  13. non-functional
  14. black box
  15. a
  16. b
  17. b
  18. c
  19. b
  20. d