Top Web API Testing Interview Questions And Answers

Top API Testing Interview Questions & Answers

Question: What is API Testing?

Answer:

API stands for Application Programming interface details regarding how some software components must act together. In general terms, API testing is a set of procedures and functions allowing the creation of apps accessing data or features of an operating system or application. All in all, testing of such procedures is acknowledged as API testing.

Question: What are the common tests performed on API’s?

Answer:

The common tests performed on API’s

Verification of the API whether it is updating any data structure
Verify if the API does not return anything
Based on input conditions, returned values from the API’s are checked
Verification of the API whether it triggers some other event or calls another API

Question: Mention the key difference between UI level testing and API testing?

Answer:

UI ( User Interface) refers to testing graphical interface such as how user interacts with the applications, testing application elements like fonts, images, layouts etc. UI testing basically focuses on look and feel of an application.

While, API enables communication between two separate software systems. A software system implementing an API contains functions or sub-routines that can be executed by another software system.

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Question: What are the advantages of API Testing?

Answer:

Test for Core Functionality: API testing provides access to the application without a user interface. The core and code-level of functionalities of the application will be tested and evaluated early before the GUI tests. This will help detect the minor issues which can become bigger during the GUI testing.

Time Effective: API testing usually is less time consuming than functional GUI testing. The web elements in GUI testing must be polled, which makes the testing process slower. Particularly, API test automation requires less code so it can provide better and faster test coverage compared to GUI test automation. These will result in the cost saving for the testing project.

Language-Independent: In API testing, data is exchanged using XML or JSON. These transfer modes are completely language-independent, allowing users to select any code language when adopting automation testing services for the project.

Easy Integration with GUI: API tests enable highly integrable tests, which is particularly useful if you want to perform functional GUI tests after API testing. For instance, simple integration would allow new user accounts to be created within the application before a GUI test started.

Question: How to test API’s ?

Answer:

To test the API’s we should follow the following steps

Ø Select the suite in which you want to add the API test case

Ø Choose test development mode

Ø Develop test cases for the desired API methods

Ø Configure application control parameters

Ø Configure test conditions

Ø Configure method validation

Ø Execute API test

Ø View test reports

Ø Filter API test cases

Ø Sequence API test cases

Question: What are the principles of API test design?

Answer:

The principle for API test design are

Setup: Create objects, start services, initialize data etc

Execution: Steps to exercise API or scenario, also logging

Verification: Oracles to evaluate execution outcome

Reporting: Pass, failed or blocked

Clean up: Pre-test state

Question: What are the common protocols that are used in API testing?

Answer:

ü HTTP

ü JMS

ü REST

ü SOAP

ü UDDI

Question: Provided some best practices that are followed to make API testing successful?

Answer:

Enlisted below are some best practices for API testing:

ü Test cases should be grouped under category with expected results that happen consistently and other typical results.

ü Test cases should include selected parameters as well as API call declarations.

ü API load tests are performed to determine system application stress.

ü Maintain the limits of the variables used in the tests as well as avoid ‘Test Chaining’.

ü To make ease for the testers, API call is being prioritized and call sequencing is planned.

ü Every input combination and dependencies are considered for complete test coverage.

ü Automation of the test cases, documentation is done as and when required.

Question: What are the tools used for API testing?

Answer:

The different tools used for API testing are enlisted below:

ü SOAPUI

ü Postman

ü Katalon Studio

ü Rest Assured

ü Jmeter

You can refer to this link to know more about it.

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Question: What is API framework?

Answer:

API framework is described by the config file which consists of the list of all APIs that are required to be activated and are activated for any particular program run. This is essential as every test run does not require all APIs.

‘Config’ file purpose is to describe and enlist every configurable component within a test run.

Question: Explain API documentation?

Answer:

As it is well aware fact that, for any foundation, there has to be a good documentation. API documentation likewise serves as a quick reference for accessing library or working within a program.

When we go through any such documents, it must consist of a proper plan, content source, proper layout or sketch for delivery, information related to each function, etc.

API documentation tools are:

ü JavaDoc

ü Doxygen

Enlisted below are the categories in which every function is being documented which mainly revolve around the parameters:

· Function description

· Sequence, syntax, and elements required for each parameter.

· Syntax and type of error message that can occur.

· Links related to functions.

Question: Name some most used templates for API documentation?

Answer:

Enlisted below are some free templates which makes API documentation much easier and simple:

Slate
FlatDoc
Swagger
API blueprint
RestDoc
Miredot
Web service API Specification.

Question: What are the testing methods that come under API testing?

Answer:

API testing generally involves following testing methods:

Unit testing and Functional testing
Load testing for testing the performance under load.
Discovery testing for listing, creating and deleting the number of calls that has been documented in API.
Usability testing and Reliability testing for obtaining consistent results.
Security testing and Penetration testing for validating all types of authentication.
Automation testing for creating and executing scripts that require API calls execution regularly.
End to end Integration testing and Web UI testing.
API documentation testing for determining its efficiency and effectiveness.

Question: What is the difference between API and WebServices?

Answer:

Please refer to this link

Question: What is SOAP?

Answer:

The term SOAP refers to Simple Object Access Control. In simple terms, it is an XML based protocol that helps in exchanging information among computers.

Question: What is REST API?

Answer:

REST API is a set of functions helping developers in performing requests along with receiving responses. Through HTTP protocol interaction is made in REST API.

The term REST refers to Representational State Transfer. In very short span of time, it has become an effective standard for API creation.

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Question: What is a “Resource” in REST?

Answer:

REST architecture treats any content as a resource, which can be either text files, HTML pages, images, videos or dynamic business information.

REST Server gives access to resources and modifies them, where each resource is identified by URIs/ global IDs.

Question: What is messaging in RESTful Web services?

Answer:

RESTful web services use the HTTP protocol as a communication tool between the client and the server. The technique that when the client sends a message in the form of an HTTP Request, the server sends back the HTTP reply is called Messaging. These messages comprise message data and metadata, that is, information on the message itself.

Question: what is the difference between Rest and SOAP?

Answer:

Please refer to this link

Question: What Is an HTTP Request?

Answer:

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol and is a way of sending messages to software on another computer over the Internet or over a Network.

An HTTP request is sent to a specific URL and consists of:

• VERB specifying the type of request e.g. GET, POST, PUT, DELETE

• A set of HTTP Headers. The headers specify information such as the type of Browser,

type of content in the message, and what type of response is accepted in return.

• A body, or payload in the request, representing the information sent to, or from, the Web Application. Not all HTTP messages can have payloads: POST and PUT can have payloads, GET and DELETE can not.

Question: What Is a URL?

Answer:

URL is a Uniform Resource Locator and is the address we use to access websites and web applications.

When working with APIs you will often see this referred to as a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier).

Think of a URI as the generic name for a URL.

Question: What Are HTTP Verbs?

Answer:

A Web Browser will usually make GET requests and POST requests.

• GET requests ask to read information from the server e.g. clicking on a link.

• POST requests supply information to the server e.g. submitting a form.

GET requests do not have a body, and just consist of the Verb, URL and the Headers.

Question: What are the most commonly used HTTP methods supported by REST?

Answer:

GET- The GET method is used to extract information from the given server using a given URI. While using GET request, it should only extract data and should have no other effect on the data.

POST- A POST request is used to send data to the server, for example, customer information, file upload, etc. using HTML forms.

PUT- Replaces all current representations of the target resource with the uploaded content.

DELETE- Removes all current representations of the target resource given by a URI.

Question: What Is an HTTP Response?

Answer:

When you issue an HTTP Request to the server you receive an HTTP Response.

The response from the server tells you if your request was successful, or if there was a problem.

• A status code of 200, which means that the request was successful.

• A Content-Type header of application/json which means that the body is a JSON response.

• A body which contains the actual payload response from the server.

Question: What Is an HTTP Status Code?

Answer:

Web Services and HTTP APIs use HTTP Status Codes to tell us what happened when the server processed the request.

The simple grouping for HTTP Status Codes is:

• 1xx - Informational

• 2xx - Success e.g. 200 Success

• 3xx - Redirection e.g. 302 Temporary Redirect

• 4xx - Client Error e.g. 400 Bad Request, 404 Not Found

• 5xx - Server Error e.g. 500 Internal Server Error

The type of status code you receive depends on the application you are interacting with.

Usually a 4xx error means that you have done something wrong and a 5xx error means that something has gone wrong with the application server you are interacting with.

Question: What Are Payloads?

Answer:

A Payload is the body of the HTTP request or response.

When browsing the Web, the Browser usually receives an HTML payload. This is the web page that you see rendered in the Browser.

Typically when working with an HTTP API we will send and receive JSON or XML payloads.

Question:What Is JSON?

Answer:

JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation and is a text representation that is also valid JavaScript code.

JSON can be thought of as a hierarchical set of key/value pairs where the value can be:

• Object - delimited by { and }.

• Array - delimited by [ and ].

• String - delimited by " and ".

• Integer

An array is a list of objects or key/value pairs.

The keys are String values e.g. “projects”, “project”, “id”, etc.

Question: What Is a URL?

Answer:

URL is a Uniform Resource Locator and is the address we use to access websites and web applications.When working with APIs you will often see this referred to as a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier).

Think of a URI as the generic name for a URL.

Question: What Is XML?

Answer:

XML stands for Extensible Markup Language.HTML is a variant of XML.

For XML to be valid, it must be well formed, meaning that every opening tag must have a corresponding closing tag, and strings must have an opening and closing quote.

Question: What Is Authentication?

Answer:

When we send a message to a server we might need to be authenticated i.e. authorized to send a message and receive a response.

For many Web Applications you authenticate yourself in the application by logging in with a username and password. The same is true for Web Services or HTTP APIs.

If you are not authenticated and try to send a message to a server then you are likely to receive a response from the server with a 4xx status code e.g.

• 401 Unauthorized

• 403 Forbidden

There are many ways to authenticate HTTP requests for HTTP APIs.

Some common approaches you might encounter are:

• Custom Headers

• Basic Authentication Headers

• Session Cookies

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Question: Explain the types of bugs that can be found using API testing?

Answer:

API is capable of finding many types of bugs that includes:

1. Stress
2. Security
3. Duplicate or missing functionality
4. Reliability
5. Unused flags
6. Performance
7. Incompatible error handling
8. Multi-threaded issues, and
9. Improper errors

Question: What are the common Web API architectural styles?

Answer:

Bellows are four common Web API architectural styles:

HTTP for client-server communication
XML/JSON as formatting language
Simple URI as the address for the services
Stateless communication

Question: What must be checked when performing API testing?

Answer:

During the API testing process, a request is raised to the API with the known data. This way you can analyze the validation response. While testing an API, you should consider:

Accuracy of data
Schema validation
HTTP status codes
Data type, validations, order and completeness
Authorization checks
Implementation of response timeout
Error codes in case API returns, and
Non-functional testing like performance and security testing

Question: What is the best approach method to perform API testing?

Answer:

The following factors should be considered when performing API testing:

Defining the correct input parameters
Verifying the calls of the mixture of two or more added value parameters
Defining the basic functionality and scope of the API program
Writing appropriate API test cases and making use of testing techniques such as equivalence class, boundary value, etc. to check the operability
Testing case execution
Comparing the test result with the expected result
Verifying the API behavior under conditions such as connection to files and so on.

Question: What are common API errors that often founded?

Answer:

Missing module errors
Documentation errors
Parameter validation errors
And some standard error expectations as if the result is not so predicted then the occurrence of errors can be seen and for the same warnings are specified in the form of a message. There can be one or more warnings within an individual module.

Question: What all challenges you faced during API testing?

Answer:

Challenges are the part of every form of testing and the same goes with API testing too.

Mentioned below are some common challenges that are faced in API testing:
·         The first and foremost challenge is selecting an appropriate parameter and then its combination.
·         Parameter categorization
·         Proper sequencing of call is required as this may lead to inadequate coverage in testing.
·         Output verification and validation
·         Another important challenge is providing input values, which is very difficult as GUI is not available in this case.

Question: What are the types of Issues observed while performing API testing?

Answer:

When testing is performed, then there have to be issues associated with them. Issues observed while performing this form of testing are not new or much different, but they are common in this category.

Find below the list of such issues/defects: