50 Manual Testing API &
SQL Interview Questions
& Answers
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What is exploratory testing?
Exploratory testing is an informal test design technique where testers actively
explore the application without predefined test cases.
How do you prioritize test cases in manual testing?
Based on risk, business impact, frequency of use, and critical functionalities.
What is the difference between test plan and test strategy?
A test plan is project-specific, while a test strategy is an organization-level document
defining the overall approach to testing.
How do you handle a situation where there are no clear
requirements?
By interacting with stakeholders, referring to similar applications, analyzing
competitors, and using exploratory testing.
What is a test matrix?
A document mapping test cases to requirements to ensure full test coverage.
What is a defect life cycle?
The process a defect goes through from identification to closure (New → Assigned →
Open → Fixed → Retested → Verified → Closed).
What is regression testing?
Testing existing functionality after a change to ensure no new defects are introduced.
What is the difference between sanity and smoke testing?
Smoke testing verifies basic functionality, while sanity testing checks specific bug
fixes and minor changes.
What is risk-based testing?
Prioritizing testing based on business impact, likelihood, and severity of defects.
How do you ensure test coverage?
By using traceability matrices, reviewing requirements, performing exploratory
testing, and using equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis.
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What is user acceptance testing (UAT)?
Testing done by end-users to validate whether the system meets business needs
before release.
What is the difference between severity and priority?
Severity is the impact of a defect on the system, while priority determines how soon
it needs to be fixed.
How do you test an application with no UI?
By testing APIs, databases, and logs for expected behavior.
What is the difference between functional and non-functional
testing?
Functional testing checks what the system does, while non-functional testing evaluates
how well it performs (e.g., performance, usability, security).
What is localization and globalization testing?
Localization ensures an application works in a specific region, while globalization
checks it for multiple regions and languages.
What is API testing?
Testing APIs to verify request-response, status codes, authentication, and data
consistency.
What are the key components of API testing?
Validating endpoints, HTTP methods, response codes, request parameters, headers, and
payload.
What is the difference between SOAP and REST APIs?
SOAP is XML-based with strict standards, while REST is lightweight, flexible, and
supports multiple formats like JSON.
What is an idempotent API method?
An API method that produces the same result no matter how many times it's called
(e.g., GET, PUT, DELETE).
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What are common HTTP response codes used in API testing?
200 OK – Success
201 Created – Resource created
400 Bad Request – Invalid input
401 Unauthorized – Authentication required
403 Forbidden – No permission
404 Not Found – Resource missing
500 Internal Server Error – Server issue
What is the difference between authentication and authorization?
Authentication verifies identity (e.g., login), while authorization controls access (e.g.,
permissions).
How do you test an API without using a tool like Postman?
By using cURL commands, browser developer tools, or writing test scripts in tools like
Python or Java.
What are headers in API requests?
Headers provide metadata such as Content-Type, Authorization, and Accept.
What is the difference between PUT and PATCH requests?
PUT replaces the entire resource, while PATCH updates specific fields.
What is a payload in API testing?
The body of a request containing data sent to the server.
What are query parameters and path parameters?
Query parameters are key-value pairs in the URL after "?", while path parameters are
part of the URL structure.
What is rate limiting in APIs?
A mechanism to control API request limits per user to prevent abuse.
How do you validate API response time?
By measuring response time using tools like Postman, JMeter, or logs.
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What is API mocking?
Simulating an API response for testing when the actual API is unavailable.
How do you handle API versioning?
By using URI versioning (e.g., /v1/resource), query parameters, or headers.
What is the difference between primary key and unique key?
A primary key uniquely identifies each record and cannot be null, while a unique key
allows one null value.
What is the purpose of foreign keys?
To maintain referential integrity by linking two tables.
What is the difference between DELETE and TRUNCATE?
DELETE removes specific records with a WHERE clause, while TRUNCATE removes all
records without logging individual deletions.
What is normalization?
The process of organizing data to reduce redundancy and improve consistency.
What are different types of joins?
INNER JOIN – Matches records in both tables
LEFT JOIN – Includes all records from the left table
RIGHT JOIN – Includes all records from the right table
FULL OUTER JOIN – Includes all records from both tables
What is an index in SQL?
A database structure that improves search performance.
What is a stored procedure?
A precompiled SQL script that improves performance and security.
What is the difference between WHERE and HAVING clauses?
WHERE filters before grouping, while HAVING filters after grouping.
What is a view in SQL?
A virtual table based on the result of a query.
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What is ACID in databases?
Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability – ensures reliable transactions.
What is a deadlock in SQL?
A situation where two transactions block each other, preventing progress.
What is a subquery?
A query within another query, used to filter results.
What is database denormalization?
The process of adding redundancy to optimize read performance.
What are common aggregate functions in SQL?
COUNT() – Counts records
SUM() – Adds values
AVG() – Finds average
MAX() / MIN() – Finds highest/lowest value.
What is a self-join?
A join where a table is joined with itself.
What is the difference between UNION and UNION ALL?
UNION removes duplicates, while UNION ALL includes all records.
What is a case statement in SQL?
A conditional expression that returns different values based on conditions.
How do you optimize SQL queries?
By indexing, using proper joins, avoiding unnecessary columns, and limiting data
retrieval.
What is the difference between OLTP and OLAP?
OLTP handles transactional data, while OLAP is used for analytical processing.
What is database sharding?
A method of distributing data across multiple servers to improve performance.
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