Agile Interview Questions

1. What is Agile?

Ans: Agile is a software framework of behaviors and approaches encouraging in-time production, which enables customers to receive quality software sooner.

2. Discuss the differences between Agile and traditional Project Management (Waterfall)?

Ans: Agile involves iterative project implementation approaches, whereas traditional methods include various project life cycle phases.

3. What is the difference between Agile and Scrum?

Ans: The difference between Agile and Scrum -Yes! Agile is a broad umbrella under which Scrum falls and consists of four primary values and twelve principles. Scrum has its own set of principles and values and provides a lighter framework to help the team become agile.

4. What are Agile frameworks?

Ans: There are several other frameworks in addition to Scrum, such as:

• Test-Driven Development
• Kanban
• Feature-Driven Development

5. When should you use Waterfall over Scrum?

Ans: Usually, Waterfall is used when the requirements are simple, fully defined, predictable, and understood, and will not change.

6. How long does the Scrum cycle last?

Ans: The life of the Scrum cycle depends on the project size and team size. The team size may vary from 3 to 9 members. Usually, it takes 3 to 4 weeks to complete a Scrum sprint.

7. What is the Scrum of Scrums?

Ans: Suppose seven teams are working on a project, and each team has seven members. Each team leads its particular Scrum meeting. To coordinate among distinct teams, a separate meeting has to be organized, and that meeting is called Scrum of Scrums. An ambassador represents their team in the Scrum of Scrums.
The primary points discussed in the meeting are:

• Team progress after the last meeting.
• The tasks to be done before the next meeting.
• The hindrances that the team faces while completing the last task.

8. Define epic, user stories, and tasks?

Ans: A software feature defined by a customer and itemized in the product backlog is known as an epic. The subdivisions of epics are known as stories.

• User Stories: User stories are prepared according to the client’s perspective, such as project or business functions, and delivered in a particular sprint.
• Task: The user stories are further broken down into various tasks.

9. Differentiate between Incremental and Iterative development?

Ans: Iterative method: It is a continuous software development process where the software development cycles (Sprint & Releases) are repeated until the final product is achieved.

• Release 1: Sprint 1, 2… n
• Release n: Sprint 1, 2 …n
• Incremental development: It segregates the functionality of the system into increments or portions. In each increment, the functionality segments are delivered through cross-discipline work, from the requirements to the deployment.

10. What is test-driven development?

Ans: Test-driven development or TDD is also known as test-driven design. In this method, a developer writes an automated test case describing the new function and then creates small codes to pass that test, and later re-factors the new code to meet acceptable standards.

11. What do you mean by Scrum poker technique or planning poker?

Ans: The card-based estimation technique is based on a general agreement, which is known as Scrum poker or planning poker. Some features of it are:

• The first step is for the story of the agile user to be read by the client. Then the estimator understands the features.
• There are various planning cards with different numbers for each estimator. The different numbers are the story points.
• Until a general agreement is reached, this process is repeated.

12. What are the principles of agile testing?

Ans: There are some major points regarding agile testing, and they are discussed below:

• Satisfaction of the customer
• A big free clean mode
• Customers welcome changes
• The business people and the developers work together as a team.
• It focuses on essence rather than lengthy documentation.
• A face-to-face conversation is appreciated.
• Promotion of sustainable development.

13. What do you mean by the disadvantages of the Agile Model?

Ans: Some of the major disadvantages of the agile system are discussed below:

• It is not easy to predict. If a big project is assigned, you will have a problem estimating the effort you need to put into that.
• Focusing on design and documentation is not always proper.
• The end product will not satisfy the customers if the client guidelines are not understood adequately.
• The higher authorities will have the highest level of decision-making, which makes the fresher have little knowledge.

14. What is the right moment to use the agile model?

Ans: There are specific developments and methodologies that can use Agile like crystal methodologies, lean software development features that drove growth, and dynamic development stories that are approved.

• Work category allocation: the work category allocation will provide a clear idea about where you are investing your time and also about the priority of the work.
• Defect removal awareness: active members can produce quality products.
• The cumulative flow diagram: It is the uniform workflow checked in which the x-axis represents time, and the y-axis stands for the number of efforts.
• The sprint burndown matric: Helps in keeping track of the completion of the work with the sprint.
• Business value delivered: this is an entity that is concerned with the work efficiency of the team. It is used to measure, and 100 points are associated with every project.
• Time coverage: The time period is measured with the help of the ratio of the number of lines of code that is called by the test suite by the number of relative lines of codes.
• Defect resolution time: This is concerned with the process where the team members detect and fix bugs. There are several processes involved in fixing a bug.
• Clearing the picture of the virus
• Schedule a fix
• Fixation of a defect is done.

15. What do you mean by release candidate?

Ans: To ensure that during the final development stage, there is no major problem left behind a code or version or a build is released, which is known as a release candidate. This is equivalent to the final build, and it is used for testing.

16. Differentiate between agile testing methods and other testing methods?

Ans: In major methodologies of agile testing cases, the code is divided into smaller parts. At one specific time, each branch of code is tested. Also, continuous communication is done on that part of the code. The agile process is more flexible and focused.

17. What is Zero sprint in Agile?

Ans: A zero sprint can be defined as the pre-step to the first sprint. Things such as setting up the environment to develop, preparing backlog, etc. that need to be performed before the start of the initial sprint and can be treated as Sprint zero.

18. What does story point mean in the scrum?

Ans: The Scrum unit which is used to estimate the effort required to finish or implement a backlog is referred to as a story point in the scrum.

19. Why do user stories not estimated in working hours?

Ans: It is not mandatory to estimate user stories in terms of man-hours as it will mean a lack of product quality, which is to be delivered to the customer. In the case of the working hour, more attention is given to the budget and cost management.
This is why the story point is necessary as it provides concepts regarding efforts, which are required, and also the complexity of the work.

20. In which process does a Scrum master recommend follow-up action items?

Ans: The finest way to follow up on action items is to establish a follow-up of the work to be done by the team members. And the Scrum master will collect this information.

21. What are the most critical agile Metrics?

Ans: The following are the critical Agile Metrics:

• Velocity: To have a clear about your progress, capacity, and much more keeping track of the velocity is essential. It can be measured by adding all the approved story estimates.
• Work category allocation: the work category allocation will provide a clear idea about where you are investing your time and also about the priority of the work.
• Defect removal awareness: active members can produce quality products.
• The cumulative flow diagram: It is the uniform workflow checked in which the x-axis represents time, and the y-axis stands for the number of efforts.
• The sprint burndown matric: Helps in keeping track of the completion of the work with the sprint.
• Business value delivered: this is an entity that is concerned with the work efficiency of the team. It is used to measure, and 100 points are associated with every project.
• Time coverage: The time period is measured with the help of the ratio of the number of lines of code that is called by the test suite by the number of relative lines of codes.
• Defect resolution time: This is concerned with the process where the team members detect and fix bugs. There are several processes involved in fixing a bug.
• Clearing the picture of the virus
• Schedule a fix
• Fixation of a defect is done.
• A report of resolution is handed.

22. What are the essential qualities a good Agile tester should have?

Ans: A professional Agile tester should have the following qualities:

• Should quickly understand the necessities
• The agile tester knows Agile principles and concepts well
• As requirements change continually, the tester should understand the risks involved in it
• The ability to communicate among business developers, associates, and tester is a must

23. Mention the challenges involved in developing Agile Software?

Ans: The various challenges involved in developing Agile Software include:

• More testing and customers’ involvement
• Impacts management more than developers
• Each feature needs to be completed before moving on to the next
• All the code has to work fine to ensure the application is in a working state
• More planning is required.

24. When not to use Agile?

Ans: Before using Agile methodology, you must ask the following questions:

• Is functionality split-able?
• Are requirements flexible?
• Is the customer available?
• Is the team skilled enough?
• Is it time-constrained?

25. Explain what does it mean by a product roadmap?

Ans: A product roadmap refers to the holistic view of product features, which creates the product vision.

26. What is the product burndown chart?

Ans: It is the description in the form of a graph that shows implemented product backlog is called a burndown chart.

27. What is a sprint burndown chart?

Ans: A graph is the representation of the number of implemented sprints and non-implemented sprints in the Scrum cycle.

28. What is the Release burndown chart?

Ans: The graph is set to be a Release burndown chart when it is used to depict the pending release.

29. What is a defect burn-down chart?

Ans: The number of defects identified and removed is represented by the defect burndown chart.

30. Explain some standard metrics for Agile?

Ans: The common metrics for Agile are as follows:

• Velocity: It is the average of points from the last 3 to 4 sprints. It is measured with the summation of all the approved story estimates. It provides an idea of progress, capacity, etc.
• Cumulative Flow Diagram: Using the cumulative flow diagram, the user can perform an inspection of the uniform workflow. In this graph, the x-axis represents time, and the y-axis represents the number of efforts.
• Work Category Allocation: It is a critical factor that provides quick information on the time investment, i.e., where the time is being invested, and the elements prioritizing the tasks.
• Time Coverage: It is the time that is given to code during testing. It is the percentage that is calculated as a factor of the lines of code called by the total number of relative lines of code and the test suite.
• Business Value Delivered: It denotes the working team’s efficiency. These objects are assigned numerical values 1,2,3 and so on according to the priority levels, ROI, and complexity.
• Defect Removal Awareness: It is the factor that helps the working teams to deliver a quality product. It helps to identify the number of defects, and their awareness, and removal play a critical role in providing a high-quality product.
• Defect Resolution Time: It is the process through which the members of the working teams detect the bugs and set priorities for defect resolution. It is the method of fixing bugs or defect resolution compromises of multiple processes such as schedule defect fixation, clearing the defect picture, completing defect fixation, generation, and handling resolution reports.
• Sprint Burn Down Metric: The graph represents the total number of sprints implemented or non-implemented during a Scrum cycle. It helps you to track your work in the sprint.

31. How is the velocity of the sprint measured?

Ans: If capacity is measured as a percentage of 40 hours week then the work is done = story points * team capacity
In case the capacity is measured in terms of man-hours -> story points/team capacity.

32. What is the difference between Agile Vs DevOps?

Ans:The differences between Agile vs DevOps are:

33. Are there any agile certifications?

Ans: Agile and Scrum certifications are hot in the market and organizations are expecting the candidates to hold one or more of them. Agile Certifications and Scrum certifications are generally preferred by organizations and are listed as follows:

• ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner)
• PSM (Professional Scrum Master)
• ASM (Agile Scrum Master)
• CSM (Certified Scrum Master)
• Safe Agilist

34. What are the major agile quality strategies?

Ans: The major agile quality strategies are:

• Refactoring
• Small feedback cycles
• Iterations
• Dynamic code analysis

35. Name some project management tools used in agile?

Ans: Project management Tools used in Agile are listed below:

• Version one
• X-planner
• Icescrum
• Rally Software
• Agilent
• Agilo

36. Define Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog?

Ans:

• A product backlog is maintained by the project owner that contains every requirement and feature of the product.
• A Spring backlog is treated as a product backlog subset that contains requirements and features related to a particular sprint only.

37. What is Pair Programming and what state its benefits?

Ans: Pair programming is a technique in which two programmers work as a team where one programmer writes code, and the other one reviews that code. They both can switch their roles.

Benefits:

• Knowledge transfer is smooth: One experienced partner can teach another partner about the codes and techniques.
• Code quality: As the second partner simultaneously reviews the code, the chances of mistakes being occurred will reduce.

38. What is refactoring?

Ans: Modifying code without a change in its functionality to improve performance is called refactoring.

39. How can QA add value to an agile team?

Ans: QA provides additional value to the story by thinking differently about distinct scenarios. It gives quick feedback to the developers on whether the new functionality is working fine or not.

40. What is the Application Binary Interface?

Ans: Application Binary Interface defines an interface to compile application programs or the low-level interface between an application and the operating system.

41. What is a tracer bullet?

Ans: Tracer bullet examines the working and examines the feasibility of an end-to-end process. It is the spike with the current set of practices or architecture.

42. What is the increment Explain.

Ans: The increment can be defined as the total of all backlog items of a product during a sprint. Being cumulative, each increment consists of its previous sprint increment values. It should be set to be in the available mode in its subsequent release as it is a step to reach the goal.

43. What is Kanban?

Ans: Kanban is a tool that helps teams to keep an eye on the work for measuring its progress. Apart from the progress, the status of a development story can be seamlessly described with the help of the ‘kanban board’.

44. How to manage remote teams?

Ans: In the case of outsourced resources, using remote project management tools will help you meet the required remote team management. It helps you know how to get them on board, and manage people, tools, and resources.

45. What is meant by the sprint retrospective meeting?

Ans: It is the meeting conducted in the last part of the sprint after the review meeting of a sprint. The whole team will participate in this discussion, which lasts for 2 to 3 hours.

46. Can we apply agile methodologies to another testing apart from development and software testing?

Ans: The agile testing methodologies can be applied in the case of biomedical, biophysics, biochemistry, and those places which are having insufficient data and the project needs to complete with a small team.

47. What does the term impediment mean?

Ans: Any obstacles that do not allow a smooth flow of work, which results in the underperformance of the team to perform tasks in a better way is known as an impediment.

48. What do mean by sprint planning meetings?

Ans: The meeting that involves the entire scrum team from the product owner to the scrum master and other team members is known as a sprint planning meeting. It is arranged to discuss the important feature of the team and also the items of the product backlog.

49. Mention the places where the Scrum and Kanban methodologies are used?

Ans: When shifting to the prominent and appropriate process is required, then you use Scrum. When the need is to improve the process that is running provided with lesser changes, then Kanban is used.

50. What are the essential qualities to have as a Scrum Master?

Ans: Understanding the purpose and expectations, as well as sharing knowledge, are the primary qualities of a Scrum Master.