Top 25 Software Engineering Interview Questions [LATEST 2021]

Most Frequently Asked Basic and Advanced Software Engineering Interview Questions with Detailed Answers. Prepare with This Comprehensive List of Common Technical Software Engineer Interview Questions for Entry Level and Senior Professionals:

As per IEEE, Software Engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined and quantifiable approach towards the development, operation, and maintenance of a software product.

It means to apply a systematic and well-defined approach to the development of a software product.

In this tutorial, we will cover the most commonly asked Software Engineer interview questions along with the answers in simple terms for your easy understanding.

Software Engineering Interview Questions

Most Popular Software Engineering Interview Questions

Enlisted below are the most frequently asked Software Engineer Interview Questions with answers.

Let’s Explore!!

Q #1) What is SDLC?

Answer: SDLC stands for Software Development Life Cycle. It defines the step by step approach for the development of software. SDLC involves the following phases i.e. Requirement Gathering, System Analysis, Design, Coding, Testing, Maintenance, and Documentation.

Given below is the high-level representation of the various phases involved in SDLC.


[image source ]

Q #2) What are the various models available in SDLC?

Answer: There are several models available in SDLC for efficiently carrying out software development. Some of the models include the Waterfall model, V-Model, Agile model, etc.

Q #3) Explain the term Baseline.

Answer: A baseline is a milestone on the project which is usually defined by the project manager. Baselines are used to track the progress of the project from time to time to assess the overall health of the project.

Q #4) What are the responsibilities of a Software Project Manager?

Answer: A Software Project Manager is responsible for driving the project towards successful completion. It is the responsibility of the Software Project Manager to make sure the entire team follows a systematic and well-defined approach towards the development of software.

A software project manager is also responsible for the following tasks:

  • Project planning
  • Project status tracking
  • Resource management
  • Risk management
  • Project delivery within time and budget.

Q #5) What is Cohesion?

Answer: Cohesion is the degree to which the elements of a module are inter-related to one another. It is like an internal glue that binds the elements of a module together. Good software has high levels of cohesion.

 Q #6) What is Coupling?

Answer: Coupling is the degree of interdependence between the modules. Good software has low levels of coupling.

Q#7) Explain the concept of Modularization.

Answer: Modularization is used to divide software into multiple components or modules. Each module is worked upon by an independent development and testing team. The final result would be to combine multiple modules into a single working component.

 Q #8) What is Software Configuration Management?

Answer: Software configuration management is the process of tracking and controlling the changes that occur during the software development lifecycle. Any change made during software development has to be tracked through a well-defined and controlled process.

Configuration management ensures that any changes made during software development are being controlled through a well-defined process.

Q #9) What are the various phases of SDLC?

Answer: The following are the most common phases of SDLC.

  • Requirement Analysis
  • Design
  • Coding
  • Testing
  • Maintenance

Q #10) Provide examples of Project Management tools.

Answer: Given below are some of the most commonly used project management tools that are available in the industry today.

  • Gantt Chart
  • Checklists
  • Status Reports
  • Histograms
  • Microsoft Project

Recommended Read => Top Project Management Tools That You Should Know

Q #11) What are CASE tools?

Answer: CASE stands for Computer-Aided Software Engineering tools that are utilized to support and accelerate the various activities of the Software Development Lifecycle.

Q #12) What is Black box testing?

Answer: Black box testing involves testing the application without the knowledge of the internal structure or code implementation. Testers would only bother about the functionality of the software in black box testing rather than data flow and code execution in the back end.

Q #13) What is White box testing?

Answer: White box testing is testing the application with the knowledge of the internal structure and code implementation. This testing is generally performed by the developer who has written the code in the form of unit tests.

Q #14) What is a Feasibility Study?

Answer: A feasibility study is conducted on a software product to assess how practical and beneficial is the development of the software product to the organization. Software is analyzed thoroughly to understand the economic and technical aspects of a software product to be developed.

Q #15) How can you measure Project execution?

Answer: Project execution status can be monitored using the following techniques.

  • Status Reports
  • Milestone checklists
  • Activity Monitoring

Q #16) What are the Functional Requirements?

Answer: Functional requirements are the features that a developed software product is expected to perform. For example, adding a payment option at an eCommerce website will be a functional requirement.

Q #17) What are Non-Functional Requirements?


Q #18) What is the difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control?

Answer: Quality Assurance is ensuring that the delivered software has the least number of defects possible. Quality Control is the process of ensuring that the quality of the product is maintained in the long run.

Quality Assurance is done by the testing team of the project while Quality Control is usually done by a dedicated support team, who is responsible for the quality of the product even if the product is under the maintenance phase of software engineering.

Also, Read => Quality Assurance Vs Quality Control

Q #19) What is the difference between Verification and Validation?

Answer: Verification is the process of ensuring that the product is built right, from a process and standards perspective.

Validation is the process of ensuring that we build the right product, from a customer perspective. Verification is a static testing methodology wherein the product is tested without executing the code, while validation is a dynamic testing methodology.

Worth Reading => Complete Study of Verification and Validation

Q #20) Which SDLC model is the best to choose for a Software Product?

Answer: There are no rules as such stating which specific SDLC model has to be used for a software product. It depends on the type of software project being built and the organization’s policies & procedures.

Q #21) What do you mean by Software Scope?

Answer: Software scope is the list of features provided by the developed software. Based on the scope of the software, estimations such as time allocation, budget and resource allocation can be done.

 Q #22) What is SRS?

Answer: SRS stands for Software Requirement Specification (SRS) document. It is a document to capture all the functional and non-functional requirements of a product. Not all SDLC models need to follow SRS documents, some models capture requirements in the form of user stories, whereas some models in the form of excel sheets, etc.

 Q #23) What is the SDLC model that you have used in your previous project?

Answer: The answer to this question depends on the experience of an interview candidate. If the candidate answers the SDLC model to be the Waterfall model, then the interviewer will start asking questions about the Waterfall model and if he answers it to be Agile, then the interviewer will start asking terms related to Agile methodology such as Scrum, Sprint, etc.

 Q #24) Explain the Waterfall model in detail.

Answer: The waterfall model is a sequential model in which the next phase starts only after the first phase is completed. For example, the testing phase will start only after the development phase is complete, the maintenance phase will start only after the testing phase is complete.

Below are the various phases involved in the waterfall model. Please note that the number of phases and sequences of phases may vary from one project to another.

  • Requirements
  • Design
  • Coding
  • Testing
  • Maintenance

 a) Requirements: This is the phase where the system to be developed is documented in the form of Software Requirement Specification (SRS) document. This is the most important phase of SDLC as a clear understanding of requirements from the client will reduce the rework in the following phases.

b) Design: This is the phase where the architecture of the system to be developed is finalized. Architecture can be in the form of a high-level design or a low-level design. Architecture must also include the hardware and software specifications of the system to be developed.

c) Coding: This is the phase where the code for the system to be developed is written. Unit Testing and Integration Testing must be performed by the developers at this stage before deploying the code for testing.

d) Testing: This is the phase where the product developed is tested by an independent testing team to validate if it meets the requirements in the Software Requirement Specification (SRS). Defects raised at this phase need to be fixed before providing sign off on the product.

e) Maintenance: This phase comes once the testing phase is complete. It takes care of any production issues that may arise after the product is delivered to the customer. The duration of the maintenance phase differs from project to project and one organization to another.

Below is the diagram to depict the waterfall model in the form of phases.

Waterfall Model

Q #25) Explain V-Model in detail.

Answer: V-Model stands for the verification and validation model. V-model is an addition to the waterfall model, in the sense that V-model is also a sequential model. In V-model, each phase of development is associated with a corresponding testing phase.

The image given below depicts the various phases involved in V-model.

V Model

The left side of the model is the Software Development Lifecycle while the right side of the model is Software Testing Lifecycle. As the phases form the shape of the letter ‘V’, this model is called V-Model.


Within the V-Model, SDLC is to be interpreted from top to bottom, while STLC is to be interpreted from the bottom to the top. Initially, requirements are gathered to document the system to be developed as per the client requirements. The testing team develops the system test plan based on the requirements.

Then comes the high-level design and the detailed level design phases where the architecture of the system is prepared. The testing team prepares the Integration Test plan in these phases. Once the coding is complete on SDLC, STLC will start from unit testing, followed by integration testing and System testing.


We hope this article will help you crack any Software Engineer interview successfully.

  • Software Engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined and quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software.
  • There are no hard and fast rules as such on the type of Software Engineering interview questions asked by interviewers. It varies from organization to organization and the type of role the interview is conducted for.

All the best for your software engineer interview!!