25 commonly asked API testing
interview questions with their
answers
1. What is API Testing?
Answer: API Testing is a type of software testing that involves testing application
programming interfaces (APIs) to determine if they meet functionality,
performance, reliability, and security expectations. It focuses on the business logic
layer of software architecture.
2. What are the types of API commonly used in web
services?
Answer:
• SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol): A protocol for exchanging
structured information in web services.
• REST (Representational State Transfer): A set of principles that uses
standard HTTP requests for communication.
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3. What are the major differences between SOAP and
REST?
Answer:
• SOAP: More secure, uses XML, has strict standards, stateful.
• REST: Lightweight, uses multiple formats (JSON, XML), stateless, scalable,
and faster.
4. What is a REST API?
Answer: REST API is an architectural style for designing networked applications. It
uses HTTP requests to access and use data. These operations can be defined as
GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.
5. How do you validate the response code from an
API response?
Answer: Use assertions in testing frameworks like Postman, JUnit, or RestAssured
to verify that the response code matches the expected status code (e.g., 200 OK,
404 Not Found).
6. What are the most commonly used HTTP methods
in API testing?
Answer:
• GET: Retrieves data from the server.
• POST: Sends data to the server to create/update a resource.
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• PUT: Updates an existing resource.
• DELETE: Removes a resource
7. What is the difference between PUT and POST in
RESTful APIs?
Answer:
• POST: Used to create a new resource. Multiple calls create multiple
resources.
• PUT: Used to update an existing resource. If the resource exists, it’s
updated; if not, it's created.
8. What are status codes in API testing?
Answer: Status codes are HTTP responses that indicate the result of a request:
• 2xx: Success (e.g., 200 OK)
• 4xx: Client errors (e.g., 404 Not Found)
• 5xx: Server errors (e.g., 500 Internal Server Error)
9. What is payload in API?
Answer: Payload refers to the body of your HTTP request, containing the data
being transferred between the client and the server, such as JSON or XML.
10. What tools are used for API testing?
Answer:
• Postman
• SoapUI
• RestAssured
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• JMeter
• Swagger
11. How do you handle authentication in API testing?
Answer:
• Basic Authentication: Using username and password.
• OAuth: Token-based authentication for access to APIs.
• API Keys: Provided to identify the client making the request.
12. What is the difference between Authentication
and Authorization in API?
Answer:
• Authentication: Verifying the identity of a user or system.
• Authorization: Determining what resources a user can access once
authenticated.
13. How do you test API performance?
Answer:
• Using tools like JMeter or Postman to simulate multiple requests and
measure response times, throughput, and latency under different load
conditions.
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14. What is JSON?
Answer: JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a lightweight data format used for
data exchange in APIs. It's easy to read and write for humans and machines.
15. What is the purpose of API documentation?
Answer: API documentation explains how to use the API, what endpoints are
available, the structure of requests and responses, authentication methods, and
error codes.
16. What are some common API testing challenges?
Answer:
• Handling asynchronous requests.
• Managing complex parameter types.
• Validating error responses.
• Managing authentication tokens.
17. How do you ensure the security of an API?
Answer:
• Implement HTTPS for encryption.
• Use authentication mechanisms like OAuth.
• Validate inputs to prevent injection attacks.
• Implement rate limiting.
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18. What is an API rate limit?
Answer: A rate limit controls the number of API requests a user can make in a
specific time period to prevent overuse and maintain service performance.
19. What is the purpose of an API gateway?
Answer: An API gateway manages and routes API traffic between clients and
backend services. It handles tasks such as rate limiting, authentication, and
logging.
19. What is the purpose of an API gateway?
Answer: Mock APIs simulate the behavior of an actual API. They allow testing the
client-side logic without requiring the server to be fully functional.
21. What are idempotent methods in API?
Answer: Idempotent methods are HTTP methods where multiple identical
requests result in the same outcome. GET, PUT, and DELETE are idempotent
methods, while POST is not.
22. How do you handle errors in API testing?
Answer: Test for proper error codes (4xx, 5xx), validate the error messages
returned, and ensure the API behaves correctly under failure conditions, such as
invalid inputs.
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23. What is CORS and how does it affect API
requests?
Answer: CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) is a security feature implemented
by browsers that restricts web pages from making requests to a different domain
than the one that served the web page unless explicitly allowed by the API.
24. How do you perform data-driven testing in API
testing?
Answer: Data-driven testing involves running API tests with different sets of input
data to ensure the API behaves correctly under various conditions. This can be
achieved using CSV, Excel, or external databases with tools like Postman or
RestAssured.
25. What is API versioning?
Answer: API versioning allows developers to make changes to an API without
breaking existing clients. It’s done by specifying a version number in the API URL,
query parameter, or request header.
