Top Postman Interview Questions (2024)
Postman Tutorial :
- Download and Install Postman on Windows
- Write Postman Test case
- Share Collection in Postman
- Postman Assertions and validating the Response
- Data Driven Testing in Postman using CSV
- Postman Interview Questions and Answers
What is Postman?
What is an API?
Why use Postman?
Which are the various authorization methods provided by Postman?
Why the collection is used in postman?
What tools are used for API testing?
How the Postman variables are accessed?
Which are the different types of API requests supported in Postman?
What is an HTTP request? Give an example of it?
What are the HTTP request core components?
Why does Postman accept Base64 encoding only?
In which type of encoding does the postman accept authorization credentials? Why?
What is the meaning of the term environment in Postman?
Can we have two global variables with the same name in Postman?
In Postman which same name variable is preferred local or global?
How can you log variable values in Postman?
What is the use of Postman monitor?
What is the use of the Postman Collection runner?
What is the difference between a Collection monitor and a Collection runner?
What are the limitations of the Postman?
What is the team workspace in Postman?
What is the difference between authorization and authentication?
What is the difference between Query Parameters and Path Variables?
What is Basic Auth in Postman?
Why do we group requests under collections when the collection is already a grouping of requests?
Which are the two ways in which tests can be written in Postman?
Can Postman Monitors can import local variables?
What is a binary form and its usage in POST methods?
Why do we use Postman cloud in an organizations?
Q: What is Postman?
Ans:
The Postman is a very Popular API third-party tool that helps the development team for creating, share, and test documents of API. POSTMAN provides the flawless user experience of striking the endpoints of API by quickly creating the request as per the requirements of API and not selecting the various parameter responses like Header, Status Code, and the actual body itself a response.
These features are used for continuous automated testing. POSTMAN is an associate tool that is used to develop, document, and test against an API.
POSTMAN gives users an interface via which they can make REST API server requests and see the responses.
Q: What is an API?
Ans:
The Full name of API is Application Programming Interface. For building software applications API's set of tools is used. API is an interface, it works as one software program interacts with other software programs.
In simple words, API works as a mediator between two software applications and allowing to communicate with each other. API can be known as the collection of software functions where other programs can be carried out.
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Q: Why use Postman?
Ans:
The client-server model defines how a server gives resources and services to one or more clients. Web servers, mail servers, and file servers are examples of servers. So, the Client requests something, and the Server fulfils the request.
Q: What is REST?
Ans:
The use of Postman is become very much popular as a tool because of the following reasons:
- Free: Postman download is free. It can be used for any size of the team.
- Easy: Postman is very easy to use. Just download the Postman app, then send the first request and get the Test result in the minutes. For future use, Postman helps to save the environment.
- API Support: It supports by making any kind of API call such as REST, SOAP, HTTP, and checking the largest responses. The End to End lifecycle of the API is managed by the Postman from design to mocking to testing and finally maintaining the APIs.
- Extensible: According to our needs Postman API can be customized with the help of postman.
- Integration: Postman helps to easily integrate test suites into our preferred CI/CD tools and services, such as Jenkins with Newman (command-line collection runner).
- Community & Support: Postman has a huge community forum for customer support and documentation.
- Runtime Services: API collections, environments, workspaces are managed by the Runtime Services.
Q: Which are the various authorization methods provided by Postman?
Ans:
Postman provides the following API request authorization options:
- API Key
- Oauth 1.0
- Oauth 2.0
- Bearer Token
- Basic auth
- Digest auth
- Hawk Authentication
- AWS Signature
- NTLM Authentication
Q: Why the collection is used in postman?
Ans:
The Postman collection helps together with the individual request in a group and allows to organize the requests into folders.
Q: What tools are used for API testing?
Ans:
The tools used for API Testing are:
- Postman
- Katalon Studio
- SoapUI
- Tricentis Tosca
- Apigee
- Jmeter
Q: How the Postman variables are accessed?
Ans:
The Postman variables are accessed by using the variable name as: {{variable_name}}.
Q: Which are the different types of API requests supported in Postman?
Ans:
The different types of API requests supported in the Postman are:
- GET
- POST
- PUT
- PATCH
- COPY
- DELETE
- HEAD
- OPTIONS
- LINK
- UNLINK
- PURGE
- LOCK
- UNLOCK
- PROPFIND
- VIEW
Q: What is an HTTP request? Give an example of it?
Ans:
An HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) means a request made by the client to a named host located on a server and works as a communicator interface or a request-response transmission between a client and server. HTTP request's main aim is to access a resource on the server. The HTTP request is made by the client using the components of a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), which includes the information needed to access the resource.
Example of the HTTP request: A browser sends an HTTP request to the server and then, the server responds to the browser. The status information about the request and its content is content by the response sent by the server.
Q: What are the HTTP request core components?
Ans:
The core components of an HTTP request includes five key elements:
- HTTP methods: HTTP methods is a set of request methods that are used to perform needed action for a given resource such as GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE.
- URI: It is a type of address in which the resources are described.
- Version: The HTTP version is specified. For example HTTP v1.1
- Headers Request: The content type and content length of the request are specified.
For example:
Content-type: application/ JSON, Content-Length: 511 - HTTP Payload: It contains the Request Body that includes message content.
Q: Why does Postman accept Base64 encoding only?
Ans:
Postman accepts Base64 encoding only because the same 64 characters in encoding on which we depend can be used as per our want. The data which is transmitted is in the textual form and sends the data in the form such as HTML form which is easier.
Q: In which type of encoding does the postman accept authorization credentials? Why?
Ans:
The accepted authorization credentials by Postman are encoding Base64. In Postman it is inbuilt or another option is to consult the third party for converting the credentials in Base64. It is mainly used for the data which is transmitted in the textual form and sends the data in the form such as HTML form which is easier.
Q: What is the meaning of the term environment in Postman?
Ans:
The term environment in the Postman means a collection of Key-Value Pairs. Multiple environments can be created in the Postman and by pressing a button switching among them becomes quick. There are mainly two environments Global and Local.
Q: Can we have two global variables with the same name in Postman?
Ans:
Because global variables in Postman are global, two variables with the same name in the absence of an environment can cause confusion for the software. Local variables might have the same name in different environments.
Q: In Postman which same name variable is preferred local or global?
Ans:
In Postman having the same variable names for local and global, most probably the local variable will be preferred as the local variable will overwrite the global variable.
Q: How can you log variable values in Postman?
Ans:
In Postman, log variable values are in the console by using the following code
console.log(pm.variables.get("variable_name"));
Q: What is the use of Postman monitor?
Ans:
The collections are run by using a Postman monitor. The users have defined a specific time till that time only the collections are run. The users are required to log in and share the Monitor reports over an email on a daily or monthly basis.
Q: What is the use of the Postman Collection runner?
Ans:
The Postman collection runner is used for performing DataDriven Testing. The group of API requests is run in a collection for multiple iterations with different sets of data.
Q: What is the difference between a Collection monitor and a Collection runner?
Ans:
Difference |
Collection monitor |
Collection runner |
|
Definition |
Collection monitor is a web client that allows us to send scheduled API calls to the deployed APIs that we have created. |
The Collection Runner allows to run sets of requests in a specified chronology. |
|
Importance |
The Monitor allows to obtain statistics of APIs on the performance. |
The Collection Runner will log request test results, and scripts can pass data between requests as well as altering the request workflow. |
|
Use |
The collections are run by using a Postman monitor. The users have defined a specific time till that time only the collections are run. The users are required to log in and share the Monitor reports over an email on a daily or monthly basis. |
The Postman collection runner is used for performing DataDriven Testing. The group of API requests is run in a collection for multiple iterations with different sets of data. |
Q: What are the limitations of the Postman?
Ans:
The limitations of the Postman are as follow:
- Thousands plus API cannot be processed by the Postman.
- In Postman it is not easy to manage collections and requests in huge projects.
- he Postman is not suitable because a lot of code duplication for dynamic API requests could happen and managing the workspace in the form of code.
Q: What is the team workspace in Postman?
Ans:
In Postman the workspace is a synergetic environment for users to develop and test API'S. Similarly, the team workspace means, a workspace that is shared by the whole team working on the same collections of requests. The team workspace is accompanied and associates all the team's work in one place.
Q: What is the difference between authorization and authentication?
Ans:
Difference |
Authorization |
Authentication |
|
Use |
The Authorization is used to access the resource. |
The Authentication enables to ensure and confirm a user's identity to the system. |
|
Definition |
Once authentication is done, the technique of authorization process allows or denies someone from accessing. |
Authentication is a techinque of presenting your credentials to the system and the system validating your credentials. These credentials tells about who are you to the system. |
|
Importance |
The importance of Authorization is that the security is maintained. |
Similarly like Authorization, Authenication also helps in maintaining security. |
Q: What is the difference between Query Parameters and Path Variables?
Ans:
Query Parameters and Path variables difference is :
- Query Parameters: The Query Parameters are used for sorting the resources.
- Path Variables: The Path variables are used for identifying specific resources.
Q: What is Basic Auth in Postman?
Ans:
The term Basic Auth means the authorization process provided in which HTTP users have to log in username and password for web browsing in Postman.
Q: Why do we group requests under collections when the collection is already a grouping of
requests?
Ans:
The collection may have thousands of requests under it. So the use of a folder should be done to subcategorize the requests so that it becomes easy to find, edit, and modify them. The collection may consist of many folders in it and many requests in that folders. The evaluation of the requests can be done by the requests which are already evaluated.
Q: Which are the two ways in which tests can be written in Postman?
Ans:
There are two ways of writing Tests in the Postman. They are:
Functional Method
The syntax in the functional method is different but the language which is used is JavaScript. In Postman it is officially recommended method. The inbuilt snippets in the Postman are part of the functional method.JavaScript Method
The Postman API request scripts are written the JavaScript. The test scripts are written in the JavaScript method.
Q: Can Postman Monitors can import local variables?
Ans:
In the Post Monitors, local variables can be imported but global variables cannot be imported.
Q: What is a binary form and its usage in POST methods?
Ans:
To send data easily in Post methods in a format binary form is used. In Post request, it is important to use for sending large files such as CSV, images. The easiest way to send complex data with a request becomes easier with the binary presentation.
Q: Why do we use Postman cloud in an organizations?
Ans:
We use the Postman cloud which is a common repository of companies to access Postman collections. After logging in work can be saved immediately in the Postman Cloud. The team can access data from anywhere.