IT Business Analyst Mock Interview
Practice 29 IT Business Analyst interview questions covering requirements gathering, stakeholder management, and system analysis.
Question 19 of 29
Can you explain the differences between the alternate and exception flows of a use case diagram?
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William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
Again, the interviewer is asking you to explain the differences between two terms to test your knowledge of these and to determine how you use them in your role as an IT business analyst. A good way to answer these types of questions is to define each term and then provide examples to illustrate your answer.
William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
"The term 'Flow' represents the activities that occur in a specific order as defined by the business. Alternate flow defines actions that occur separate from the basic flows and can also be thought of as an optional flow. Exception flow, on the other hand, is a process that is executed when errors are encountered. An example of an alternate flow is when a user opens a login page of a website, and there is a forgot password link. If entering the correct username and password results in a 404 error, it is an exception flow."
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Alternate flows are alternative ways an actor could interact with the system to reach the same end goal. While exception flows are unexpected ways in which an actor can interact with the system. Is crucial to understand and add the most likely alternate flows when designing a system, also is key to implementing proper error handling to deal with the exception flows. We don't want our solution crashing when something unexpected takes place.
Amanda's Feedback
Great answer! You've not only explained the differences between alternate and exception flows, but you've also explained why each is important.
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