When do you use black box testing and white box testing to test a website?
There are several different tests programmers and organizations use when developing an application to ensure that it will function properly when put into production. These include stress tests, capacity tests, integration testing, and system testing. Tests specific to websites include black box and white box testing. The interviewer will ask you this question to determine your familiarity with the testing methodologies and your preferences when developing software products.
"Both black box and white box testing methodologies are good ways to verify the functionality of a newly designed or modified website. While these two methodologies are similar, they have slight differences. The key one is that with black-box testing, the details of the website, including structure, design, and implementation, are not known to the tester. When using white box testing methodologies, these details are known. Knowing the structure and design specifics of the website will enable the tester to stress the site beyond what it would normally experience from casual users and others who were not aware of these."
As a senior software engineer, you need to be familiar with the various testing methodologies, be able to describe them, and discuss which ones you use when programming. Even if you do not program for websites, you should still discuss both black box and white box testing and how they are used. Refreshing your familiarity with various testing methodologies is used before the interview will help you respond to this question easily.
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
Black box testing is when your tester knows nothing about the structure/design/implementation of the application and simulates attack methods that would be used by an external attacker to gain access to or manipulate your website. White box testing is when the tester does know the structure/design/implementation of the website and is typically used to test the logic and functionality of the applications driving the website.
You could hire a security company to perform black box testing on your website or your APIs to ensure that there are no known exploits or vulnerabilities that you are exposed to. On the other hand, you could write automated integration tests to handle white box testing of your application to verify that new production builds do not break previous functionality.
Amanda's Feedback
Great job! Knowing when and how to use a tool or strategy effectively is just as important as knowing what it is. I like that you explain the difference between black box and white box testing before relating how each is typically used and why.
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