Postman is a collaboration platform that provides an application programming interface. To make it easier for teams and organizations to collaborate, the company’s platform generates and transmits HTTP requests, builds collections and folders to logically arrange requests, stores requests, switches contexts, and can be customized using scripts.
The platform contains several API tools to speed up the design, testing, documentation, and mock-up phases of the API development lifecycle. The business also provides an API repository so that customers can collaborate, iterate, and save API artifacts on a single platform for remote teams.
1. What Are Some Of The Advantages Of Postman?
Postman features an easy-to-use interface that allows you to submit a request and receive a response by clicking a button. Testers can create a customized environment for testing various apps. This setup helps speed up testing by saving the variables that programs require to operate. Developers knowledgeable with JavaScript may also use Postman to automate tests for specific features like creating tests with dynamic parameters and passing data across requests.
2. Providing An Example, Show How We May Use Custom Javascript Libraries In Our Scripts.
Postman has a number of built-in tools and libraries that we may use to include in our pre- or post-request scripts or test cases. Let’s look at the moment.js library as an example. It has several useful features for formatting data around time. Consider a POST request that requires the user to give the generated date in the format “DD/MM/YYYY.” We can accomplish this with a single line of code using the moment library. To obtain appropriately formatted data and store it in an environment variable, we must include the following lines of code in our pre-request script:
- var moment = require(‘moment’);
- pm.environment.set(‘created date,moment().
- format(‘DD/MM/YYYY’));
3. Explain The Difference Between Global, Collection, And Local Variables.
Global variables are generic and used in prototyping. These variables can be used to transmit data to other requests. Collection variables can be used by software testers to specify values inside a group or to keep elements that remain constant during the execution of a collection. Local variables may be used to transmit data within requests when using Postman. Local variables can be used to override both global and collection variables.
4. Describe The Use Of The Pre-Request Script To Add A Header To Each Postman Request.
It is possible to guarantee that all requests use the same header by adding one using a script. This may be accomplished by accessing the Postman console by clicking ‘View’ on the header and selecting ‘Show Postman Console.’
You may also add a header to a collection by clicking on its name. To include the header in a collection, right-click it, choose “Edit,” and then scroll to the pre-request scripts. Depending on your goal, you may then add a script.
5. What Exactly Is A Collection In Postman?
A Postman collection is a tool that allows you to group similar requests. It assists developers in organizing test requests into distinct folders. When numerous testers are working on the same application, this order might help them decide which application aspects deserve more detailed testing.
6. What Exactly Is Digest Auth?
A server can employ digest authorization to obtain credentials from a web client. Its distinguishing characteristic is that it uses a one-time number (once) that combines the username, password, and server URI. The Postman client generates an MD5 hash from these fields and submits the request to the application server. To utilize digest authentication with Postman, go to the ‘Authorization tab’ and pick ‘Digest Auth’ from the dropdown list.
7. What Is Postman Cloud?
The Postman cloud is a repository where businesses may store and exchange collections. After logging into their organization’s Postman account, testers may save their requests in the cloud. The cloud collections are accessible to any member of the team from any location. When several test teams exchange application requests, using the cloud might be advantageous.
8. Is It A Good Idea To Save Information On The Postman Cloud?
Enterprise applications in a business might include high levels of security and privacy. When interacting with sensitive apps, it is not always a good idea to save data in the cloud. The reason for this is that security breaches in the cloud might occur, exposing valuable corporate information.
9. What Exactly Is A Binary Form In Post Requests?
Applications running on clients can send binary data in binary form. Images, video, audio, and document files are examples of this data. The file is converted to binary and appended to the body of the HTTP requests by the program. When the request is received, the receiver can extract the file from the request body and process it. Ones that include files may cost more bandwidth and take longer to respond to than basic requests.
10. How Would You Handle Data Analysis In The Context Of API Development?
As someone with a background in database management, I am conscious of the importance of comprehending the data gathered for API development. In my previous position, we collected data on consumer sales and shipping details to build an accurate inventory of our items. This information was used to evaluate which goods were selling well and which needed replenishing.
11. If You Are Hired, How Do You Think Your Past Experience Would Be Used At Postman?
I believe my past experiences as an API developer would help me succeed in this profession because I am well-versed in coding languages and frameworks. In my previous employment, I was in charge of developing APIs in NodeJS, one of Postman’s core programming languages. This experience has shown me the most effective techniques to utilize Postman to construct excellent APIs.
12. What Is The Most Significant Feature Or Product On Which You Have Previously Worked?
In my previous position as an API developer, I was a member of a team that created a new system for our company’s customer care department. The project’s purpose was to develop a more efficient system to manage incoming client calls. We worked on the system for several months, including constructing a database with pre-recorded responses to typical inquiries and configuring a call queueing mechanism. Our customer support department witnessed a 50% drop in call volume after implementing the system.
13. How Well-Versed Are You In Postman Monitoring?
Monitoring is a technique for keeping track of the functionality and performance of the APIs. We can stay up to date with the performance and development of the API with the aid of Postman’s built-in monitoring services. Postman’s monitors are primarily based on how collection runners operate. Every request in the collection is executed, and the values given in the test scripts are examined. The test scripts are used by the monitors to validate and keep track of the replies. Depending on our setup settings, the reports produced are sent to the developers via emails or alerts on slack, hipchat, etc.
14. What Are Some Of The Difficulties You Anticipate In Creating A User-Friendly API?
One difficulty I see with building a user-friendly API is ensuring that it is scalable enough to manage significant traffic. If an API is not scalable, it may cause issues when several users access it simultaneously. Another problem would be ensuring that the data received over the API is secure. It entails employing encryption mechanisms to ensure that only authorized people access the information.
15. Describe A Time When You Struggled To Meet Deadlines And What You Did To Solve The Issue.
In my previous position as an IT professional, I was in charge of maintaining servers and guaranteeing their flawless operation. One of our primary servers broke one day, and we lost all the data saved on it. It meant I had to rebuild the server from the ground up, which took many days. In the future, I would keep many backups of critical data so that if something similar happened again, I could restore the data more rapidly.
16. What Are Your Favorite Design Patterns, And How Do You Apply Them?
My level state and the player character are implemented as singletons in gaming projects. For an enemy generation, I’ll utilize a factory that generates various foes based on specific inputs. Furthermore, the character’s bullets will be implemented in an object pool to prevent performance penalties from unnecessary instantiation and trash collection. If the game becomes more complicated, I may use a compositional model like Entity-Component-System. The system functions will then use dependency injection to further segregate concerns and boost game logic testability.
17. Does Postman Provide Users The Freedom To Access The Command Line?
We may execute any Postman collection by using the command-line tool Newman that Postman offers. This NodeJS-based package uses the Newman Collection Runner to execute collections and therefore necessitates a node environment to do so. It supports executing assertions, pre-request scripts, or other request scripts connected with the requests that are a part of the collection, just like Postman’s Collection Runner does.
18. Have You Worked With Collaborative Tools Before?
In my previous roles, I worked with communication tools, such as Microsoft Teams and Slack. These tools are necessary for interacting with team members and exchanging project and task information. Slack was used as an internal communication medium in my previous employment, where we could exchange updates and ask questions regarding our daily tasks. It allowed us to stay better organized and accomplish our duties more quickly.
19. Can You Tell Us About A Moment When You Went Above And Beyond On A Project?
My previous job as an API developer required me to create a new application for our company’s website. The completion date was two weeks after I began working on it. However, after one week, I had done half of the job and met with my manager to explore whether we might postpone the deadline. My management decided to grant me an extra week to complete the job, allowing me to develop a superior result.
20. What Is The Distinction Between Soap And Rest APIs? Which One Would You Suggest In A Given Situation?
SOAP and REST APIs are online application programming interfaces (APIs) that enable communication between various software systems. They differ, however, in terms of structure and application. SOAP APIs tend to be more sophisticated, whereas REST APIs tend to be simple. SOAP APIs are also more difficult to set up and configure than REST APIs. I advocate utilizing a SOAP API when you require additional control over the data being transmitted or when exchanging complicated data structures. I would advocate using a REST API when you only need to communicate data between two systems and don’t need to exchange sophisticated data structures.
21. How May Lazy Evaluation Be Used To Boost Speed While Utilizing The Java Stream API?
Lazy evaluation occurs when an operation is not performed until it is essential when utilizing the Java Stream API. It might be advantageous since it can help to avoid executing needless operations. For example, if you have a data stream that you know contains an element, you may use lazy evaluation to only evaluate the items up to that point rather than the stream.
22. We Occasionally Have To Deal With Massive Volumes Of Data That Do Not Fit Into Memory. Is It Feasible To Use Streams In These Situations? Should I Stay With Classic Iterators?
It is possible to use streams for enormous data sets that do not fit in memory, although it is more involved than typical iterators. With streams, you must be careful not to overload the system by managing the data flow. Furthermore, you may need to employ specialist tools to process data in a stream, which adds to the complexity. For huge data sets, it is usually better to stick with classical iterators.
23. What Does The Phrase “Short-Circuiting” Mean In The Context Of Java Streams?
A stream operation that terminates as soon as the desired outcome is achieved is known as “short-circuiting.” For instance, the stream operation will end once it locates the first element in a stream that satisfies the specified criteria rather than continue to process the stream if you are using the Java Stream API, to discover the first element in a stream that satisfies the specified criteria. Since it prevents pointless work, this may be more effective than processing the complete stream.
24. Are There Any Guidelines To Adhere To While Creating A Backend API?
There are indeed some recommended practices to adhere to while creating backend APIs. First and foremost, it’s critical to provide an intuitive and user-friendly API. It entails producing documentation that is accessible and understandable. Second, ensure your API is scalable and capable of responding to queries. It calls for making sure your API is effective and well-designed. Finally, you must ensure that your API is protected so that only people with permission may use it.
25. How Would You Keep Track Of Those Who Use Your API?
There are several options for storing information about people who use your API. One alternative is to establish a database table with information on each user, such as their name, contact information, and the date/time of their most recent API call. The creation of individual API keys that are stored in configuration files for each user is an additional choice. When a user makes an API call, you look up their key in the configuration file and use it to decide which data they are permitted to view.
Conclusion
The Postman interview process varies based on the position you are seeking. Most roles, however, will need at least one screening call with a recruiter, followed by one or more interviews with team members. Some positions may require a coding test or a live coding exercise. Overall, the interview process is swift and easy. However, for some, it might be lengthy.
Hold a practice interview with a relative or friend to help polish your responses and improve your body language. To know what to work on improving, you may also ask them to offer you feedback on how you performed throughout the interview. Also, visit the company’s website to discover more about it, comprehend its mission statement, and evaluate its objectives. When you have this knowledge, you may use it as material in your interview to impress hiring managers.