API API Error Handling and Debugging 3

Question 1

What does 'negative testing' mean in API testing?

Accepted Answer

Sending invalid or unexpected inputs to verify the API handles errors gracefully

Answer

Negative testing sends invalid inputs, missing fields, or out-of-range values to verify the API returns appropriate error responses without crashing.

Question 2

What is 'boundary value testing' in API test design?

Accepted Answer

Testing at the minimum and maximum allowed input values

Answer

Boundary value testing checks API behavior at the edges of valid input ranges — at minimum, maximum, just below minimum, and just above maximum values.

Question 3

What does the Retry-After header tell an API client?

Accepted Answer

How long to wait before making another request after a rate limit or 503

Answer

The Retry-After header tells the client how many seconds to wait before retrying, used with 429 Too Many Requests and 503 responses.

Question 4

What is 'fault injection testing' for APIs?

Accepted Answer

Deliberately introducing failures to verify the system's resilience and error handling

Answer

Fault injection testing deliberately introduces failures (network delays, errors, timeouts) to verify the API system handles them gracefully.

Question 5

What does a 429 Too Many Requests response indicate?

Accepted Answer

The client has exceeded the API rate limit

Answer

429 Too Many Requests is returned when a client has sent more requests than allowed by the rate limiting policy within a time window.

API - Testing Practice Test

API - Testing Practice Test

API API Error Handling and Debugging 3