The IIT Madras BS Software Engineering (Software Engineering) End Term paper sat on 13 Apr 2025, in the January 2025 term, set 1: 24 questions for 88 marks in 180 minutes. Every question is below with its answer. Take it as a timed mock test to be marked, or read it through first.
A new startup is launching a mobile app that helps users track their fitness progress. Before launching, the company wants to understand its target audience and market demand. Which team should take the lead in this process?
Designers
Software Engineers
Marketing Team
Sales Team
Correct answer
Marketing Team
A software team is struggling with tracking their project’s progress. They need a tool that provides both a high-level overview and a detailed view of each team member’s progress on assigned tasks.
Which type of tool should they use?
Development tools like IDEs
Communication tools like Slack
Project management tools like JIRA and Pivotal Tracker
Knowledge-sharing tools like Stack Overflow
Correct answer
Project management tools like JIRA and Pivotal Tracker
An online retail website noticed a drop in sales. Analysis showed that pages were taking too long to load. Which of the following strategies would best help improve page speed and potentially increase sales?
Minify and compress static content
Increase the number of elements on each page
Load unnecessary JavaScript codes before rendering
Reduce caching to refresh content frequently
Correct answer
Minify and compress static content
Which of the following is a characteristic of the Big Bang approach?
Modules are integrated incrementally
Errors are easy to localize
All modules are integrated in a single step
Drivers are required
Correct answer
All modules are integrated in a single step
A team is conducting a test where they push a system beyond its expected capacity to see how it handles high data loads and transactions. This type of testing is an example of:
Smoke Testing
Stress Testing
Beta Testing
Acceptance Testing
Correct answer
Stress Testing
A software engineer is developing a weather prediction system and needs to decide on an efficient way to organize and access historical weather data. Which design aspect is being considered?
Components
Interfaces
Data structures
Algorithms
Correct answer
Data structures
A company wants to estimate the development time and cost of a software project based on mathematical models and predefined formulas rather than human judgment. Which estimation technique is best suited for this requirement?
Empirical Estimation
Delphi Technique
Expert Judgement
Heuristic Estimation
Correct answer
Heuristic Estimation
In an Agile development cycle, a company follows Scrum methodology. During each sprint, the team holds a daily meeting where each member answers three key questions. What is this meeting called?
Sprint Review
Sprint Planning
Scrum Meeting
Sprint Retrospective
Correct answer
Scrum Meeting
A social media platform plans to release a new algorithm update to a small percentage of users based on their location and demographics before rolling it out to everyone. Which deployment strategy is being followed?
Blue/Green Deployment
Versioned Deployment
Canary Deployment
None of these
Correct answer
Canary Deployment
You are working on an e-commerce platform where a buyer places an order. Once the order is placed, multiple steps need to be performed in sequence, such as:
1. Creating the order in the system 2. Notifying the seller 3. Preparing the package 4. Sending the order for delivery
Currently, these steps require the client code to interact with multiple different classes and execute methods in the correct order, making the system complex and hard to manage. You want to simplify this process by providing a unified interface that hides these complexities from the client.
Which design pattern would best address this requirement?
Facade Pattern
Adapter Pattern
Observer Pattern
Strategy Pattern
Correct answer
Facade Pattern
Veena encounters an incorrect output in her program. She starts by identifying the specific statement that produced the wrong value and then traces back through the code to find the original mistake. Which debugging strategy is she using?
Input manipulation
Backwards debugging
Forwards debugging
Blackbox debugging
Correct answer
Backwards debugging
A large inventory management system has multiple modules that all access and modify a shared global variable storing the total stock count. If one module changes the value, all others are affected. What type of coupling does this system exhibit?
Data Coupling
Control Coupling
Common Coupling
Content Coupling
Correct answer
Common Coupling
Sequential Cohesion
Functional Cohesion
Communicational Cohesion
Procedural Cohesion
Correct answer
Functional Cohesion
A team is developing an e-commerce website, but due to poor scheduling and mismanagement, they fail to meet project milestones, delaying the final release. To mitigate this, they decide to create detailed milestones and conduct frequent reviews. What type of risk does this scenario describe?
Technical Risk
Business Risk
Project Risk
None of these
Correct answer
Project Risk
An airline booking website has redesigned its interface. Frequent travelers who used the previous version of the site find it difficult to navigate the new system and struggle to remember how to search for flights. Which usability factor has been negatively impacted?
Learnability
Effectiveness
Memorability
Safety
Correct answer
Memorability
A user is using an e-commerce website where the "Add to Cart" button is always located in the bottom-right corner of each product listing. However, on one particular page, the button is placed in the top-left corner. What heuristic is being violated?
Consistency
Recognition over Recall
Show Status
Flexibility
Correct answer
Consistency
An e-commerce platform must comply with banking regulations when adding seller accounts and processing payments. To understand the required procedures and restrictions, a business analyst refers to official guidelines provided by the bank.
Which technique is being used?
Focus Groups
Interviews
Documentation Review
Questionnaires
Correct answer
Documentation Review
The following user story is updated from its original version:
Before: "As a user, I want to search for products."
After: "As a user, I want to search for products by name, category, and price range so that I can quickly find what I need."
Which SMART characteristic is most improved by this change?
Measurable
Specific
Timeboxed
Achievable
Correct answer
Specific
A development team is working on a new software application. Which of the following are characteristics of a development environment?
It contains an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and other tools
It allows developers to write and debug code
It exactly mimics the production environment
It is used for live user interactions
Correct answers
It contains an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and other tools
It allows developers to write and debug code
A startup wants to avoid infrastructure management while deploying its web application quickly. They are considering Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). What are some disadvantages they should be aware of?
Lack of control over infrastructure
High upfront costs
May require manual server maintenance
Limited customization options compared to IaaS
Correct answers
Lack of control over infrastructure
Limited customization options compared to IaaS
Which of the following are characteristics of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) architecture?
There is no centralized system to monitor all transactions.
Nodes in the network share resources like processing power and storage.
A server controls all client interactions.
It is mainly used for distributed applications.
Correct answers
There is no centralized system to monitor all transactions.
Nodes in the network share resources like processing power and storage.
It is mainly used for distributed applications.
Akash is looking for an IDE that supports Python development and offers features like syntax checking and easy debugging. Which of the following options should he consider?
Visual Studio Code (VSCode)
PyCharm
Notepad
Thonny
Correct answers
Visual Studio Code (VSCode)
PyCharm
Thonny
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.
Identify the set(s) of valid test cases for branch coverage.
{age = 18, age = 60}
{age = 10, age = 25, age = 45}
{age = 10, age = 25, age = 45, age = 65}
{age = 10, age = 25, age = 60, age = 45, age = 18}
Correct answers
{age = 10, age = 25, age = 45}
{age = 10, age = 25, age = 45, age = 65}
{age = 10, age = 25, age = 60, age = 45, age = 18}
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.
Identify the set(s) of valid test cases for multiple condition coverage.
{age = 18, age = 60}
{age = 10, age = 25, age = 45}
{age = 10, age = 25, age = 45, age = 65}
{age = 10, age = 25, age = 60, age = 45, age = 18}
Correct answer
{age = 10, age = 25, age = 45, age = 65}
