The IIT Madras BS Software Engineering (Software Engineering) End Term paper sat on 31 Aug 2025, in the May 2025 term: 27 questions for 100 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 software company is preparing to launch a new product that collects user data. Who should be responsible for ensuring that the company’s privacy policies comply with regulations?
Data Scientists
Ethics and Policy Specialists
Engineering Managers
Support Team
Correct answer
Ethics and Policy Specialists
A junior developer is stuck on a programming issue and needs guidance. The developer prefers a platform where experienced professionals can provide solutions, along with links to additional learning resources.
Which platform should the developer use?
Slack
Stack Overflow
GitHub Pages
JIRA
Correct answer
Stack Overflow
A growing e-commerce startup is looking for an infrastructure solution that provides the highest performance for its online store. Cost is not a concern, but they need complete control over their servers. Which hosting option should they choose?
Bare Metal Servers
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
None of these
Correct answer
Bare Metal Servers
A developer is implementing a sorting function for an e-commerce platform to arrange products by price efficiently. Which design aspect does this involve?
Components
Interfaces
Data structures
Algorithms
Correct answer
Algorithms
A software development team is working on an AI-powered chatbot for customer service. However, they realize late in the development process that the third-party AI module they integrated does not support some key languages their client requires. What type of risk does this represent?
Business Risk
Project Risk
Technical Risk
None of these
Correct answer
Technical Risk
During a software development project, the team completes a sprint and demonstrates the work done to stakeholders. Which Agile event is this?
Sprint Planning
Sprint Retrospective
Sprint Review
Backlog Analysis
Correct answer
Sprint Review
A mobile payment app refers to adding money as "Charging Wallet" instead of "Add Money." Users find this term confusing. Which heuristic is being violated?
Freedom to Explore
Use Familiar Languages and Metaphors
Prevent Errors
Show Status
Correct answer
Use Familiar Languages and Metaphors
A researcher is trying to understand how warehouse employees manage inventory updates in real time. They shadow employees, take notes, and ask clarifying questions while observing daily operations.
Which technique is being applied here?
Questionnaires
Interviews
Naturalistic Observations
Focus Groups
Correct answer
Naturalistic Observations
Correct answer
Which of the following is a problem with the Big Bang approach of integration technique?
Requires drivers and stubs
Difficult to localize errors
Can only be used for large systems
Requires bottom-up testing first
Correct answer
Difficult to localize errors
A test engineer runs a small set of basic test cases to verify that the core functionalities of a newly deployed application are working before conducting further testing. What type of testing is this?
Performance Testing
Beta Testing
Smoke Testing
Acceptance Testing
Correct answer
Smoke Testing
Factory Pattern
Builder Pattern
Facade Pattern
Adapter Pattern
Correct answer
Builder Pattern
An organization is developing a collaborative document editing system where multiple users can edit the same document simultaneously. The system must operate without relying on a central server or any form of centralized control, ensuring direct communication among users. Which architectural style best fits this requirement?
Client-Server
Pipe and Filter
Peer-to-Peer
Model-View-Controller
Correct answer
Peer-to-Peer
A software company wants to build a structured and maintainable web application efficiently. Which of the following would be the best option for them?
Using a basic text editor
Writing everything from scratch without any pre-built structure
Using a web application framework like Flask
Avoiding frameworks to reduce dependencies
Correct answer
Using a web application framework like Flask
Bhavya is trying to understand why a variable in his Python program is getting the wrong value at a certain point. He decides to insert print statements in the code to check intermediate values. Which debugging technique is he using?
Stepping in a debugger
Logging
Profiling
Dump & Diff
Correct answer
Logging
Data Coupling
Control Coupling
Common Coupling
Content Coupling
Correct answer
Control Coupling
Sequential Cohesion
Functional Cohesion
Communicational Cohesion
Procedural Cohesion
Correct answer
Communicational Cohesion
Correct answer
A software company is estimating the cost and effort required for developing a new inventory management system. The project manager decides to consult senior developers who have worked on similar projects before to get an estimate. Which estimation technique is being used?
COCOMO Model
Expert Judgement
Delphi Technique
Heuristic Estimation
Correct answer
Expert Judgement
A retail website optimizes its checkout process by reducing the number of steps from product selection to payment confirmation. Users can now complete a purchase with a single click if they have saved their payment details. What usability factor is being improved?
Safety
Learnability
Efficiency
Memorability
Correct answer
Efficiency
The development team updates a user story as follows:
Before: "As an admin, I want to generate reports on user activity."
After: "As an admin, I want to generate a daily report of user logins and purchases, formatted as a downloadable CSV file."
Which SMART characteristic is best addressed in this improvement?
Achievable
Measurable
Timeboxed
Relevant
Correct answer
Measurable
A company is releasing a major update to its web application. What are the benefits of using a staging environment before production deployment?
It helps identify configuration issues before going live
It allows users to interact with new features in a real environment
It prevents performance testing before making the application live
It ensures that the production environment remains stable
Correct answers
It helps identify configuration issues before going live
It ensures that the production environment remains stable
Which of the following statements about Versioned Deployment are true?
Users can choose which version they want
Only the latest version is kept alive
Older versions are removed immediately after an update
Requires maintaining multiple versions
Correct answers
Users can choose which version they want
Requires maintaining multiple versions
Which of the following tasks are best suited for task queues?
Sending bulk notifications to users
Rendering a webpage with static content
Processing large database updates asynchronously
Executing HTTP requests in real-time
Correct answers
Sending bulk notifications to users
Processing large database updates asynchronously
Correct answers
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.
Identify the set(s) of valid test cases for branch coverage.
{temperature = 0, temperature = 100}
{temperature = -5, temperature = 20, temperature = 50}
{temperature = -5, temperature = 20, temperature = 50, temperature = 105}
{temperature = -5, temperature = 20, temperature = 100, temperature = 50, temperature = 0}
Correct answers
{temperature = -5, temperature = 20, temperature = 50}
{temperature = -5, temperature = 20, temperature = 50, temperature = 105}
{temperature = -5, temperature = 20, temperature = 100, temperature = 50, temperature = 0}
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.
Identify the set(s) of valid test cases for multiple condition coverage.
{temperature = 0, temperature = 100}
{temperature = -5, temperature = 20, temperature = 50}
{temperature = -5, temperature = 20, temperature = 50, temperature = 105}
{temperature = -5, temperature = 20, temperature = 100, temperature = 50, temperature = 0}
Correct answer
{temperature = -5, temperature = 20, temperature = 50, temperature = 105}
