This set of Software Engineering SDLC MCQ Questions covers advanced concepts related to Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Spiral Model, Software Maintenance, Cohesion and Coupling, Software Testing, and Software Crisis. Useful for GATE, IBPS IT Officer, university semester examinations, and competitive exams.
Topic: Software Engineering | Set: 2
Difficulty: Medium to Hard | Total Questions: 15
Software Engineering SDLC MCQ Questions
Q1. The Spiral Model is primarily characterized as a:
- A. Linear model
- B. Risk-driven model
- C. Cost-free model
- D. Coding-only model
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: The Spiral Model focuses heavily on identifying, analyzing, and mitigating risks during every iteration of development.
Q2. In the Spiral Model, “Risk Analysis” is performed in:
- A. Every iteration
- B. Only at the beginning
- C. Only at the end
- D. Never
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: A
Explanation: Continuous risk analysis is the defining feature of the Spiral Model and is carried out during every cycle.
Q3. Perfective maintenance is performed to:
- A. Fix a bug
- B. Adapt to a new operating system
- C. Improve performance or maintainability based on user suggestions
- D. Fix a hardware failure
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: C
Explanation: Perfective maintenance enhances the software by improving efficiency, maintainability, or usability.
Q4. Adaptive maintenance is defined as:
- A. Fixing errors
- B. Modifying software to work in a changed environment
- C. Adding new features the user forgot to ask for
- D. Re-writing the entire code
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: Adaptive maintenance modifies software to remain compatible with changes in hardware, operating systems, or platforms.
Q5. What is the main goal of “Throw-away Prototyping”?
- A. To serve as the final working product
- B. To clarify requirements and then discard the prototype
- C. To save money by not testing
- D. To replace the Waterfall model entirely
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: Throw-away prototypes are built quickly to understand user requirements and are discarded before actual development begins.
Q6. Cohesion is a measure of:
- A. How much different modules depend on each other
- B. The functional strength of a single module
- C. The number of lines of code
- D. The cost of the module
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: Cohesion measures how strongly the elements within a module are related to one another.
Q7. Coupling is a measure of:
- A. Internal module strength
- B. The degree of interdependence between different modules
- C. The speed of the software
- D. How many programmers worked on a module
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: Coupling measures how much one module depends on another module.
Q8. Which type of cohesion is considered the best/highest?
- A. Logical Cohesion
- B. Coincidental Cohesion
- C. Functional Cohesion
- D. Sequential Cohesion
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: C
Explanation: Functional cohesion is the strongest form because every component contributes toward a single well-defined task.
Q9. Which type of coupling is considered the best (lowest)?
- A. Content Coupling
- B. Common Coupling
- C. Data Coupling
- D. Control Coupling
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: C
Explanation: Data coupling is preferred because modules interact only through necessary data parameters.
Q10. Content Coupling (the worst type) occurs when:
- A. One module passes data to another
- B. One module refers to the internal data or code of another module
- C. Modules share a global variable
- D. Modules share the same header file
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: Content coupling occurs when one module directly accesses or modifies another module’s internal workings.
Q11. Regression testing is performed to:
- A. Test the software for the first time
- B. Ensure that new changes or bug fixes haven’t broken existing functionality
- C. Check the spelling in the documentation
- D. Test the speed of the internet connection
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: Regression testing ensures that modifications do not introduce new defects into existing functionality.
Q12. Integration testing focuses on:
- A. Testing individual functions
- B. Testing the interfaces and interactions between modules
- C. Testing the user interface colors
- D. Testing the software on a mobile phone
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: Integration testing checks whether multiple modules work correctly together after integration.
Q13. “Top-down” integration testing requires the use of:
- A. Drivers
- B. Stubs
- C. Compilers
- D. Assemblers
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: Stubs simulate lower-level modules that are not yet implemented.
Q14. “Bottom-up” integration testing requires the use of:
- A. Stubs
- B. Drivers
- C. Interpreters
- D. Linkers
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: Drivers simulate higher-level modules that call the lower-level modules being tested.
Q15. The “Software Crisis” of the 1960s was characterized by:
- A. Not enough computers
- B. Projects being over budget, late, and of low quality
- C. Computer viruses
- D. A lack of programming languages
View Answer & Explanation
Answer: B
Explanation: The Software Crisis highlighted the need for disciplined engineering practices due to unreliable and delayed software projects.
Conclusion
These Software Engineering SDLC MCQ Questions help strengthen understanding of Software Development Models, Maintenance Types, Cohesion and Coupling, Testing Techniques, and Software Engineering Principles. These concepts are frequently asked in GATE, IBPS IT Officer, university semester exams, and technical interviews.
For better understanding, also practice concepts related to SDLC, Software Cost Estimation, Software Testing, and Software Design Principles.
For detailed theory and understanding of the concepts, refer to SDLC Software Engineering