Setup & Configuration Interview Questions
Comprehensive setup & configuration interview questions and answers for Jest. Prepare for your next job interview with expert guidance.
Questions Overview
1. How do you initialize Jest in a new project?
Basic2. What is jest.config.js and what are its key options?
Basic3. How do you configure test environments in Jest?
Basic4. What are transform configurations in Jest?
Basic5. How do you configure test file patterns?
Basic6. What is setupFilesAfterEnv and how is it used?
Basic7. How do you configure code coverage in Jest?
Basic8. What are module name mappings and how are they configured?
Basic9. How do you configure test timeouts?
Basic10. What are globals in Jest configuration?
Basic11. How do you configure Jest for TypeScript?
Moderate12. What are the strategies for configuring test environments for different platforms?
Moderate13. How do you configure custom reporters?
Moderate14. What are the approaches for configuring test data management?
Moderate15. How do you configure snapshot testing?
Moderate16. What are strategies for configuring test parallelization?
Moderate17. How do you configure custom matchers?
Moderate18. What are the approaches for configuring test filtering?
Moderate19. How do you configure test retry behavior?
Moderate20. What are patterns for configuring test isolation?
Moderate21. How do you implement advanced test environment configurations?
Advanced22. What are strategies for configuring complex test suites?
Advanced23. How do you implement custom test runners?
Advanced24. What are approaches for configuring test monitoring?
Advanced25. How do you configure advanced code coverage analysis?
Advanced26. What are patterns for configuring test data factories?
Advanced27. How do you implement custom test schedulers?
Advanced28. What are strategies for configuring test infrastructure?
Advanced29. How do you configure advanced mocking systems?
Advanced1. How do you initialize Jest in a new project?
BasicJest initialization involves: 1) Installing Jest: npm install --save-dev jest, 2) Adding test script to package.json: { 'scripts': { 'test': 'jest' } }, 3) Creating jest.config.js (optional), 4) Setting up test directories, 5) Configuring environment if needed.
2. What is jest.config.js and what are its key options?
Basicjest.config.js is the main configuration file that includes: 1) testEnvironment setting, 2) moduleFileExtensions, 3) setupFilesAfterEnv for setup files, 4) testMatch for test file patterns, 5) coverageThreshold settings, 6) transform configurations for preprocessors.
3. How do you configure test environments in Jest?
BasicTest environment configuration includes: 1) Setting testEnvironment in config (jsdom/node), 2) Creating custom environments, 3) Configuring environment variables, 4) Setting up global mocks, 5) Handling environment-specific setup.
4. What are transform configurations in Jest?
BasicTransform configs handle: 1) File preprocessing before tests, 2) Babel integration for modern JavaScript, 3) TypeScript transformation, 4) Custom transformers for specific files, 5) Cache configuration for transforms.
5. How do you configure test file patterns?
BasicTest pattern configuration uses: 1) testMatch for glob patterns, 2) testRegex for regex patterns, 3) testPathIgnorePatterns for exclusions, 4) File naming conventions (.test.js, .spec.js), 5) Directory organization patterns.
6. What is setupFilesAfterEnv and how is it used?
BasicsetupFilesAfterEnv: 1) Runs setup code after test framework initialization, 2) Configures global test setup, 3) Adds custom matchers, 4) Sets up test environment, 5) Configures global mocks. Example: ['./jest.setup.js']
7. How do you configure code coverage in Jest?
BasicCoverage configuration includes: 1) collectCoverage flag, 2) coverageDirectory setting, 3) coverageThreshold requirements, 4) collectCoverageFrom patterns, 5) coverageReporters options for report formats.
8. What are module name mappings and how are they configured?
BasicModule mappings use: 1) moduleNameMapper in config, 2) Alias definitions, 3) Regular expression patterns, 4) Identity-obj-proxy for style imports, 5) Custom module resolvers. Helps with import resolution and mocking.
9. How do you configure test timeouts?
BasicTimeout configuration includes: 1) Global testTimeout setting, 2) Individual test timeouts, 3) Async operation timeouts, 4) Setup/teardown timeouts, 5) Custom timeout messages. Default is usually 5000ms.
10. What are globals in Jest configuration?
BasicGlobals configuration: 1) Define global variables, 2) Set up global mocks, 3) Configure global setup/teardown, 4) Define global matchers, 5) Set up global test utilities. Available throughout test suite.
11. How do you configure Jest for TypeScript?
ModerateTypeScript configuration includes: 1) Installing ts-jest, 2) Configuring transform with ts-jest, 3) Setting up tsconfig.json, 4) Configuring type checking, 5) Handling TypeScript paths and aliases.
12. What are the strategies for configuring test environments for different platforms?
ModeratePlatform configuration involves: 1) Environment-specific configs, 2) Conditional setup logic, 3) Platform-specific mocks, 4) Environment detection, 5) Platform-specific test runners.
13. How do you configure custom reporters?
ModerateReporter configuration includes: 1) Custom reporter implementation, 2) Reporter options setup, 3) Multiple reporter configuration, 4) Output formatting, 5) Integration with CI/CD systems.
14. What are the approaches for configuring test data management?
ModerateTest data configuration: 1) Fixture setup locations, 2) Data loading strategies, 3) Cleanup mechanisms, 4) Data isolation approaches, 5) Shared test data management.
15. How do you configure snapshot testing?
ModerateSnapshot configuration: 1) snapshotSerializers setup, 2) Snapshot directory location, 3) Update and retention policies, 4) Custom serializers, 5) Snapshot format options.
16. What are strategies for configuring test parallelization?
ModerateParallelization config includes: 1) maxWorkers setting, 2) Worker pool configuration, 3) Test file distribution, 4) Resource allocation, 5) Parallel run coordination.
17. How do you configure custom matchers?
ModerateCustom matcher configuration: 1) Matcher implementation, 2) Global matcher registration, 3) TypeScript definitions, 4) Matcher error messages, 5) Matcher documentation.
18. What are the approaches for configuring test filtering?
ModerateTest filtering config: 1) testNamePattern settings, 2) Test file patterns, 3) Tag-based filtering, 4) Run group configuration, 5) Conditional test execution.
19. How do you configure test retry behavior?
ModerateRetry configuration: 1) jest-retry setup, 2) Retry attempts settings, 3) Retry delay configuration, 4) Failure conditions, 5) Retry reporting options.
20. What are patterns for configuring test isolation?
ModerateIsolation configuration: 1) Test environment isolation, 2) State reset mechanisms, 3) Module isolation, 4) Database isolation, 5) Resource cleanup strategies.
21. How do you implement advanced test environment configurations?
AdvancedAdvanced environment config: 1) Custom environment implementation, 2) Environment chains, 3) Dynamic environment setup, 4) Environment state management, 5) Environment cleanup strategies.
22. What are strategies for configuring complex test suites?
AdvancedComplex suite configuration: 1) Multi-project setup, 2) Shared configurations, 3) Dynamic config generation, 4) Configuration inheritance, 5) Project-specific overrides.
23. How do you implement custom test runners?
AdvancedCustom runner implementation: 1) Runner API implementation, 2) Test execution flow, 3) Result reporting, 4) Resource management, 5) Integration with Jest infrastructure.
24. What are approaches for configuring test monitoring?
AdvancedMonitoring configuration: 1) Metric collection setup, 2) Performance monitoring, 3) Resource tracking, 4) Alert configuration, 5) Monitoring integration points.
25. How do you configure advanced code coverage analysis?
AdvancedAdvanced coverage config: 1) Custom coverage reporters, 2) Coverage analysis tools, 3) Branch coverage requirements, 4) Coverage enforcement rules, 5) Coverage trend analysis.
26. What are patterns for configuring test data factories?
AdvancedFactory configuration: 1) Factory implementation patterns, 2) Data generation strategies, 3) Factory composition, 4) State management, 5) Factory cleanup mechanisms.
27. How do you implement custom test schedulers?
AdvancedScheduler implementation: 1) Test execution ordering, 2) Resource allocation, 3) Priority management, 4) Dependency resolution, 5) Schedule optimization.
28. What are strategies for configuring test infrastructure?
AdvancedInfrastructure configuration: 1) CI/CD integration, 2) Resource provisioning, 3) Environment management, 4) Scaling strategies, 5) Infrastructure monitoring.
29. How do you configure advanced mocking systems?
AdvancedAdvanced mocking config: 1) Custom mock factories, 2) Mock state management, 3) Mock verification systems, 4) Mock cleanup strategies, 5) Mock interaction recording.