📚 JIRA

✅ What is JIRA?

JIRA is a project management and issue tracking tool developed by Atlassian. It is widely used to track bugs, plan sprints, manage tasks, and visualize progress, especially in Agile/Scrum-based software development environments.

📅 When do we use JIRA?

We use JIRA: - During all phases of a software development lifecycle (SDLC)
- To manage Agile sprints, backlogs, and user stories
- When reporting, tracking, and resolving bugs or feature requests
- In automotive software projects to organize development cycles for ECUs, features like lighting, diagnostics, etc.

🌍 Where is JIRA used?

In software teams (frontend, backend, embedded, MBD)
Across automotive OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, and IT teams
In team collaborations for feature tracking, documentation, and sprint planning
In combination with tools like Bitbucket, Confluence, Jenkins, GTest, Git, SVN

❓ Why do we use JIRA?

To ensure clear visibility of project progress
To prioritize tasks and bugs based on severity and deadlines
For effective sprint planning and velocity tracking
To maintain traceability of requirements, tasks, and test coverage
To collaborate easily between developers, testers, managers, and stakeholders

⚙️ How do we use JIRA?

Create projects and define workflows
Break down work into epics → stories → tasks → sub-tasks
Link issues to commits, pull requests, or test cases
Use Kanban/Scrum boards to track progress
Assign issues to team members and add labels, priorities, components
Add attachments, comments, and due dates for collaboration

🌟 Benefits of JIRA

✅ Centralized task and issue tracking
✅ Supports Agile & DevOps methodologies
✅ Highly customizable workflows and dashboards
✅ Seamless integrations with Git, Jenkins, Confluence, etc.
✅ Real-time collaboration and progress updates
✅ Improves transparency, traceability, and accountability

JIRA Interview Questions and Answers

1. What is JIRA?
JIRA is a tool used for bug tracking, issue tracking, and project management developed by Atlassian.

2. Why do teams use JIRA?
To plan, track, release, and report tasks in an organized and collaborative manner.

3. What is an issue in JIRA?
An issue represents a task, bug, story, or request that needs tracking.

4. What is a project in JIRA?
A project is a collection of issues that are worked on by a team.

5. What are the types of issues in JIRA?
Bug, Task, Sub-task, Story, Epic, Improvement.

6. What is an epic?
An epic is a large body of work that can be broken down into smaller tasks or stories.

7. What is a sprint?
A sprint is a fixed time period in Scrum during which specific tasks are completed.

8. What is a backlog?
It’s a list of prioritized issues, including stories, bugs, or tasks, yet to be completed.

9. What is a JIRA workflow?
It’s a set of statuses and transitions that define the lifecycle of an issue.

10. What are statuses in a workflow?
They indicate the current state of an issue (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done).

11. What is a transition in JIRA?
A transition is the movement of an issue from one status to another.

12. What is a resolution?
It represents the final state of an issue (e.g., Fixed, Won’t Fix, Duplicate).

13. Can we customize workflows in JIRA?
Yes, admins can define custom workflows, statuses, and transitions.

14. What is a component in JIRA?
A component is a sub-section of a project, used to group issues logically.

15. What is a label?
A tag added to issues for easier searching and filtering.

16. What is a board in JIRA?
A board shows issues from one or more projects, visualized in columns.

17. What is the difference between a Kanban and Scrum board?
Kanban is flow-based; Scrum is time-boxed with sprints.

18. What is an assignee?
The person responsible for working on an issue.

19. What is a watcher in JIRA?
Someone who receives notifications about issue updates.

20. How is JIRA used in automotive development?
To track tasks related to ECUs, diagnostics, validation, lighting modules, and software bugs.

21. What is a version/release in JIRA?
Used to mark when features or bug fixes are released to users.

22. What is a story in JIRA?
A requirement or functionality from the user’s perspective.

23. What is a sub-task?
A smaller unit of work that helps complete a story or task.

24. How can you link issues in JIRA?
Using “linked issues” like blocks, duplicates, relates to, etc.

25. How does JIRA support Agile methodology?
Through backlogs, sprints, boards, and velocity tracking.

26. How do you track progress in JIRA?
Using dashboards, burndown charts, and boards.

27. What are filters in JIRA?
Custom queries (JQL) to find specific issues.

28. What is JQL?
JIRA Query Language – used to create powerful filters.

29. Can JIRA be integrated with other tools?
Yes, with Git, Jenkins, Bitbucket, Confluence, etc.

30. What is a dashboard?
A customizable visual panel that shows charts, stats, and filters.

31. How do you prioritize tasks in JIRA?
Using priority fields like Highest, High, Medium, Low.

32. How do you create a new issue in JIRA?
Click “Create” and fill in project, type, summary, and other details.

33. What is a workflow scheme?
It defines which workflows apply to which issue types in a project.

34. How can permissions be managed in JIRA?
Via permission schemes assigned to roles and groups.

35. What are roles in JIRA?
Roles like Developer, Tester, Project Lead control access and visibility.

36. What is a quick filter?
A button to filter issues quickly on a board using JQL.

37. What is meant by “Done” in JIRA?
A status that marks the issue as complete and resolved.

38. What are the default priorities in JIRA?
Highest, High, Medium, Low, Lowest.

39. What are story points?
Estimates of effort required to complete a user story.

40. What are burndown charts?
Visuals that track remaining work over time during a sprint.

41. What’s the purpose of a release version in JIRA?
To bundle completed issues for delivery and reporting.

42. How can you attach files to issues?
Using the “Attach” option in the issue view.

43. What are issue types you can customize?
Custom issue types like Change Request, Feature, Spike, etc.

44. What is an automation rule in JIRA?
A rule that automates repetitive tasks (e.g., auto-assigning, status updates).

45. What is the difference between Issue Type Scheme and Workflow Scheme?
Issue Type Scheme defines issue types per project; Workflow Scheme maps those to workflows.

46. What is Confluence, and how does it relate to JIRA?
It’s Atlassian’s documentation tool that integrates with JIRA to link specs to issues.

47. Can we clone issues in JIRA?
Yes, using the Clone option to copy issue details.

48. Can JIRA be used for test case management?
Yes, either via plugins like Xray, Zephyr or by creating custom test issue types.

49. How do you track defects in JIRA?
Using Bug issue types with priorities, affected versions, linked stories.

50. How does JIRA improve quality and delivery?
By providing visibility, accountability, traceability, and collaboration across the development lifecycle.