The Bug Life Cycle

Birlasoft Ltd. Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

 Table of Contents

What happens to a bug from start to finish. 3

What is a bug? 3

Who can report a bug? 3

When do you report a bug? 3

Bugs are tracked in a database 3

A good bug reports include the following items 4

Things to remember… 4

Rating Bugs 4

Severity 5

Likelihood 5

Severity * Likelihood = Rating 5

Other useful information on a bug report 5

An example of a bug report 6

Examples of poorly written bugs 6

Now we have a bug… 7

The Developer works on the bug… 7

Fixed 7

Duplicate 7

Resolved 7

Need More Information 8

Working as Designed 8

Enhancement 8

Defer 8

Not to be Fixed 9

Tested 9

Pending 9

Can’t Duplicate 9

Birlasoft Ltd. Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

The product has shipped, what happens next? 9

Advanced defect database techniques 9

Reports9

Examples of Reports 10

Customized views of the database 10

The Bug Life Cycle 11

References 12

Birlasoft Ltd. Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

What happens to a bug from start to finish.
While attending testing seminars, I noticed that there was a gap in what was being taught.
There’s a lot of theory presented, a lot of ‘why test’ classes and a lot of classes on specific techniques but
nothing on a couple of practices that will go a long way towards improving the testing process in a
company, specifically setting up a defect tracking system and enforcing policies and procedures to
resolve those defects. Setting up these two things, more than anything else, will put a company on the
road to organizing its testing and QA effort. To fill that gap, I’ve come up with the ‘Bug Life Cycle’
presentation. While I can’t claim it as my own, it is what I’ve learned over the years as a tester; many of
you will find it familiar.

What is a bug?
In computer technology, a bug is a coding error in a computer program. Myers defined it by
saying that “A software error is present when the program does not do what its end user reasonably
expects it to do.” (Myers, 1976.). I tell my testers if you don’t like it, it’s a bug.
Over the years, my colleagues and I have decided that there are as many definitions for the term
“bug” as there are testers. “There can never be an absolute definition for bugs, nor an absolute
determination of their existence. The extent to which a program has bugs is measured by the extent to
which it fails to be useful. This is a fundamentally human measure.” (Beizer, 1984.). For a more definitive
list of many types of bugs refer to Software Testing by Cem Kaner, et. al., pages 363-432.

Who can report a bug?

Anyone who can figure out that the software isn’t working properly can report a bug. The more
people who critique a product, the better it’s going to be. However, here’s a short list of people expected
to report bugs:
Testers / QA personnel
Developers
Technical Support
Beta sites
End users
Sales and marketing staff
(especially when interacting
with customers).

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Birlasoft Ltd. Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

An example of a bug report:

Figure 1 The status tells us the state of the bug. The severity tells us how bad the bug is. The likelihood
tells us how often the average user will see the bug. The Assigned To field tells us who is responsible for
resolving the bug. The Feature tells us what part of the product the bug is in. The Problem Description
gives a brief (very brief) summation of the problem. This description is used when compiling reports or
lists of bugs. The details tell us the current setup or situation, the steps to duplicate the problem and any
other essential information that will allow someone else to duplicate the bug. Once the bug is submitted,
this field cannot be changed. Any additional information will go in the notes field. The notes field contains
any discussions about the bug. For example, when and why the status was changed and by whom;
additional information about how to duplicate the bug that will aid in resolving the bug; and opinions about
the bug. This is a “free-forum” area where people should feel free to express their opinions without
censure or criticism. Once comments are placed on a bug, they cannot be changed or deleted by anyone
else or even the author. The comments, like the details, stand. Anyone reading the bug after the fact
should be able to understand not only what the bug was and how bad a bug it was but also how it was
resolved and why it was resolved that way.

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Birlasoft Ltd. Classification: CONFIDENTIAL