Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing

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Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing

In this article, I am going to discuss Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing. Please read our previous article where we discussed the Bug in Software Testing. At the end of this article, you will understand the following important pointers which are related to Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing.

1. What is a Bug/Defect?
2. What is a Bug/Defect Life Cycle?
3. Explain the Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing
4. What are the Advantages of the Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing?
5. What are the Disadvantages of the Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing?

What is a Bug/Defect?

A software defect is an error or flaw introduced during the development or design phases that cause the software to exhibit strange behaviors when it is used. Therefore, one of the key duties of the tester is to uncover as many flaws as they can in order to ensure that the product’s quality is not compromised, that it fully satisfies the needs for which it was created, and that it offers the end user the services they demand. The software will function exactly as expected if faults are found and fixed, that much is true.

What is a Bug/Defect Life Cycle?

Defect Life Cycle is the life cycle a defect or bug goes through during the software development process, covering a defined set of stages over the course of its whole existence. The bug life cycle primarily refers to all of its stages, from the moment a new defect is discovered to the moment the tester closes that flaw. It can also be referred to as a Bug Life Cycle. The defect cycle path differs from organization to organization and also from project to project because different organizations and projects have different development procedures, platforms, testing methodologies, and testing tools. The various tools and procedures used while testing software affect the number of states that a problem can go through.

Explain the Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing

Following are the several states of defect shown in the defect life cycle diagram:

1. NEW: Any new problem that is found by the tester is considered to be in the “New” state. It is the beginning of the bug life cycle. The tester gives the development team a proper defect document so that they can refer to it and fix the fault as necessary.
2. ASSIGNED: Defects with the status “New” will be approved, and the development team will be given responsibility for working on and resolving the newly discovered defect. The status of the problem switches to “Assigned” when it is assigned to the development team.
3. OPEN: In this “Open” stage, the issue is being worked on by the developer team in an effort to fix the bug. If the development team determines that a fault is not appropriate for any reason, it is moved to either a “Rejected” or “Deferred” state.
4. FIXED: The developer team identifies a bug or makes necessary code changes, then labels the status as “Fixed.”
5. PENDING RETEST: After the defect has been fixed, the developer team sends a new code to the testing team for another test. Additionally, the code or application is awaiting retesting on the tester’s end, therefore the status is set to “Pending Retest.”
6. RETESTED: At this point, the status is changed to “Retesting” as the tester begins the process of retesting the defect to determine whether it has been resolved by the developer or not.
7. REOPEN: If the tester team discovers that the bug persists after the developer team has fixed it, the bug’s status is once more updated to “Reopened.” Bug enters the “Open” state once more and repeats the life cycle. This indicates that the developer team should repair it again.
8. VERIFIED: The tester re-tests the bug after the programming team has fixed it, and if the tester does not discover any defects or bugs, the bug is fixed and given the status “Verified.”
9. CLOSED: It is the last stage of the defect cycle; after the developer team has fixed the bug and testing has shown that the bug has been fixed and does not persist, the defect is marked as being in the “Closed” state.
10. REFUSED: If the development team decides that a defect is not a true defect, they mark it as “Rejected” and change the status. Any one of these three reasons—duplicate defects, defects that aren’t defects, and non-reproducibility—can be the reason for rejection.
11. DEFERRED: All flaws have an adverse effect on the software that has been built, and they also have a level based on that impact. The developer team may designate the status as “Deferred” if they believe that the reported fault is not urgent and can be fixed in upcoming upgrades or releases. This indicates that the current faulty life cycle will be ended.
12. DUPLICATE: When a fault repeats itself again or is identical to another flaw, it may occasionally be designated as a duplicate and thus rejected.
13. NOT A DEFECT: If the flaw has no bearing on how the software performs in other ways, it is rejected and tagged as “NOT A DEFECT.”
14. NON-REPRODUCIBLE: Developers designate defects as Non-Reproducible if they cannot be recreated because of a platform mismatch, data mismatch, build mismatch, or any other issue.
15. CAN’T BE FIXED: The developer team will identify a problem as “Can’t be fixed” if it is impossible to fix it for any reason, including lack of technical support, high repair costs, a lack of necessary skills, or any other cause.
16. NEED MORE INFORMATION: ‘Non-reproducible’ state is quite close to this one. But it’s not like that at all. Developer teams can alter their status to “Need more information” if they are unable to reproduce a bug because the testers’ instructions or documentation were insufficient or the defect document was unclear. The development team starts working on the problem fix after the tester team submits a quality defect document.

What are the Advantages of the Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing?

Numerous benefits are offered by the bug life cycle. Mentioned below:

• Early Detection: Bugs can be found and dealt with early on, reducing their influence on the system, by adhering to the Bug Life Cycle.
• Clear Visibility: The Life Cycle offers a systematic framework that enables stakeholders, testers, and developers to clearly understand the state and development of the defect.
• Effective Communication: Effective communication is made possible by each stage of the cycle, including issue reporting, triaging, fixing, and confirming, which guarantees that everyone is on the same page.
• Better Tracking: The Life Cycle helps monitor the history of the defect, including its genesis, reproduction steps, assigned developers, and resolution information, making it simpler to spot trends and patterns.
• Quality Control: A systematic technique makes sure that bugs are thoroughly tested, corrected, and retested, improving the software’s overall quality and dependability.

What are the Disadvantages of the Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing?

The drawbacks of the Bug Life Cycle are:

• It takes time to complete each stage of the bug life cycle, which includes identification, reporting, reproduction, fixing, and verification. Each step takes time and effort, which can considerably slow down the bug-fixing process.
• Lack of Clarity: Team members may become confused as a result of unclear bug life cycle standards or established practices. This uncertainty may lead to misunderstandings and a lack of cooperation, which would impede the bug-resolving procedure.
• Cost Increases: The longer bug life cycle may result in higher project expenses. The longer it takes to find and resolve a bug, the more time, people, and equipment are needed, which affects the budget as a whole.
• Customer Dissatisfaction: Customers may become frustrated and angry if bugs last for a long time as a result of life cycle delays. This may lead to unfavorable evaluations, lost business prospects, and damage to the reputation of the company or product.
• Bug severity can increase if it is not fixed right away, which can have an effect on other parts of the software or system. Increased debugging efforts and potential functionality disruptions may result from this.

In the next article, I am going to discuss Severity and Priority in Software Testing. Here, in this article, I try to explain Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing. I hope you enjoy this Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing article.