Severity and Priority in Software Testing

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Severity and Priority in Software Testing

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

1. What is Severity in Software Testing?
2. Explain Bug Severity Levels in Software Testing
3. What is the Priority in Software Testing?
4. Explain Bug Priority Levels in Software Testing
5. Example of Severity and Priority in Software Testing
6. How Can I Tell How Serious a Defect Is?
7. Guidelines to Check the Severity Level in Software Testing
8. Difference Between Severity and Priority in Software Testing
9. What are the Advantages of Severity?
10. What are the Disadvantages of Severity?
11. What are the Advantages of Priority?
12. What are the Disadvantages of Priority?

What is Severity in Software Testing?

A defect’s severity is determined by how much of an impact it can have on the software. The parameter of “severity” indicates how much the flaw affects the software’s functionality. The system’s impact that a problem can have is determined by its severity. In essence, how severe it is. For instance, a fault that causes an application to crash will be deemed much more serious than one that causes a simple spelling error. The degree to which a flaw affects the program or system’s functionality is referred to as its severity. It gauges the severity of the problem based on how it will affect the customer or the company.

Four categories—low, minor, major, and critical—are used to categorize it. The severity level assigned to a defect aids the development team in appreciating the seriousness of the problem and setting priorities for their work.

Explain Bug Severity Levels in Software Testing

The Bug Severity Levels are:

• LOW – As the name implies, these bugs don’t seriously impact the system. Despite being unharmful, they are nonetheless valid and must be eliminated.
• MINOR – These issues do have an impact on the system. Do not, however, impose any limitations on how it operates. Although the system may act in an unpleasant way, it still continues to operate.
• MAJOR – These bugs do not bring down the entire system either. However, the main components of it are hampered. The system’s fundamental operations would be disturbed.
• CRITICAL – These faults run the risk of bringing the system to a complete stop. Or impact the application in a way that prevents the user from moving on to the subsequent task. These pests require prompt care.

What is the Priority in Software Testing?

Priority is a factor that determines the sequence in which a fault should be corrected. Fixing the defect with the highest importance should come first. The urgency of the problem fix is determined by the priority. Consider the flaw of the logo not being presented clearly as an example. In terms of technical significance, this problem is not severe. Even so, it would be given higher importance than some flaws involving word overlap on non-essential pages like “about us” or “contact us” pages.

The development team should address or correct issues in the order listed by priority. It considers elements including company demands, customer needs, project restrictions, and strategic goals and shows the importance and urgency of fixing a specific problem. The priority given to a defect aids the development team in effectively allocating resources and ensuring that urgent problems are resolved without delay. Priority can be broken down into three categories: High, Medium, and Low.

Explain Bug Priority Levels in Software Testing

The Bug Priority Levels are:

• HIGH – This flaw requires immediate attention since it could cause the system to completely fail. Such flaws should be resolved as soon as possible. A delay in determining the answer could have a negative impact on the system. resulting frequently in additional difficulties
• MEDIUM – These problems don’t interfere with the system’s operation. These issues can be resolved concurrently with the testing and design phases. Although these flaws definitely require fixing, they do not require any immediate attention.
• LOW – The priority level for these problems is the lowest. Once the developer has finished fixing the high and medium-priority bugs, these are fixed.

Example of Severity and Priority in Software Testing

In order to identify which defect requires immediate attention and which one is the least, the priority and severity are combined in four different methods. To further clarify this idea, let’s look at some examples from the real world.

Examples of High Priority and High Severity

1. On the payment page of an e-commerce website, the items placed in the cart are hidden.
2. The application’s login button is broken.

Examples of High Priority and Low Severity

1. The company’s welcome page’s logo is deformed.
2. The information on the page appears fuzzy or the action buttons are not aesthetically appealing.

Examples of High and Low-Priority Situations

1. If sending excessively huge input for processing causes the application to crash (which is done very infrequently).
2. On the webpage, certain buttons are overlapping one another. Despite being clickable, are making a scene.

Examples of Low Priorities and Low Severities

1. On a page of a website that isn’t usually viewed, there is a spelling error.
2. Any text’s color does not go with the website’s overall theme.

How Can I Tell How Serious a Defect Is?

• Analyze the frequency of occurrence: In some cases, a small code defect’s severity may be exacerbated if it occurs frequently. Because of this, even a minor problem appears more serious from the user’s perspective.
• Isolate the fault: Isolating the issue might help determine the severity of the impact.

Mention the guidelines to check the Severity Level in Software Testing

Each tester should look over the following recommendations before selecting a severity level. The product manager or the triage team assesses the priority parameter, whereas the tester evaluates the severity parameter. It is crucial for a tester to choose the correct severity when prioritizing a defect in order to reduce confusion with the development team.

• Recognize the significance and seriousness of the ideas of priority and severity.
• Always assign a problem a severity rating based on its categorization, as this will affect its priority.
• Recognize the impact on the end-user of a certain circumstance or Test Case.
• Given the complexity of the error, it’s critical to consider how long it will take to fix it and how long it will take to verify it.

Difference Between Severity and Priority in Software Testing

Priority and severity are two crucial ideas in software testing that aid in managing and prioritizing errors or problems discovered during the testing process. Here is a table showing how severity and priority differ from one another:

	Severity	Priority
Definition	The significance or importance of a flaw or problem	The sequence in which a flaw or problem needs to be fixed
Focus	The extent to which the flaw impacts the system	When the flaw needs to be fixed
Evaluation	Based on what the tester or testing team decides	The project’s stakeholders decide
Example	A serious flaw that results in system failure	A minor flaw that has little effect on users
Importance	Assists in evaluating the effect on system quality.	Aids in resource allocation and scheduling
Goal	Determining the degree of risk a defect poses	Ensuring prompt response in accordance with project needs

What are the Advantages of Severity?

In software testing, “severity” refers to the significance or gravity of a flaw or problem discovered during testing. The following are some benefits of taking severity into account when evaluating software:

• Prioritization: Defects can be ranked according to their severity, ensuring that the most important ones are fixed first and lowering the system’s total risk.
• Risk assessment: By comprehending the severity, teams can evaluate any risks connected to the faults and decide whether to release or deploy the program.
• User satisfaction: Fixing serious flaws enhances user pleasure by resolving urgent problems that can impair or interrupt system functionality.
• Resource allocation: By focusing on critical flaws, severity aids in effective resource allocation and enables developers and testers to focus their efforts appropriately.
• Severity identification helps identify regions that require extra testing and enables the creation of test cases that concentrate on crucial functionalities, which improves test coverage.

What are the Disadvantages of Severity?

The drawbacks of Severity are:

• A focus on severity too much can cause less serious but nonetheless significant flaws to be overlooked.
• If you only consider defect severity, you could miss their underlying causes.
• It could result in a biased approach where issues of lower severity are not given the attention they deserve.
• High-severity problems may receive disproportionate amounts of time and resources, which could have an impact on testing coverage overall.
• Ignoring minor problems might affect the user experience and the general quality of the software.

What are the Advantages of Priority?

The following are some benefits of taking priority into account when evaluating software:

• Early identification of critical defects.
• Improved overall product quality.
• Efficient utilization of testing resources.
• Enhanced customer satisfaction.
• Timely release of high-priority features.

What are the Disadvantages of Priority?

The drawbacks of Priority are:

• Overemphasis on priority may lead to neglecting non-priority issues, resulting in unresolved defects.
• Limited focus on high-priority items can lead to reduced test coverage and overlook critical functionalities.
• Prioritizing solely based on urgency can compromise the overall quality and stability of the software.
• Neglecting lower-priority items may impact user experience and satisfaction.
• The absence of a balanced approach may hinder long-term product improvement and innovation.

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