Bug Tracking & Management
Effective bug tracking ensures issues are found, documented, prioritized, and resolved systematically. It's a critical part of maintaining software quality.
The Bug Lifecycle
BUG LIFECYCLE
=============
New --> Assigned --> In Progress --> Fixed --> Verified --> Closed
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
v v v v v v
Report Developer Developer Developer Tester Done
found assigned working fix ready confirms closed
Possible states:
- New: Just reported
- Assigned: Developer assigned
- In Progress: Being worked on
- Fixed: Fix submitted
- Verified: Fix confirmed working
- Closed: Issue resolved
- Reopened: Fix didn't work
Writing Good Bug Reports
BUG REPORT TEMPLATE
===================
Title: [Clear, concise summary]
Environment:
- Browser: Chrome 120
- OS: Windows 11
- Version: 2.1.0
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Login to the application
2. Navigate to Settings
3. Click "Delete Account"
4. Click "Confirm"
Expected Result:
Account is deleted and user is logged out.
Actual Result:
Error 500 appears, account remains active.
Severity: Critical
Priority: High
Attachments: [screenshot.png, console_log.txt]
Severity vs Priority
+----------+--------------------------------------------+
| | PRIORITY |
| +----------+----------+----------+-----------+
| | High | Medium | Low | |
+----------+----------+----------+----------+-----------+
| Critical | Fix NOW | Fix NOW | Fix soon | |
| Severe | Fix soon | Fix soon | Schedule | |
| Moderate | Fix soon | Schedule | Backlog | |
| Minor | Schedule | Backlog | Backlog | |
+----------+----------+----------+----------+-----------+
Severity: How badly does it impact the system?
Priority: How urgently should it be fixed?
Bug Tracking Tools
- Jira: Industry standard for issue tracking
- GitHub Issues: Integrated with GitHub repos
- GitLab Issues: Built into GitLab
- Bugzilla: Open-source bug tracker
- Linear: Modern, developer-friendly tracker
Key Takeaways
- Follow a clear bug lifecycle from report to resolution
- Write detailed bug reports with reproduction steps
- Distinguish between severity (impact) and priority (urgency)
- Use tracking tools to maintain visibility on issues