This is the 4th day of my participation in the August More Text Challenge

The goal of software testing is to ensure that software should remain error-free. Software testers achieve this goal by finding bugs with minimal time and effort, while ensuring that the software meets customer requirements. A good engineer can identify as many errors as possible, but finding them is just a starting point. An error must go through several stages to reach a final solution. It is the responsibility of the test engineer to correct errors and follow up further. Had he mastered the software error lifecycle, he would have done it efficiently. Or what we call the defect life cycle.

Next, each organization may have a custom implementation of the error lifecycle that fits its testing requirements. Therefore, the entire process should be well documented and clearly communicated to the test team.

The entire life cycle of errors can be long. From defect detection to proven fixes, the process may require the participation of testers, developers, and other stakeholders, such as team leaders and project managers. Therefore, the duration of the software error life cycle directly affects the overall testing effort and should be clearly defined. Without a clear definition or understanding, product managers and senior management may come up with unrealistic predictions about the time and resources required to test the software.

Without a clear definition or understanding, product managers and senior management may come up with unrealistic predictions about the time and resources required to test the software. Before we continue, check out some of our best posts on QA and automated testing interview questions.

Now let’s take a quick look at the life cycle of a typical bug, answer a few questions, and review some software tools to ensure a smooth and efficient process. To sum up, we will discuss the following points in the next section.

Software Error lifecycle (Jira and Bugzilla)

Q – 1. What is the software defect life cycle?

answer

This is a cyclical process that defects go through in their lifetime. It starts with the tester recording the error and ends when he decides to turn it off after thorough validation. Thus, the software defect life cycle is related to defects found during testing.

Q – 2. List the most popular error tracking solutions available?

answer

Testers in the testing community mostly use the following two software tools.

  • Bugzilla error tracking system.
  • Jira allows error tracking, problem monitoring, and project handling.

Both tools help reduce downtime, improve productivity and communication, and improve customer satisfaction.

Both Jira and Bugzilla have their default versions of the software error lifecycle, but they differ slightly. These solutions always allow you to change phases based on the structure of the test framework.

Take a look at the following snapshots of the two most popular defect tracking solutions. We tried to simplify the phases and put all complexity aside so that you could easily remember the defect life cycle steps.

Q – 3. What are the different phases of the software error life cycle?

The answer to a software error may be in one of the following states.

  • Potential defects first entered by new testers are by default in a new state.

  • Assigned — When a defect is documented by the tester, the technical lead confirms the error and assigns it to the appropriate developer on the development team. The defect then enters the assigned state.

  • Ongoing – The developer has begun to resolve the bug and is currently investigating the problem. At this point, there are two possibilities, either delay or refuse.

  • ** Resolved – ** The development team has fixed the defect and is ready for testing.

  • Validated – The QA team has tested the bug with the latest version and the tester has confirmed that the bug has been fixed.

  • Off – It is the end state of an error in the life cycle. The tester can turn it off after retesting, or if he finds it duplicates or considers it not a defect.

  • Re-open if the error persists even after the developer fixes it. Tester changes the state to re-open. And again, the error goes through the same lifecycle.

  • Latency When there is no room to resolve a defect in a particular error lifecycle, you can move it to a future release.

  • Rejection Any stakeholder may ignore or discard errors for any of three reasons. That is –

    • Repeat defects,
    • It’s not a defect,
    • Cannot be copied.