What is a Bug Report?

What is effective bug reporting? Every software developer has thought on this issue at least once in his life. The question is actually not as simple as it may sound. The process of bug tracking is one of the hardest stages of every software development project. That is because of the problem’s specifics. Bugs are actually errors in the initial code. They can be detected only in the process of testing or after the product is delivered to the customer and final users. The second option is completely unacceptable. That is why the developers have to test their product constantly during the work. In some methodologies testing is conducted only at the final stage of work, but this does not change the main principle of bug detection. To detect bugs it is necessary to test your product. Before answering the question what bug reporting in software testing actually is, we should find out what a bug tracking process is.

Most software developers agree that bug tracking is a process required for successful completion of every small or large software development project. Its main idea is to detect bugs and fix them. But the structure of this process is more complex than you may think. Usually it includes four stages. The first stage is the stage of initial testing. It is required to find bugs. At the second stage the bugs are placed in special list and prioritized according to their importance for the final product. The third stage is about fixing all bugs. At the fourth stage the new functionality is tested to be sure that there were no new bugs added during the process of bug fixing.

As we can see, the bug tracking process is necessary to create high quality software. Now, as we have described the significance of bug tracking, let’s look in greater detail at bug reports in software testing.

A bug report is actually one of the phases of product testing. The developers usually write bug reports after the bug was detected. The main task of these reports is to document the bugs and avoid their reappearance in the future. Bug reports also help the developers track bugs. They include information on the date of bug detection, the person who detected it, the type of bug, the person who fixed it, and lots of other information. These data is usually placed in a special bug list. In case if a similar bug occurs in the future the developers should view this list, find the person who fixed the previous bug, and ask him to repeat this experience. Bug reporting is a useful practice that allows to your team save the valuable time for other tasks and to avoid similar bugs in the future or fix them very easy.

To understand better what is bug reporting in software testing it is necessary to describe all the details of a proper bug report. All of them are necessary to fix the bug and avoid its occurrence in the future.

Every bug report must contain the following information.

1. ID of the bug

The number is required to make it simpler to find all the information about this bug in the future.

2. Description of the bug

This row contains all information on the type of bug and its impact on the final product.

3. Version of the product

To fix the bug it is necessary to know the product version.

4. Steps of bug fixing

This includes the description of steps necessary to fix the product.

5. Date

The date when the bug was detected is also very important.

6. The developer who made the report

This row includes the data of the person who detected the bug.

7. Status

Here you should write down the current status of the bug like “fixed” or “new”.

8. The developer who fixed the bug

The data of a person who fixed the bug are written here.

9. Priority

This row includes information on the importance of the bug.