Defect Life Cycle In Software Testing

This article will explain What Is Defect Life Cycle In Software Testing, including its Process, Diagram or Flowchart, Stages, Difference Between Bug And Defect, Bug Life Cycle In Game Testing, Priority Severity, Tools, Rejected and more. It will also show you Examples to help you understand it.

“The Defect Life Cycle is the journey of a bug from its birth to its closure, ensuring a smooth development process and delivering high-quality software products.”

What Is Defect Life Cycle In Software Testing

In this section we will see explanation of defect life cycle.

The Defect Life Cycle is the process that a software defect or bug goes through from the time it is discovered to the time it is fixed.

it is the sequence of stages a software bug goes through, from identification to resolution.

An integral part of software testing is the Defect Life Cycle, also known as the Bug Life Cycle. It represents the various steps taken to fix a software bug once it has been discovered.

In order to manage and track the progress of defect resolution, software development teams must have a thorough understanding of the Defect Life Cycle. The Defect Life Cycle, Explained

Key Defect States

Defect Life Cycle Process

Once we get to know what is defect life cycle, now we will see process of it thoroughly.

The Defect Life Cycle Process, also called the Bug Life Cycle, shows the different steps that a software defect or bug goes through from the time it is found to the time it is fixed.

It is a methodical approach that software development and testing teams use to manage and keep track of bugs.

The Defect Life Cycle Process is thoroughly explained here:

• In the first phase, called “defect identification,” a problem is discovered by a tester. This can occur in a number of ways, including through testing by humans, testing by machines, or through direct input from customers.
• Reporting Defects: Once a problem has been found, the tester will record it in a bug tracking tool or defect tracking system. Description, impact, priority, reproducibility, discovery context, and more are all included in this report.
• Defect Triage entails the evaluation of reported issues by the development and testing teams. Based on the defect’s importance and impact, they determine its severity and priority. Priority indicates how urgent the problem is, while severity describes how serious it is.
• Defect Assignment: Following triage, the defect is given to the most qualified developer to address it. The developer reads through the bug report and tries to piece together what’s going on.
• Defect Resolution: During this phase, the developer in charge of fixing the issue works on it. After making the necessary code changes, the developer will mark the issue as “Fixed” and send it back to the testing group for review.
• Verifying a Defect means that after a problem has been fixed, the testing team checks to see if any new problems have arisen as a result of the fix. The defect is marked as “Verified” if it can no longer be reproduced and the resolution was successful.
• Closure of the Defect: Following verification of the defect, the process moves on to closure. The development team updates the defect tracking system to reflect the successful resolution of the issue.
• Reopening of a Defect: Occasionally, a previously confirmed bug will reappear in the system as a result of insufficient or ineffective fixes. If this occurs, the developer must fix the issue again, restarting the cycle.

Defect Life Cycle Flow Chart | Defect Life Cycle Diagram In Testing

We understood what is defect life cycle and its process now lets see flowchart to help you understand better.

The Defect Life Cycle flow chart or diagram shows the different stages that a defect goes through during its lifecycle. It gives a visual representation of the defect management process.

1. While testing software test engineer finds any defect then test engineer will login to defect tracking tool, prepare defect report by giving unique effect ID
2. By default status of defect will be new or open and test engineer will communicate defect to developer lead by keeping cc to test lead
3. Developer Lead will assign defect to development engineer and change status of defect from new or open to assign and keep cc to test lead and test engineer
4. Developer will fix the defect and change status of defect from assigned to fix and send the defect to test engineer by giving cc to the developer lead and test lead
5. Test engineer will retest the defect if the defect is really fixed then test engineer will change the status of defect from fixed to closed and send a mail to development engineer by keeping CC to test lead and developer lead stating defect is closed.
6. suppose if defect is not fixed then test engineer will change status of defect from fixed to reopen and send mail to developer lead by keeping cc to test lead stating defect is reopened this entire process is called as defect life cycle

Stages Of Defect Life Cycle

The stages of the defect life cycle are as follows:

1. Defect Identification
2. Defect Reporting
3. Defect Triage
4. Defect Assignment
5. Defect Resolution
6. Defect Verification
7. Defect Closure
8. Defect Reopening (Optional)

These stages show the order in which a defect moves from being found to being fixed, ensuring a methodical and organised approach to managing defects during software development and testing.

Difference Between Bug And Defect

When referring to issues or problems in a software programme, the terms “bug” and “defect” are frequently used interchangeably. However, there are a few key distinctions between the two:

Read More Here: Difference Between Bug And Defect

Defect Life Cycle Example

Scenario: Let’s consider a scenario involving a web-based e-commerce platform.

1. Defect Identification: During the testing phase, a tester discovers a defect where users cannot add items to their shopping cart. When the “Add to Cart” button is clicked, nothing happens.
2. Defect Reporting: The tester logs the defect into the defect tracking system, providing detailed steps to reproduce the issue, browser details, and the website version.
3. Defect Triage: The defect report is reviewed by the development and testing team. Since the defect affects core e-commerce functionality, it is assigned a high severity and priority.
4. Defect Assignment: The defect is assigned to a developer who specializes in the shopping cart and checkout functionality.
5. Defect Resolution: The developer investigates the issue and identifies a JavaScript error that prevents the “Add to Cart” functionality from working. They modify the code to fix the error and restore the button’s functionality.
6. Defect Verification: The testing team retests the “Add to Cart” functionality and confirms that the button now functions as expected, adding items to the shopping cart.
7. Defect Closure: The testing team marks the defect as “Closed” in the defect tracking system after successful verification. The defect is considered resolved.

In order to avoid repeating the same mistakes, the development team has put in place a number of preventative measures, such as code reviews and automated unit tests, which are used to identify problems at an early stage in the development process.

User Interface Improvement: The design team evaluates the website’s usability and layout to improve the user experience. They spot potential misunderstandings and work to make the “Add to Cart” button more prominent and responsive.

User Interface Improvement: To ensure the website’s responsiveness, especially during peak traffic times, the development team runs performance tests.

Cross-Browser Testing: The testing team conducts thorough cross-browser testing to ensure that the e-commerce platform is compatible with a wide variety of web browsers and devices.

Security Testing: The team also performs security testing to locate and repair flaws that could lead to security-related issues.

Bug Life Cycle Purpose

A bug life cycle is a set of statuses that help keep track of problems. A bug’s status helps keep everyone on the development team up to date on how things are going.

Defect Life Cycle Priority Severity

Defect Life Cycle Priority and Severity are two crucial factors used in defect management during software testing. They help prioritise and fix bugs based on their impact and importance.

Term	Description	Purpose
Defect Priority	Represents the level of urgency or importance assigned to a defect.	Helps prioritize defects for timely resolution.
Defect Severity	Indicates the impact and seriousness of a defect on the software’s quality.	Guides the development team on the order of fixing defects.

Here’s a quick rundown of each:

Defect Priority:

• Priority refers to the level of urgency or importance assigned to a defect.
• It helps determine the order in which defects should be addressed and fixed.
• Defect Priority is typically set by project managers, product owners, or stakeholders based on the potential impact on the overall project or user experience.
• Priority levels can be categorized as Low, Medium, High, or Critical.

Defect Severity:

• Severity refers to the extent of impact that a defect has on the software’s functionality or performance.
• It represents the seriousness of the defect and its potential to disrupt the normal operation of the software.
• Defect Severity is usually determined by testers and QA teams during the defect identification and reporting stage.
• Severity levels can be categorized as Low, Medium, High, or Critical.

Defect Life Cycle Tools

Here we listing some popular Defect Life Cycle Tools:

Defect Life Cycle Tool	Description	Key Features
Jira	Widely used bug tracking tool with robust issue tracking and workflow customization.	Agile project management, integration with other tools, extensive plugin support.
Bugzilla	Open-source bug tracking system with simple defect tracking features.	Email notifications, custom fields, reporting capabilities.
MantisBT	User-friendly open-source defect tracking tool.	Support for multiple projects, custom workflows, collaboration features.
Redmine	Flexible project management and bug tracking tool.	Issue tracking, time tracking, wiki, document management.
YouTrack	Comprehensive issue tracking and project management tool.	Customizable workflows, agile boards, integration with version control.
Trello	Visual project management tool adaptable for defect tracking.	Boards, lists, cards for organization, collaboration features.
GitLab	Complete DevOps platform with built-in issue tracking.	Integration with version control, continuous integration, and delivery.
HP ALM/Quality Center	Enterprise-level defect tracking and management tools.	Comprehensive defect tracking features, part of HP ALM suite.
TestRail	Test management tool with defect tracking capabilities.	Unified platform for managing test cases and defects.

Defect Life Cycle Rejected

Here we wll see Reasons for Defect rejected.

1. Because of misunderstanding of requirements.
2. When the build or software is wrongly configured or wrongly installed.
3. Because of reffering old requirements.
4. Because of adding extra feature

Final Words

So Here we have learned What Is Defect Life Cycle In Software Testing, including its Process, Diagram or Flowchart, Stages, Difference Between Bug And Defect, Bug Life Cycle In Game Testing, Priority Severity, Tools, Defect Rejected and more. It will also show you Examples to help you understand it.

Frequently Asked Questions