Bug Life Cycle in Software Testing: Stages and Best Practices

Any software product under development will always have bugs. It’s vital to flag and report them so that the app’s performance or behavior can be fixed before it’s released for end use. The process by which these bugs are identified and resolved is known as the bug life cycle.

As you might imagine, fixing a bug is not as simple as sending a memo to the developers. However, it can be made as seamless as possible with the right tools and workflows.

One effective approach to catching and addressing bugs early is real device testing, which ensures that software is tested under real-world conditions instead of relying solely on emulators. This helps developers identify device-specific issues and optimize the app's performance across different platforms.

In this blog post, we’ll examine the bug life cycle in software development. We’ll discuss each step, avoiding potential pitfalls and using a continuous improvement approach to addressing software bugs.

But first of all –

What is a Bug?

A bug is any kind of error, flaw, or gap that causes the software to deviate from its expected behavior. It can arise due to unclear requirements, ill-defined use cases, or simply a mistake in the coding. A bug is also known as a defect. So you’ll see the words bug life cycle and defect life cycle used interchangeably in this blog post.

What Is a Bug Life Cycle?

The bug life cycle in software testing is the path traced by the bug from the moment of identification to its resolution. It’s divided into multiple stages that help developers track their progress in the debugging process. Every developer seeks to close the bug cycle as soon as possible to avoid deep code-level issues.

Stages of Bug Life Cycle in Testing

The exact number of stages in your bug life cycle will depend on the type of software project you’re working on. Here, we’ll give you an overview of all the possible options.

1. New
This is the status of any bug identified and flagged for the first time, documented in detail, and brought to the development team’s attention.

2. Assigned
This is the second step in the defect life cycle, where the bug is authorized and assigned to the development team, either to an individual developer or the lead, who will then pick a developer to assign it to.

3. Open
This is when the assigned developer runs tests on the bug to determine where the mistake is and how to repair it. If the defect is perceived as inappropriate, it’s moved to either the “Deferred” or the “Rejected” state.

4. Fixed
A bug is marked as “fixed” after the developer has made a code change and verified it.

5. Test
Now, the bug is tested to see if the error has been resolved.

6. Verified
The tester assigns this status to the bug if it can no longer be reproduced after the developer introduces fixes.

7. Closed
This is the final stage in the software bug life cycle, where the defect has been resolved. The goal is to reach this stage as soon as possible.

8. Reopen
This status is assigned if the bug recurs even after the resolution. If this happens, all the stages of the bug life cycle need to be repeated until the problem is solved.

9. Duplicate
This is when the same bug gets reported twice by mistake.

10. Deferred
If the bug isn’t of top priority or if there’s a plan to modify it in the next release of the software, the testing team might “defer” it. However, it’s important to note that high-priority bugs shouldn’t be deferred.

11. Rejected
This status is assigned if the bug is found to be a duplicate, not a defect, or non-reproducible. A non-reproducible bug may occur due to platform/data/build mismatch.

12. Cannot be fixed
In some cases, this status is assigned if the development team lacks the skills or resources or if fixing the bug is expensive.

13. Not a defect
If the bug doesn’t impact other app functions, this status is assigned. Ultimately, it’s “Rejected.”

14. Not reproducible
The development team assigns this state to the bug if it can’t be reproduced due to a platform/build mismatch, inconsistent defects, or an incomplete guideline defined by the tester. In the latter case, the development team can contact the tester for more details.

Challenges Faced in the Bug Cycle

Anytime you run a software defect life cycle, there are certain pitfalls to watch out for. These include:

• Time constraints – Discovering bugs too close to tight deadlines might not leave enough time for you to run the complete defect life cycle.

• Ambiguous reporting – It’s vital to report exactly what the bug looks like so that the developers can reproduce and solve it.

• Tool limitations – Without the right defect life cycle management tools, you run the risk of slower processes, excessive manual intervention, and poor documentation.

• Reopened bugs – As a consequence of the above challenges, you might find that bugs you thought were closed get reopened later, which extends the bug cycle unexpectedly and causes extra frustration.

Best Practices for Defect Life Cycle Management

As you can see, the bug life cycle can be as simple as running a test and fixing the code, as complicated as multiple cycles of testing, or even unable to manage the defect owing to resource constraints.

Here are our top tips for implementing a bug life cycle as smoothly as possible.

1. Always follow a format

A clear format for your bug report – where you note all the information about a bug – is critical for easy communication between your testers and the development team.

Ensure all necessary details about the bug are provided in an order, format, and syntax that all parties have approved. This makes it much easier to organize your reports and pull up relevant ones afterward for reference while avoiding delays due to misunderstandings.

2. Assign severities and priorities thoughtfully

Bug severity refers to the degree of damage that the bug can potentially cause. Bug priority denotes how important it is that the bug be fixed quickly.

How you assign these will determine how your teams allocate resources toward each bug, so make sure there are clear hierarchies of severity and priority that the testers stick to.

Critical Bug Criteria to Keep in Mind

1. Severity – Measures the impact of the bug on the system

– Critical
– High
– Medium
– Low

2. Priority (Urgency) – Indicates how soon the bug needs to be fixed

– High
– Medium
– Low

3. Reproducibility – Describes how consistently the bug can be reproduced

– Always Reproducible
– Intermittent
– Non-Reproducible
– Cannot Reproduce

4. Root Cause – Identifies the underlying reason for the bug

– Coding Error
– Design Flaw
– Configuration Issue
– User Error
– Third-Party Dependency
– Other

5. Bug Type – Categorizes the nature of the issue

– Functional Bug
– Performance Issue
– Usability Problem
– Security Vulnerability
– Compatibility Error
– UI/UX Defect
– Data Integrity Issue
– Other

6. Affected Areas (Impact Scope) – Specifies which features, modules, or components are impacted

7. Frequency of Occurrence – Indicates how often the bug appears

– Every Time
– Frequently
– Occasionally
– Rarely

Remember – the most severe bugs aren’t necessarily the most high-priority bugs! Sometimes, addressing less severe bugs and closing the defect life cycle makes more sense, leaving the more severe ones for resolution in later product iterations.

3. Use a tracking tool

A bug tracking tool has multiple features, such as metrics, dashboards, and notifications, to help you track each bug as it moves along the defect life cycle. It also keeps all teams in the loop about status changes and provides bug report templates that make documentation and reporting much easier.

The best part? This bug-tracking tool doesn’t have to be overly fancy or complicated. Popular project management software like Trello, Jira, and Redmine can help you have more visibility and transparency in your bug management process.

How to Ensure Continuous Improvement in the Bug Cycle

Now that you know how to explain the defect life cycle, it’s time to talk about continuous improvement. This is a popular approach in software development that involves – as the term suggests – continuous efforts to refine defect life cycle management for faster resolution. Here are some best practices we recommend.

1. Have clear taxonomies

As we mentioned earlier, it’s important to have clear hierarchies of bug severity and priority so that the testing team and the development team can agree on which bugs to work on first.

Similarly, you should have taxonomies about other aspects of the bug life cycle, such as bug reproducibility, impact area, frequency of occurrence, or bug type.

2. Conduct root cause analysis

Ideally, you’d want to keep bug occurrence (and reoccurrence) to a minimum. Root cause analysis involves studying the data on test runs and bug reports to see whether there is any underlying issue leading to the bugs. This approach makes for more permanent improvements, treating the condition rather than the symptoms.

3. Leverage CI/CD tools

This ensures that your bug life cycle becomes a seamless part of your broader software development pipeline, emphasizing fast problem resolution while maintaining product quality. For instance, continuous Integration (CI) helps catch regressions quickly, while Continuous Deployment (CD) ensures only stable, bug-free code reaches production.

Take Charge of Your Defect Management Life Cycle

A structured bug life cycle management system is key to delivering high-quality software your users will enjoy. Some bugs will take longer than others to fix or even prove impossible to fix, and that’s natural.

Your goal should be to learn from each defect life cycle and make systemic changes that improve the foundation of your software product and minimize the scope for bugs to occur. Document carefully, communicate constantly, and invest in appropriate tools – you’ll soon be on your way to fuss-free testing.

Source: This article was originally published at TestGrid.