Defect Tracking

QA can start testing once SCM starts delivering builds, especially once the builds are delivered on a regular basis. During testing using the defined Strategies described in the ‘Testing Methodology’ section, the tester may discover certain deviations from the intended behavior. This deviation is termed as a defect. Hence a defect maybe defined as “a deviation of a system or component from specified or expected behavior”.

After encountering what appears to be a defect, the first step is to replicate it.

• Repeat the steps leading to the problem. Also try quitting and re-launching, or rebooting, and then repeating the steps.
• Always start from a known state (e.g. launch the application).
• After you have a repeatable sequence of steps that replicate the problem, try to narrow it down.
• Try to eliminate steps that are not required to reproduce the problem.
• Eliminate dependencies on input methods (e.g. keyboard shortcuts vs. mouse actions).
• Replicate it on a second machine.
• Determine if it is platform dependent or a cross platform issue.
• Determine if this is a general problem or specific to this feature.
• Determine if this problem is file dependent or can be replicated in a new file.
If it is not obvious that it is a bug (ambiguous feature behavior), as opposed to a system failure or a graphic output problem, check the Functional Requirements or Use Cases. If the behavior is still unclear, talk to the QA Manager or Supervisor or other team members or the developer responsible for the feature.
It is also helpful to determine when the bug was introduced. This can help the developers determine if recent changes made in an associated area created a new bug.

For more software testing definitions, please go here