Defect life cycle or Bug life cycle

Understand the Defect Life Cycle or Bug Life Cycle with key stages, tracking methods, and processes to ensure efficient software testing and quality delivery.

What is the Defect life cycle? 

Defect life cycle is the life cycle of a defect or bug refer  to its entire state starting from a new defect detected and  to end closing of that defect. As it ensures that the final product is of high quality and meets customer expectations. Defect life is also known as bug life cycle. 

A bug life cycle is the step-by-step process a software bug  goes through from the moment it's found to the moment  it's fixed. This process helps teams keep track of bugs and  fix them in an organized way. 

Finding bugs early is important because it gives  developers a chance to fix them right away, before they  become bigger problems or harder to remove from the  code. 

The importance of a bug life cycle 

The bug life cycle takes time and involves testers,  developers, and project managers. In big projects, QA  teams often use tools to help manage bugs. Even though it  takes effort, this process helps both development and  testing teams by:

• Giving structure to how bugs are handled 

• Making sure critical issues aren’t missed 

• Improving communication between team members  and stakeholders 

• Keeping track of software quality over time • Creating a clear, repeatable way to manage bugs 

Bug life cycle

What is a bug status? 

A bug status shows where a bug is in its journey from the  moment it's found to when it’s fixed and closed. It helps  the team track progress and know who’s responsible for  what. Common statuses include: 

• New: The bug was just reported. No one has looked  at it yet. 

• Assigned: Someone (usually a developer) is now  working on it. 

• In Progress: The fix is being made. 

• Fixed: The bug is resolved, but not verified yet. 

• In Testing: QA is checking to make sure the fix  actually works. 

• Closed: QA confirmed the bug is fixed. It’s done. • Reopened: The bug came back or wasn’t fully fixed. 

Bug status essentially "tell the story" of the entire bug life  cycle.

Defects raised by the Tester need to be tracked till they  get closed  

Status of the defect changes as phases / activities such as  Review, Retesting get completed  

New : When a defect is logged and posted for the first  time it's status is “New”  

Opened: After tester has reported the bug, the test lead  reviews the defect  

If Defect is genuine its status is changed to “Open” else it  is marked as “Closed”  

After Defect is in Open status development Lead reviews  the Defects  

 If similar defect is already logged by another Tester  then such defect  

is marked as “Duplicate” and it gets “Closed”  immediately  

 If defect is agreed to be resolved in the next release by  all  

stakeholders then such defect is marked as “Deferred” and  considered when defect fixes for next release start 

Assign : Valid defects get assigned to the developer to  provide fix  

Fixed: When developer makes necessary code changes  and verifies the changes are working then such defect  status is marked as 'Fixed' 

Retesting is a phase / activity carried out by Tester to  check whether code fix provided is working correctly  

 If code fix is working then status of such defect is  changed to “Closed”  

 If code fix is NOT working then status of such defect is  changed to “Reject Fix”.  

Such defects gets reviewed and re-assigned again  

In Regression Testing already passed test cases are  executed and may result in  

 Finding some defects which were already closed  Such defects are re-opened and tracked till they get closed   Finding new defects

Critical bug criteria to keep in mind 

Not every bug is critical. But when one is, you need to act fast. A critical bug usually meets one or more of these  conditions: 

• Breaks a core feature: Something essential, like login or payment, stops working. 

• Blocks testing or release: Testers can’t continue or a  release is halted. 

• Causes data loss or corruption: User or system data is at risk. 

• Affects a large number of users: Widespread impact  = high priority. 

• Security risk: Sensitive data can be exposed or hacked. 

If a bug hits one of these, it needs immediate attention. 

Challenges faced in the bug life cycle 

Common challenges in the bug life cycle include: 

• Too many bugs, not enough time: Teams can get overwhelmed, especially during crunch time.

• Poor prioritization: Not all bugs are equal. Without a clear system, teams might waste time on low-impact issues. 

• Miscommunication: Developers, testers, and PMs aren’t always aligned on the status, impact, or next steps. 

• Lack of tools or process: Without a structured workflow or tracking tool, bugs fall through the cracks. 

• Duplicate or unclear reports: Vague or repetitive bug reports slow everyone down. 

The more bugs you have, the more important it is to focus on the ones that matter most—and keep the process clean. 

Another Defect States available in Defect Life  Cycle 

The defect life cycle follows a structured workflow from  defect identification to resolution, with each state  representing a distinct phase in tracking, addressing, and  closing the issue. In addition to the core states mentioned 

above, the following additional states may also be part of  the process, providing defect resolution. 

1. Rejected: If the developer team rejects a defect if they  feel that defect is not considered a genuine defect, and  then they mark the status as ‘Rejected’. The cause of  rejection may be any of these three i.e Duplicate Defect,  NOT a Defect, Non-Reproducible. 

2. Deferred: All defects have a bad impact on developed  software and also they have a level based on their impact  on software. If the developer team feels that the defect  that is identified is not a prime priority and it can get fixed  in further updates or releases then the developer team can  mark the status as 'Deferred'. This means from the current  defect life cycle it will be terminated. 

3. Duplicate: Sometimes it may happen that the defect is  repeated twice or the defect is the same as any other  defect then it is marked as a 'Duplicate' state and then the  defect is 'Rejected'. 

4. Not a Defect: If the defect has no impact or effect on  other functions of the software then it is marked as 'NOT  A DEFECT' state and 'Rejected'.

5. Non-Reproducible: If the defect is not reproduced due  to platform mismatch, data mismatch, build mismatch, or  any other reason then the developer marks the defect as in  a 'Non-Reproducible' state. 

6. Can't be Fixed: If the developer team fails to fix the  defect due to Technology support, the Cost of fixing a bug  is more, lack of required skill, or due to any other reasons  then the developer team marks the defect as in 'Can't be  fixed' state. 

7. Need more information: This state is very close to the  'Non-reproducible' state. But it is different from that.  When the developer team fails to reproduce the defect due  to the steps/document provided by the tester being  insufficient or the Defect Document is not so clear to  reproduce the defect then the developer team can change  the status to “Need more information’. When the Tester  team provides a good defect document the developer team  proceeds to fix the bug.
 

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Author:-Prajakta Desai