Introduction
Bug/defect is unexpected behavior of the software. When the defect is found by a software tester, the same undergoes a process which is known as the “Defect Life Cycle”. To close the bug/defect, it should go through a cycle.
The purpose of the defect life cycle is to track the status of the defect raised by a QA. It makes the coordination and communication of Developers and QA better. Defect Life Cycle makes the process of defect fixing highly systematic and efficient.
Status of a defect life cycle:
There are different statuses in the defect life cycle according to which the bug is moved, it may little vary on the tools Jira, Qc, and Bugzilla but the process remains the same. The status of the defect maintains the clarity of the bug between the QA and the developing team. Also, by such a procedure Testing team has an idea of when to conduct retesting on the bugs raised and fixed by developers. It defines the present state in which the defect is undergoing. The ultimate goal of the defect status is to precisely expose the progress of the bug for better tracking of the same.
Let us discuss all the status of a defect in detail and also which status is used when:
1) New
When the tester logs a new defect, the status is assigned as “NEW”
2) Open
When the defect is logged and if it is assigned to the developers then the developers will start to work on the defect until the defect is fixed it will be in Open status.
3) Fixed
When the developer fixes the defect then the status of the defect is changed to “Fixed”.
4) Retest
When the developer fixed the defect then the testers started to Retest the defect. In this state, the status of the defect may go to the below status,
> Deferred
> Rejected
> Duplicate
Deferred if the defect can be considered for the future version
Rejected if it is not a defect, and
Duplicate if the defect is duplicated with the existing one. For all this stage testers should review the status and take the appropriate action to accept the status of the defect.
5) Closed
After the verification of the bug, if no more issues are found then the bug is assigned the status of “Closed”.
6) Reopen
This is the crucial status, if the defect is not fixed and if the testers moved the bug to reopen then developers need to seriously look at the bug to accept whether it should be reopened or not. Because the reopening of the ticket tends to developers' code quality. If the bug is reopened then it follows the Open-Fixed life cycle again.