_edited_edited.png)
Introduction:
Bug tracking is one of the most critical stages in the software development lifecycle. It is crucial for software organizations to be able to capture, attract, and resolve bugs throughout the entire development process to release bug-free software. With software quality being the top priority for IT organizations, using defect tracking tools has become the new norm.
What is a Bug Tracking System?
A bug tracking system is a set of protocols or lifecycles that refer to identifying, prioritizing, and supervising defects in software or online products. This system of processes is repeated until all the bugs are removed. It is essential to make the software free of bugs so that it can meet the expectations and needs of the user/users. As part of the larger enterprise testing strategy, it helps an organization stay ahead of competitors in the same segment.
This is an essential process for every software and product company, and each has a different bug-tracking toolkit. But overall, the intentions are the same, to eliminate bugs and ship quality releases. You can use a customized protocol that the organization has developed.
The Bug Tracking Process:
The bug tracking process involves multiple stages, right from detection during testing to fixing these bugs. Almost all bug tracking processes consist of five essential stages, which have been mentioned below:
1. Detection of Bugs
2. Flagging and Analyzing the Bug Impact
3. Assessment of the Root Cause
4. Bug Fixing and Testing
5. Reporting and Recording the Bug Data
Defect/Bug tracking tool
We have various types of bug tracking tools available in software testing that helps us to track the bug, which is related to the software or the application.
Some of the most commonly used bug tracking tools are as follows:
Jira
Bugzilla
BugNet
Redmine
Mantis
Trac
Backlog
Jira:
Jira is one of the most important bug tracking tools. Jira is an open-source tool that is used for bug tracking, project management, and issue tracking in manual testing. Jira includes different features, like reporting, recording, and workflow. In Jira, we can track all kinds of bugs and issues, which are related to the software and generated by the test engineer.
Bugzilla:
Bugzilla is an open-source defect tracking tool that helps you identify critical issues related to your product. It lets you plan, organize, and release software as per your own teams’ schedule.
Here are some of the key features of Bugzilla:
Advanced search system
Email notifications controlled by personal user preferences
File or modify bugs by email
Time tracking for timely bug resolution
Robust security to security vulnerabilities at bay
Easy customization for bug statuses and resolutions
Localized content based on supported languages
Bugzilla is easily understandable even for non-technical professionals and can be used for mobile application, desktop, and web application testing.
BugNet:
It is an open-source defect tracking and project issue management tool, which was written in ASP.NET and C# programming language and support the Microsoft SQL database. The objective of BugNet is to reduce the complicity of the code that makes the deployment easy.
The feature of BugNet tool are as follows:
It will provide excellent security with simple navigation and administration.
BugNet supports various projects and databases.
With the help of this tool, we can get the email notification.
This has the capability to manage the Project and milestone.
This tool has an online support community
Redmine:
Redmine is an open source issue tracking and project management tool written in Ruby language. The tool allows software professionals to manage multiple projects and issues that may arise during any phase of development.
Some of the main features of Redmine include:
Supports a lot of plugins, making it customizable, flexible, and easy to learn
Keeps track of multiple projects
Easily customizable with templates, dashboards, and advanced settings
Allows you to set different roles and permissions
Helps track the time that has been spent on the issues
Supports visual reporting using graphs and charts
Lets users publish news related to the project or any other topic of their choice
MantisBT
MantisBT (Mantis Bug Tracker) is an open-source, web-based bug tracking solution used by IT teams to track defects in their applications.
Below are some of the main features of MantisBT:
Send email notifications related to updates, comments, resolutions, etc., to the concerned stakeholders
Provides access control at a project level
Easy customizations as per your requirements
Extensive Mobile support (iPhone, Android, and Windows phone platforms)
An ever-expanding library of plugins to help you add custom functionalities
The process of logging a bug in Mantis is pretty straightforward and user-friendly. It allows you to easily modify bug templates by adding the Custom Fields in the bug template according to the requirements.
Trac:
Another defect/ bug tracking tool is Trac, which is also an open-source web-based tool. It is written in the Python programming language. Trac supports various operating systems such as Windows, Mac, UNIX, Linux, and so on. Trac is helpful in tracking the issues for software development projects.
Below are some of the main features of Trac:
Integrates with Perforce, Hudson, Jenkins, Buildbot, Bitten, and TortoiseSVN
Lets you export your files in PDF, HTML, CSV, DOC, and XLS formats
Supports a robust team collaboration
Offers instant email and ticket alerts
Set Scans to run hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly
Supports multiple programming languages, including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, Perl, PHP, ASP, Ruby, SQL, and XML
Provides an overview of where your time is being spent.
BackLog:
The backlog is widely used to manage the IT projects and track the bugs. It is mainly built for the development team for reporting the bugs with the complete details of the issues, comments, updates and change of status. It is a project management software.
Below are some of the key features of Backlog:
Seamless defect tracking and management
Greater visibility and transparency
Streamlined communication
Centralized repository
Real-time updates
Conclusion:
Defect tracking allows IT organizations to handle defects effectively by ensuring that each and every bug is timely reported and resolved. I hope you have a clear understanding of the different defect tracking tools that are ruling the world and the role they play in improving the quality of any software.
So, manage defects in the early stages of a project by using the right tool and significantly enhance the quality of your software deliveries.