Defect Management – Tracking Software
Defect management is crucial to closing the loop between requirements, implementation and verification and validation. Traditional defect tracking management, implemented in a standalone fashion, can no longer address the complexity and pace of change in modern software development. Defect management processes must be tightly interlinked with all of the other software development processes. The defect management process contains the following elements:
Defect Discovery – Identification and reporting of potential defects. The defect tracking software must be simple enough so that people will use it, but ensure that the minimum necessary information is captured. The information captured here should be enough to reproduce the defect and allow development to determine root cause and impact.
Defect Analysis & Prioritization – The development team determines if the defect report corresponds to an actual defect, if the defect has already been reported, and what the impact and priority of the defect is. Prioritization and scheduling of the defect resolution is often part of the overall change management process for the software development organization.
Defect Resolution – Here the development team determines the root cause, implements the changes needed to fix the defect, and documents the details of the resolution in the defect management software, including suggestions on how to verify the defect is fixed. In organizations using Software Product Lines approaches, or other shared component approaches, defect resolution may need to be coordinated across multiple branches of development.
Defect Verification – The build containing the resolution to the defect is identified, and testing of the build is performed to ensure the defect truly has been resolved, and that the resolution has not introduced side effects or regressions. Once all affected branches of development have been verified as resolved, the defect can be closed.
Defect Communication – This encompasses automatic generation of defect metrics for management reporting and process improvement purposes, as well as visibility into the presence and status of defects across all disciplines of the software development team.
As a unified development platform Integrity supports all of other disciplines in the application lifecycle – not just defect management. Traditional defect management software cannot achieve the seamless links among all activities and assets that is needed in today’s fast-paced and complex development environments. Combining these linkages with unprecedented process flexibility makes Integrity the best choice for addressing challenges such as:
- Discovery and Notification
- Defect Resolution across Multiple Lines of Development
- Automated Defect Verification
Making Software Quality Assurance Part of the Entire Application Lifecycle
The accelerating amount of software in applications and devices, combined with delivery of multiple configurations or versions makes significant demands on test management. Complexity and volume must be consistently managed, or deadlines and quality are at risk. Integrity’s test management software helps enterprise level businesses maintain quality assurance.
Integrity helps QA answer pressing questions that impact the business:
- Are we ready to ship?
- What is the impact of requirements change on the test deficit?
- What is the status of the defects found in testing? Are they still in development?
- Are we testing against the most current requirements?
- Where were these tests used before, and are they applicable to our current project?
- How is our quality trending? Are we on-track to meet our software quality goals?
Reference :http://www.mks.com/challenges/product-lines
Software Test Analyst 