Bug Tracking System
Introduction
A defect tracking system, also known as a bug tracking system, is a type
of software that monitors software bugs reported in development projects.
It can also be viewed as a form of issue tracking system. Such systems
are often employed by open-source projects, allowing users to submit bug
reports themselves. Conversely, some systems are exclusively used
within a specific company or organization for internal software
development. Generally, bug tracking systems are integrated with other
applications for managing software projects. Employing a bug tracking
system is essential for a robust software development framework, and
regular use of such a system is a sign of an effective software
development team.
Key features
The main objectives of the Bug Tracking System are:
Identifying the bugs in the developed application.
No bug will be unfixed in the developed application.
Not merely identifying the bugs but also providing the bug
information.
As soon as the bugs are identified. They are reported to the project
manager and developer.
To ensure that who needs to know about the bug can learn soon
after it is reported.
Existing System
In the existing system, the project manager assigns the projects to the
developers. The developers develops the projects as per customer
requirements. The project manager itself assign the developed
applications to the tester for testing. In the testing phase, when the
tester encounters no. of bugs then he reports to the project manager
and developer about the bug information.
Bottlenecks of the Existing System
The tester report which is called Bug Report is in the form of physical
document. If the document is damaged then the total information
about the bug will be lost. The bug information is not stored in the
database for future reference.
Proposed System
The purpose of the Bug Tracking System is to test the application for
the bugs and report it to the project manager and developer. The main
intention behind the Bug Tracking System is that to track bugs and
report them. Store the bug information with a unique id in the database
for future reference. So, this makes the job of handling the bugs easy.
The project entitled "Bug tracking system" is an online bug tracking
tool initiated with the objective to setup a user-friendly Online bug
tracking system. It can be used both for bug tracking and for project
management. In this system the project manager can have full details
of the work assigned to each team member. Moreover when a new
work comes he can assign the work to different persons by having a
view at the programmer with minimum work. This software assists to
track the work flow of the work given to each team member by a
project leader. This software assists the project managers, the team
members and equally the top officials of a software company to know
how the work is progressing. Project usually comes to the company in
the form of bugs. Usually, when certain enhancements of a product is
being done i.e. when. certain version updates a product is being done,
work is assigned to different programmers in the form of Bugs.
This software is mainly focused on the work coming in the form of
Bugs. The project manager can fully understand what the status of
each bug is whether it is fixed, assigned, or won’t fix.
Components
A major component of a bug tracking system is a database that records
facts about known bugs. Facts may include the time a bug was
reported, its severity, the erroneous program behavior, and details on
how to reproduce the bug; as well as the identity of the person who
reported it and any programmers who may be working on fixing it.
Typical bug tracking systems support the concept of the life cycle for a
bug which is tracked through the status assigned to the bug. A bug
tracking system should allow administrators to configure permissions
based on status, move the bug to another status, or delete the bug. The
system should also allow administrators to configure the bug statuses
and to what extent a bug in a particular status can be moved. Some
systems will e-mail interested parties, such as the submitter and
assigned programmers, when new records are added or the status
changes.
Usage
The main benefit of a bug-tracking system is to provide a clear
centralized overview of development requests (including both bugs and
improvements, the boundary is often fuzzy), and their state. The
prioritized list of pending items (often called backlog) provides valuable
input when defining the product road map, or maybe just "the next
release".
In a corporate environment, a bug-tracking system may be used to
generate reports on the productivity of programmers at fixing bugs.
However, this may sometimes yield inaccurate results because different
bugs may have different levels of severity and complexity. The severity
of a bug may not be directly related to the complexity of fixing the bug.
There may be different opinions among the managers and architects.
A local bug tracker (LBT) is usually a computer program used by a team
of application support professionals (often a help desk) to keep track of
issues communicated to software developers. Using an LBT allows
support professionals to track bugs in their "own language" and not the
"language of the developers." In addition, an LBT allows a team of
support professionals to track specific information about users who have
called to complain — this information may not always be needed in the
actual development queue. Thus, there are two tracking systems when an
LBT is in place.
Part of integrated project management systems
Bug and issue tracking systems are often implemented as a part of
integrated project management systems. This approach allows including
bug tracking and fixing in a general product development process, fixing
bugs in several product versions, automatic generation of a
product knowledge base and release notes.
Distributed bug tracking
Some bug trackers are designed to be used with distributed revision
control software. These distributed bug trackers allow bug reports to be
conveniently read, added to the database or updated while a developer is
offline. Fossil and Veracity both include distributed bug trackers.
Recently, commercial bug tracking systems have also begun to integrate
with distributed version control. FogBugz, for example, enables this
functionality via the source-control tool, Kiln.
Although wikis and bug tracking systems are conventionally viewed as
distinct types of software, ikiwiki can also be used as a distributed bug
tracker. It can manage documents and code as well, in an integrated
distributed manner. However, its query functionality is not as advanced
or as user-friendly as some other, non-distributed bug trackers such
as Bugzilla. Similar statements can be made about org-mode, although it
is not wiki software as such.
Bug tracking and test management
While traditional test management tools such as HP Quality
Center and IBM Rational Quality Manager come with their own bug
tracking systems, other tools integrate with popular bug tracking systems.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a Bug Tracking System plays a critical role in enhancing
the quality and efficiency of software development projects. It not only
facilitates the identification and documentation of bugs but also ensures
that they are addressed promptly and effectively. By providing a
centralized platform for monitoring bug reports, the system enhances
communication among team members and streamlines the workflow,
thereby significantly reducing the time and effort required to fix issues.
The integration of bug tracking systems with other project management
tools further improves project oversight and resource allocation, making
it easier for project managers to assign tasks and monitor progress. The
evolution of bug tracking from basic internal systems to more
sophisticated, distributed, and integrated solutions reflects the growing
complexity of software development and the need for more robust tools
to manage this complexity. Ultimately, the effective use of a Bug
Tracking System is indicative of a mature, well-organized software
development team that is capable of delivering high-quality software
products.
Project Proposed By-
Sahil Gupta
202292961
