5 Types of Software Bugs you Should Watch Out for

Although the powerful insect lobby convinced Disney to portray bugs as cute creatures (see image above), any good programmer knows their mischief and cruelty.

In today’s article, we’ll take a look at the worst foes you might end up facing on the cyber battlefield! Let’s analyze the 5 main types of software defects categorized according to their nature, which are:

• Performance bugs
• Functional bugs
• Usability bugs
• Security bugs
• Compatibility bugs

1. Performance bugs

Software performance is an essential element in determining its usability and greatly influences users’ perception of the product.

It is mainly related to the stability, speed, or response time of software resources. Any defect that undermines these features falls into the performance bug category.

This type of programming defect causes significant performance degradation and leads to a frustrating user experience, not to mention user abandonment and the potential loss of millions of dollars.

Performance bugs hide well

Dealing with performance bugs can be especially tricky. In fact, according to research, fixing performance bugs is generally more difficult than fixing non-performance bugs, even though the two types of fixes are equally prone to errors.
 

While most non-performance bugs can be detected through observing the negative effects of bugs, a large percentage of performance bugs must be spotted through code reasoning.

2. Functional bugs

Functional bugs affect the functionality of a piece of software.

YOU DON’T SAY?

We are talking about errors that make the software behavior not compliant with the declared functional requirements. This type of defect can be spotted pretty easily through functional tests.

An example of a functional bug could be the non-reaction or the total crush of the program to user input, such as pressing a button.

Another case may concern the search engine of an e-commerce site that does not recognize the product ID but only the name, contrary to what is stated in the specifications.

3. Usability bugs

When an application is more enigmatic and weird than a Jigsaw puzzle, the main reason could be a usability bug. Usability bugs, in fact, undermine the user experience making software over-complicated to use.

We may be dealing with an interface that is difficult to navigate or with a new account registration that is excessively long and frustrating.

Be careful not to confuse functional and usability bugs. For example, if you enter a password that exceeds 10 characters in a text box whose limit is programmed to be 10 characters, this is a functional defect.

4. Security bugs

Security bugs are software defects that allow bad guys to gain unauthorized access or control on a computer system. Such security breaches may be carried out by compromising user authentication, access authorization, or data integrity and confidentiality.

Security bugs are usually the result of two main causes, namely non-conformance with software requirements or an error/omission in the requirements.

Problems with software requirements

Non-conformance with software requirements may be, for example, a coding error or an input validation defect. It can be detected relatively easily thanks to specific verification and validation techniques and prevented by security assurance procedures.

Improving such methods via software security assurance programs is the way-to-go if you want to ensure the security of your software.

5. Compatibility bugs

Last but not least, let’s talk about compatibility bugs. This kind of defect impairs the performance of software when it is run on particular types of hardware, browsers, operating systems, and so on.

Among the many compatibility defects, we can mention variations in the user interface, flaws in scrollbars, changes in CSS style, content alignment, or font size.

In recent years, software compatibility and optimization on many platforms played a vital role in determining the success of a product. Just think of the insane amount of different devices and operating system versions flooding the mobile phone market!

Know your bug!

As Sun Tzu said, “know your enemy”. This rule also applies in programming, where a correct classification of software bugs helps greatly to streamline and speed up any testing process.

As soon as you know what you are dealing with, bug fixes can be assigned to the appropriate team and prioritized in the most efficient way.

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