Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Patch service pack
major/minor release
on hold deferred
do not fix,
not a problem
Disposition
Classification
of bugs
Critical serious
normal low
Severity
Priority
Immediate high
medium low
Figure 12.5
The classification of bugs.
Classification of Bugs
Severity
indicates the impact of the bug or enhancement request on the
customer's ability to function with the solution. Bugs can be classified
according to the following (Figure 12.5):
Showstopper or Critical
: this typically implies data loss, data cor-
ruption, crashes, missing functionality, loss of functionality, or a
usability problem that practically renders the solution useless for
the customer until it is fixed. It is possible that many parts of the
solution work, but enough is broken to prevent the solution from
being useful to the customer or in preventing the customer from
proceeding with the use of the system (refer to Chapter 1 Software
Failure).
Serious
is similar to critical, except that an acceptable workaround
exists for the bug, allowing the customer to continue to use the
solution effectively. What is serious depends on the user. Some-
times seemingly low-impact problems may be assigned this sever-
ity; they may be individually small irritations but collectively
exasperating. This often happens with error messages, look-and-
feel, and usability. There may be “forest”-type concerns as opposed
to specific “tree”-type concerns that a customer considers serious.
