Bug Life Cycle in Software Development

What Is a Defect/Bug Life Cycle?

A defect/bug life cycle is the sequence of steps a bug or defect goes through from its identification to its resolution in software development. This life cycle standardizes the bug management process, ensuring teams can manage and resolve them more effectively.

Bug Life Cycle Workflow

The flow chart below gives you some idea of the process that unfolds when a bug is identified. It is based on personal experience with various testing teams, so it’s not representative of every bug process, but it is still a typical cycle for a bug in software testing.

Bug Life Cycle Stages

We can also look at the bug life cycle from the status of bugs. Each bug status corresponds to a specific activity in the bug life cycle:

1. New/Open - The bug has been reported or identified and is awaiting review. It is typically assigned a unique identifier and entered into the bug tracking system.

2. Deferred/Postponed - If the bug can’t be reproduced or the bug is considered valid but not critical or prioritized for immediate resolution. It will be marked as "Deferred" or "Postponed" to be addressed in a future release or development cycle.

3. Assigned - The bug has been reviewed and assigned to a specific developer or team responsible for fixing it. This stage involves triaging the bug, prioritizing it, and allocating resources for resolution.

4. In Progress - The assigned developer has started working on fixing the bug. They are analyzing the bug's root cause and implementing necessary code changes or fixes.

5. Fixed - The developer has made the required code changes to address the bug. 

6. Pending Retest - After the bug fix, the bug is marked as "Pending Retest." The QA team will make final verification if the bug has truly been fixed.

7. Verified/Closed - The bug has been re-tested by the QA team and confirmed to have been resolved completely.

8. Reopened - f the bug is found to be unresolved or if new issues arise after verification, it is reopened. The development process continues from the "In Progress" stage to address the remaining issues.