We want to give you a specific idea of some of the issues with software development and coding. An error is an error no matter how big or small it is, both large and minor issues can take ages to resolve if you don’t know what is the nature of the problem, its implications and the cause to process it better, faster and more accurately.
Let’s begin by first defining what is an issue or bug.
As defined in technopedia “A software bug is a problem causing a program to crash or produce invalid output. The problem is caused by insufficient or erroneous logic. A bug can be an error, mistake, defect or fault, which may cause failure or deviation from expected results. Most bugs are due to human errors in source code or its design.”
So the best mechanism to debug is to really understand or know the best ways to get to the root of the problem. Recognizing defects isn’t always as straightforward as it could have seemed to be, but studying how testers identify defects can help define what they are and the quickest way to solve the problem.
How to identify a software development error
- Read requirement specifications to determine if the project meet requirements
- Check for inconsistency or consistency
- The “Goldilocks” Heuristic
- Look for anything that threatens the quality of the product
After doing this you should have identified the problem and its location. Now, let’s review the types of software development bugs so you can have a bigger picture of what you are looking to resolve when debugging.
We are going to explain some of the most common errors in software development:
Functionality Errors:
Functionality is how the software is envisioned to behave. Your Software has a functionality error if something that you expect it to do is hard, awkward, confusing…
Communication Errors:
Communication bugs refers to things the user should know in order to use the software but which haven’t been presented to him like menus, instructions, hidden features and so on.
Missing Command errors:
A type of error that happens when an expected command is missing. It is usually caused when a user tries to perform an action that is also intended by the developers, but for which he has no access. Like when a user wants to close a prompt notification but there is no command to do this.
Syntactic Error:
Syntactic errors are misspelled words or grammatically incorrect sentences and are very evident while testing software GUI. Please note that we are NOT referring to syntax errors in code. The compiler will warn the developer about any syntax errors that occur in the code.
Error handling Errors:
Any inaccuracies that occur while the user is interacting with the software needs to be controlled in a clear and meaningful manner. If not, it is called an Error Handling Error.
Calculation Errors:
These errors occur due to any of the following reasons:
- Bad logic
- Incorrect formulae
- Data type mismatch
- Coding errors
- Function call issues
Control flow errors:
The control flow of a software designates what it will be done next and on what conditions, if this is not working properly the error is defined as a control flow error.
Now that we know which are the most common mistakes, we can take a quick look at the best practices to solve any potential issue.
- Make sure you are following the real requirements of the project, miscommunication might lead to mistakes or bugs.
- Always make sure to train the users or testers on unique software features that might seem bugs to regular eyes.
- Make sure that your developers are correctly reading the requirements. This is a mistake some people don’t think happens often, but unfortunately it is one of the most common mistakes.
We hope by now you have a better understanding in how to get to the nature of a bug and all the types of mistakes most commonly made during the developing process.
