5 Most Common Bug Writing Errors: Day #4

Even with your most diligent effort, sometimes you may choose a Severity that is not the best choice. You may select a Severity that someone questions.

When this is the case, be sure that you have a rational argument for why you selected that Severity. You may become convinced that your choice was not the best, but you should be able to defend it if challenged.

Error #4:
Selecting the Wrong Severity

However, there is also a scenario that can catch people off guard because of the way in which this Error is made. Some bugbases remember the settings of the previous bug you entered. When this is the case, each time you enter a new bug, it retains (by default) your selections for the last bug.

This means that if you select the highest Severity for bug#1, then when you enter bug#2 it will begin with this same, highest Severity unless you change it. This means that if you don’t pay attention, you can log bugs all day that have the highest Severity possible – whether you are logging a crash bug or a typo.

So, do yourself a favor and be sure you review your bug and all of its fields before you submit it. You don’t want some developer or manager landing on your desk demanding an explanation of why the typo in the 3rd line of the 2nd paragraph of the ReadMe was logged as a crash bug – trust me, this is not fun.

I have learned the hard way. You don’t have to.

If the bugbase you are using does reset all fields to an unselected, default state every time that you enter a new bug, this will not be a major concern of yours. Just keep in mind that every bugbase behaves a little differently. Know your bugbase, and keep yourself safe.