bugtypes

Bugtypes is a taxonomy used in software development to categorize defects detected during testing or after release. It provides a common vocabulary that helps teams communicate, triage, and prioritize issues, as well as to analyze quality trends over time.

Typical categories include functional defects (the software does not behave as specified or a feature is missing), usability defects (the interface is confusing or inconsistent), performance defects (response times, throughput, or resource usage exceed acceptable limits), compatibility defects (software fails on certain platforms, browsers, or configurations), security defects (vulnerabilities or improper access control), reliability defects (crashes, memory leaks, or data corruption). Additional categories cover interoperability (integration between subsystems), maintainability (code or configuration that complicates future changes), and portability (difficulty running on different environments).

Within reports, bug types may be refined further into root-causes such as syntax errors, logic errors, off-by-one errors, null pointer or null reference errors, race conditions, deadlocks, memory leaks, and data corruption. Environment-related issues include configuration errors and data issues that do not originate in code.

Organizations standardize bugtypes to improve triage. Severity and priority are typically assigned alongside type, guiding replication, assignment, and planning. Tracking trends by bugtype can reveal areas needing code review, testing coverage, or architectural changes. Standards such as IEEE 1044 influence the taxonomy used by some teams, but many teams tailor their own categories to their domain.