Comments on SandyWalsh.com: Bug Triage & Backlogs ... Unseen Broken Windows

I think in a lot of cases, what is reported as a b...

2010-07-06T16:21:26.578-03:00

I think in a lot of cases, what is reported as a bug is actually a change in requirements for the application rather than a defect in the code. Whether it be part of the discovery process by the end user or a change in a dependency along the way.

Sure, there are the goofy things that come up because of implementation decisions, but I like what you said about grouping bugs and taking a step back to see if there is some kind of missing spoke in the wheel that addresses a whole bunch of issues at once.

More than once we have gotten rid of dozens of bugs by implementing a new (perhaps better) feature in place of a legacy 'idea' of what should happen in a system.

I think one of the hardest things to do is dealing...

2010-07-06T16:04:46.760-03:00

I think one of the hardest things to do is dealing with features that would be nice but are pushed off into the future every time. Rigorous honesty would close them as "will never get around to this one" but that's a slap in the face to the department that requested the feature, so it drifts every onward.

~Matt

Always run toward bugs, not away from them. This ...

2010-07-06T11:50:39.099-03:00

Always run toward bugs, not away from them. This is especially critical in complex multitasking code.

A bug might disappear if you make a change, but you're not sure why. ALWAYS get to the bottom of anything which seems odd. Never be satisfied with a "fix" you don't understand.

The secret is, fix them immediately while you still have some idea what changes might have introduced them. If you do not, you will be facing bugs without the hint of changes which caused them.