In brief: Is your website or mobile application overwhelmed with anomalies, and you're unsure how to rectify the situation? This guide covers: What are the causes of bugs? But then, how can these bugs be prevented?
Is your website or mobile application overwhelmed by anomalies, leaving you unsure how to regain control? Not a week passes without a new malfunction compromising user experience or hindering your sales. While it is utopian to completely eradicate technical errors, bug prevention is currently the most profitable lever to ensure the longevity of your business.
In this article, we delve into the root causes of anomalies and explore cutting-edge techniques to transform your quality management into a driver of productivity.
What are the Causes of Bugs?
A non-functional button, incorrect display, a 404 error, a connection issue: anomalies on websites or mobile applications can stem from a multitude of reasons, starting with the human factor. Since web and mobile platforms are developed by humans, errors are inevitable. However, here are some common causes that can lead to bugs:
>> Regressions:
Regressions occur when a code change impacts existing code. For instance, if a new feature is implemented and disrupts the behavior of previously existing functionalities, a regression has occurred, as a bug has been introduced.
But what are the reasons for a regression? This can stem from poorly architected code, inadequate error handling, a flawed version control system, insufficient code review before merging, suboptimal development practices (or a complete lack thereof), or even teams working too independently, leading to modules impacting each other.
>> Lack of Testing:
Is testing a sign of doubt? Some might claim so, but that would be presumptuous. If the software or application has not been thoroughly tested from the beginning of its development cycle through to its production deployment (and even beyond), then there is a very, very, very (there's never too many 'verys') high probability that bugs will reach production. And do we truly need to reiterate the potential impact a bug can have on an end-user?
Caution: testing is beneficial (even very, very, very beneficial), but it must be done correctly. This specifically requires selecting the appropriate tests to execute and performing them in the right locations. This aligns with one of the fundamental principles of testing: tests demonstrate the presence of defects, but they do not prove their absence. Therefore, it is crucial to test thoroughly and strategically to identify the most critical bugs efficiently. Testing is the indispensable metric for application quality.
>> Lack of Communication:
Is a lack of communication the root of all global issues? It is highly probable, and one thing is certain: it leads to numerous bugs. As we all know, insufficient communication between teams fosters misunderstandings, assumptions, and misinterpretations. In the context of web or mobile development, the entire challenge of communication begins during the specifications phase.
Specifications serve to articulate the vision of their creators. For instance, a business unit identifies a need, and the Product Owner drafts the specifications. Subsequently, developers implement these specifications, and then testers validate the developments against them. If there are communication gaps among these various stakeholders, if effective communication is not maintained throughout product development, and if each layer operates in isolation, it creates a tunnel effect that can lead to critical anomalies, ultimately impacting the end-user.
But then, how can these bugs be prevented?
We previously discussed several tips for avoiding and mitigating bugs in a prior article, emphasizing a strong focus on quality. However, there are also development techniques specifically designed to prevent them.
>> TDD (Test Driven Development):
Test-Driven Development (TDD) is a development methodology that involves writing tests before writing the actual code. To elaborate, a test is initially written and executed, then verified to fail, as the corresponding functionality has not yet been implemented. Subsequently, the functionality is developed, and the test is re-executed until it passes, and so forth.
Why is this methodology effective in mitigating bugs? When tests are created even before a feature or product is developed, the likelihood of that feature or product reaching end-users untested is substantially diminished. Moreover, regular testing facilitates earlier bug detection and, consequently, their rectification before deployment to production.
It is important to note, however, that TDD remains primarily focused on unit testing and necessitates significant upfront work in defining tests, which can sometimes be challenging to implement within urgent project timelines.
>> BDD (Behavior-Driven Development):
Distinct from TDD, the Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) methodology, also referred to as behavior-driven programming, actively fosters communication and collaboration among all project stakeholders (including developers, quality engineers, sales teams, and testers). This ensures that the entire team maintains a unified understanding of the application's expected behavior. A key aspect of this is tests written in a universally comprehensible language, which are created before the development of any feature or product begins. Leveraging the BDD method allows for the early detection of bugs during the design phase, thus facilitating their prevention.
>> Continuous Integration / Continuous Testing:
Let's begin with the fundamentals. The CI approach, also known as Continuous Integration, is a methodology that involves integrating new code written by developers into an application's source code as early and as frequently as possible (at least once daily) throughout the development cycle. Automated tests are executed with every modification to the source code (hence Continuous Testing), to verify that no regressions have been introduced and that new functionalities are correctly implemented.
This guarantees continuous monitoring throughout the application lifecycle, specifically ensuring that all regressions are detected immediately upon their introduction. This approach substantially reduces the time and effort that would otherwise be expended, for example, in identifying the specific changes that caused a regression.
However, this approach necessitates a substantial investment in the automation of all test types (unit, integration, system, end-to-end, etc.).
>> It is important to note that these development techniques may not be universally applicable. Their effectiveness is contingent upon your team's structure and dynamics, the project context, your testing strategy, and other factors. While these preventive techniques do not guarantee a bug-free environment (as zero bugs are an unrealistic expectation), they should enable you to prevent the most critical issues that would have the greatest impact.
Conclusion
In short, to better manage bugs, we must first and foremost be able to detect them, which simply requires implementing test-driven approaches. However, as we mentioned earlier, it’s not enough to just test—we must test effectively—and that involves using test-driven documentation, particularly automated tests. But that will be the subject of a future article 😉
FAQ
What are the Causes of Bugs?
A non-functional button, incorrect display, a 404 error, a connection issue: anomalies on websites or mobile applications can stem from a multitude of reasons. Starting with the human factor. Since web and mobile platforms are developed by humans, errors are inevitable.
But then, how can these bugs be prevented?
We previously discussed several tips for avoiding and mitigating bugs in a prior article, by focusing heavily on quality; however, there are also development techniques that can prevent them.
Further Reading
To see the solution in action, check out our end-to-end testing.
See also: How to Handle Regressions in a Labeling Plan.
