Errors are the failure of a computer program to produce correct results or to behave in intended ways. There are many types of errors but in this article, we will discuss seven of the most common ones.
Functionality Errors
Functionality refers to the expected behavior of an application. Software is said to have a functionality error if something that you expect it to do is impossible, hard, confusing, or awkward.
Communication Errors
This type of error occurs in the communication between software and the end-user. Anything that the customer needs to know must be displayed on the screen. For example an error message or a confirmation message for completing the transfer. Another example is when the software deletes a file when the “save” button is clicked.
Missing Command Errors
This error occurs when an expected command is missing. For example, if testers use bug management tools and open a window to create a project and the window doesn’t give the option of ‘cancel’ without creating a project, then this is a missing command error.
Syntactic Error
These are grammatical mistakes that can be easily avoided by GUI testing. Note that these are not syntax errors. The compiler warns the developer about any syntax errors that occur in the code.
Error-Handling Errors
Error-handling errors occur when a user is interacting with the software. These errors must be addressed very clearly and meaningfully. For example, when a computer displays an error message, the message must clearly and concisely state what the error is about and what further steps can be taken to deal with it. If it just states “Error” or, the worst case, starts acting abnormally, then the user won’t be happy about it.
Calculation Errors
Following are some of the reasons for calculation errors:
- Coding errors
- Data type mismatch
- Incorrect formulae
- Bad logic
- Function call issues, etc
Believe it or not, even minor calculation mistakes can cause organizations millions of dollars, and history tells us that it’s not a joke. One of the most popular examples is one of NASA’s Mars climate orbiters that crashed almost immediately upon reaching Mars. Why? Because NASA’s subcontractors used English units instead of the intended metric system, causing the orbiter’s thrusters to work incorrectly.
Control Flow Errors
The control flow of the software tells what it will do next and on what condition. For example, suppose that the user has to fill in a form and the available options are: Save, Save and Close, and Cancel. If the ‘Save and Close’ button is clicked, the information should be saved and the form should be closed. But if the form does not close upon clicking that option, then there is a control flow error.
Conclusion
Throughout the whole article and in our title, we used the term ‘error’ instead of ‘bug’ because the former is more widely known outside the world of software development and testing realm. Dealing with these errors requires teams behind the software to run it through phases of exhaustive testing and leverage capable bug management tools to manage errors. Bug management tools work as a central repository where all the bugs can be stored and accessed by the development team.
Coming back to errors, they can have serious consequences and they must be dealt with as quickly as possible. For users, if a problem is complex, they should always contact their service/product provider instead of trying out a solution themselves and making the problem worse.
