IT Glossary
What is a bug?
A software fault: the program does something other than what it was meant to do — from an unresponsive button to a wrong total on an invoice.
A bug is the distance between what a program was supposed to do and what it actually does: the button that does not respond, the total calculated wrongly, the application that crashes at one particular step. The word comes from an anecdote about an insect found inside a computer in 1947, but the reality behind it is statistical. Any non-trivial software contains faults, because it is written by people modelling processes full of exceptions. Three distinctions matter commercially. Severity: a cosmetic bug can wait, one that corrupts data or blocks a sale is fixed now. Reproducibility: a fault that can be triggered on demand is fixed quickly, which is why a good report — I did X, then Y, I expected A and got B, here is a screenshot — shortens the repair from days to hours. And the contract: who pays for repairs after delivery. The warranty for defects is a clause to negotiate before signing, not during the first incident.
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Why it matters for your business
Reporting that speeds up the fix
A bug described with reproduction steps and screenshots is resolved several times faster than a message saying it does not work, have a look.
Prioritisation by business impact
Classifying by severity puts the money on the errors that hurt — the ones inside the sales flow — rather than on noisy cosmetic complaints.
The warranty clause used properly
When you can tell a defect from a new requirement, the was-this-included conversation becomes short and civil instead of adversarial.
Frequently asked questions
Is fixing bugs free after the project is delivered?
It depends on the contract. Typically, defects measured against the agreed specification are repaired at no charge during the warranty period of three to twelve months, while new requirements are quoted separately. This is exactly why a written specification and a clear definition of defect are worth money.
Why do bugs appear even at serious software companies?
Complexity. A mid-sized application has tens of thousands of lines of code and an effectively unlimited number of situation combinations; testing reduces faults dramatically but cannot mathematically eliminate them. The difference between suppliers is not zero bugs but the speed and transparency of the repair.
What information should I include when reporting a bug?
The exact steps that produce the error, what you expected to happen, what actually happened, a screenshot or short recording, and the browser, device and account used. With those, the developer reproduces the problem immediately instead of guessing for a week.
Let’s talk about your project
Message us on WhatsApp or send an email — you talk directly to a developer.
office@northdan.com · +40 752 070 247