Introduction to the Personal Software Process

12 Defects

This chapter introduces the subject of software defects (see Section 12.4 to learn why not to call them bugs). Defects can cause serious problems for users of software products and they can be expensive to find and fix. Because defects are caused by developers’ mistakes, engineers need to understand the defects they inject and learn how to manage them. The first step in managing defects is to gather data on the defects you are injecting in your programs. With these data, you can better devise ways to find and fix them. For the chapter assignment, you will gather and report data on the defects in your programs.

So far in this book, we have only talked about methods for managing cost and schedule. This, however, is only half the story. ...