Software Architect's Handbook

Corrective maintenance

Corrective maintenance is the work involved in analyzing and fixing defects in the software. Although it isn't the only kind of maintenance, it is the type that people associate most with maintenance work. Defects might be found internally, or by users in production. The severity and priority of defects vary depending on the nature of the bug.

Severity represents the level of impact the bug has on the operation of the software. Organizations have various classification systems for severity, but categories such as critical, high, medium, and low are common examples.

The priority of a defect is the order in which it will be fixed. Typically, the higher the priority, the quicker it will be fixed. Like severity, organizations ...