Changes between Version 6 and Version 7 of HowtoBugBuster


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Timestamp:
Feb 25, 2013, 9:04:54 AM (12 years ago)
Author:
Deon Thomas
Comment:

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  • HowtoBugBuster

    v6 v7  
    77
    88=== What? Why? ===
    9 If you think that searching for bugs is just run the application to see if launches, then you need to continue reading this or work in a different thing, like translations.
     9If you think that searching for bugs is just run an application to see if it launches, then you need to continue reading this or work on something else, like translations.
    1010
    11 Is very helpful to have some programming knowledges for do some beta-testing, because on that way you know ''what common things could happen''
     11Is very helpful to have some programming knowledges to do beta-testing, because on that way you know ''what common things could happen''
    1212
    13 Well, first of all, trying to just launch the application to see if not segfaults doesn't give anything useful, in short this is what the developer exactly does in every modification of the code, the task of a beta-tester is not to see if works but to ''to see if can fail'', in short, is like a challenge trying to found any possible problem, and yes, it is something '''good''' if you found any.
     13Well, first of all, trying to just launch the application to see if does not segfaults doesn't give anything useful, in short this is exactly what the developer does in every modification of the code, the task of a beta-tester is not to see if it works but to ''see if it can fail'', in short, it is like a challenge trying to find any possible problem, and yes, it is something '''good''' if you find any.
    1414
    15 There is a good numbers of tips by being able to catch them, so let me show you some of the tips that I already know:
     15There is a good numbers of ways to catch bugs, so let me show you some of the ways that I already know:
    1616
    1717=== Environment ===
    18 Not everybody works in the same environment or like the '''same options''', so if the developer works with the feature of the application ''A'', but he never uses ''B'', is very possible that there will be more bugs in B than in A, in the same way, by trying ''not very interesting options'' you will have the same results
     18Not everybody works in the same environment or like the '''same options''', so if the developer works with the feature of application ''A'', but he never uses ''B'', it is very possible that there will be more bugs in "B" than in "A", in the same way, by trying ''not very interesting options'' you will have the same results
    1919
    20 Try to imaginate how much different environments and different ways of work can exist, for example if you are beta-testing enlightenemnt 17, and you want to see if some window minimizes correctly, think about all the possibilities, for example you can do it by clicking with the mouse in the minimizer button, or you can also press ''ctrl + alt + i'' which is the keyboard-mode to do the same thing, also think in other things related with the minimizer, for example engage or task bars can trigger the minimizer too
     20Try to imaginate how many different environments and different ways to work can exist, for example if you are beta-testing enlightenemnt 17, and you want to see if some window minimizes correctly, think about all the possibilities, you can do it by using the mouse to click the minimize button, or you can also press ''ctrl + alt + i'' on the keyboard to do the same thing, also think in other things related to minimizing an application, for example engage or taskbar can trigger the minimize too
    2121
    2222=== Unimaginable Possibilities ===
    23 Are you creative ? you need to... think on that, in the previous example we have tough in different ways to trigger the same thing, but all the possibilities not stick just here, you need to be creative (or at least familiarized with the application/code) to imagine how much different things can happen, for example:
     23Are you creative ? you need to be... think about it, in the previous example we have learnt different ways to trigger the same thing, but all the possibilities are not listed here, you need to be creative (or at least get familiarized with the application/code) to imagine how much different things can happen, for example:
    2424 * can the window be minimized when is in maximized mode ?
    25  * if another window is on top of our one, we can still minimize it ?
    26  * what happens if i try to minimize during an e17 restart ?
    27  * which window is minimized by default if i switch to a different desktop and don't manually focus in any ?
     25 * if another window is on top of another one, we can still minimize it ?
     26 * what happens if I try to minimize during an e17 restart ?
     27 * which window is minimized by default if I switch to a different desktop and don't manually focus in any ?
    2828 * what happens if the minimizer module is not loaded ?
    2929
    30 The previous list is just an example and you can found them useful or not to test, it all depends of you, but basically the important thing is to try everything that comes to your head that can have sense.
     30The previous list is just an example and you can find them useful or not to test, it all depends on you, but basically the important thing is to try everything that comes to your head that makes sense.
    3131
    3232=== Combinations ===
    33 You can more easly found bugs if you try to combine things, for example:
     33You can more easily find bugs if you try to combine things, for example:
    3434 * what happens if you run the application multiple times ?
    3535   * is the performance affected by running it multiple times ?
    3636 * try A while you are doing B
    37  * do the same tests with different settings set
     37 * do the same tests with different settings
    3838 * combine parameters/features at the same time
    3939
    4040=== Frequent Problems in applications ===
    41 This is more like a list of ''common noobish programming issues'', so if you found them, you can spank the author of the application ;)
     41This is more like a list of ''common noobish programming issues'', so if you find them, you can spank the author of the application ;)
    4242
    43  * Your system is multiuser, there's a lot of applications that uses /tmp for store some temporal data (like /tmp/app1), but if another user runs the same application, it will use the same location, and this can result in really big, annoying and even hard to found problems, the most common ones are ''permission denied'' reports
    44  * Multiple instances: sometimes an application is not ready to be run multiple times, this needs to be correctly managed by the programmer in order to not conflict with different instances of the same application, if the application is made to only be able to run one instance, then needs to avoid another run with a message like ''application is already running''
     43 * Your system is multiuser, there's a lot of applications that uses /tmp to store temporary data (like /tmp/app1), but if another user runs the same application, it will use the same location, and this can result in really big, annoying and even hard to find problems, the most common ones are ''permission denied'' reports
     44 * Multiple instances: sometimes an application is not ready to be run multiple times, this needs to be correctly managed by the programmer in order to not conflict with different instances of the same application, if the application is made to only be able to run one instance, then it needs to avoid another run with a message like ''application is already running''
    4545
    4646=== Other different types of bugs ===
    4747==== Pebkac ====
    48 ''(Problem Exist Between Keyboard And Chair)'': after to spank the user of your application because is stupid, you must give you some spankies too, because pebkac's are '''really''' bugs that '''you''' need to fix... yes, you, the developer :), that's called an ''usability issue'', you may think that the users are stupid but this won't change anything, what can change is your application, make it more evident, lazy dev!
     48''(Problem Exist Between Keyboard And Chair)'': after to spank the user of your application because he/she is stupid, you must give yourself some spankies too, because pebkac's are '''really''' bugs that '''you''' need to fix... yes, you, the developer :), that's called an ''usability issue'', you may think that the users are stupid but this won't change anything, what can change is your application, make it more evident, lazy dev!
    4949
    5050==== Wording ====
    51 A grammal error is also an error to report, if you found some wrong messages like for example the ones writed by the illiterate of ''Thanatermesis'', you must report it too... '''Update''': Since version Topaz, the translation tool of Elive also includes the possibility to translate to english, this means, from tarzanic (application orginal) to english!
     51A grammar error is also an error to report, if you find some wrong messages like for example the ones written by the illiterate ''Thanatermesis'', you must report it too... '''Update''': Since version Topaz, the translation tool of Elive also includes the possibility to translate to english, this means, from tarzanic (application orginal) to english!
    5252
    5353The wording beta-testing doesn't finish here, an interface must use the optimal messages, in short this means:
     
    5858
    5959==== User Experience (UX) ====
    60 This is an entire science, so it requires some knowledge about what is and what is not a good interface, lots of knowledge exist about it... but by other side, you can still check these things, because you are a '''logic and coherent''' person, the interfaces of the applications needs to be coherent and logic, easy to use, handy, userfriendly, etc... so if you think that the interface can be better made in a different way, just report it with the details of how must be made.
     60This is an entire science, so it requires some knowledge about what is and what is not a good interface, lots of knowledge exist about it... but by other side, you can still check these things, because you are a '''logic and coherent''' person, the interfaces of the applications needs to be coherent and logic, easy to use, handy, userfriendly, etc... so if you think that the interface can be better made in a different way, just report it with the details of how it should be made.
    6161
    6262This involves:
     
    7676
    7777=== Remember ===
    78 It is very important to report the information to the developers, problems doesn't solve by themself, so please do it, you are the real end beneficiary of the correctly working application, not the developer
     78It is very important to report the information to the developers, problems doesn't solve themself, so please do it, you are the real end beneficiary of the correctly working application, not the developer
    7979
    80 Think like you was the developer, first of all you need to be able to '''reproduce''' the problem so you need to give him the required information for reproduce it (do it yourself, and write the steps). Finally, you need to include all the relevant information that the developer may need, make his work more easy and you will have more possibilities to have it fixed!
     80Think as if you were the developer, first of all you need to be able to '''reproduce''' the problem so you need to give the developer the required information to reproduce it (do it yourself, and write the steps). Finally, you need to include all the relevant information that the developer may need, make his work more easy and you will have more possibilities to have it fixed!
    8181
    82 Before to report any bug, try to somebody else can be reproduce the bug, this can confirm it and also verify the correct reproduction of it, you can ask any volonteer in the IRC chat channel
     82Before you report any bug, try to have someone else reproduce the bug, this can confirm it and also verify the correct reproduction of it, you can ask any volonteer in the IRC chat channel
    8383
    8484'''Motivational end sentence''': Girl's doesn't really like muscles, they likes inteligent guys, smart beta-testers that catches lots of bugs are very intelligent guys.