Industry studies suggest that the average number of bugs per thousand lines of code (KLOC) can range from 10 to 50 bugs depending on the complexity of the code that is being written and despite extensive testing and quality assurance efforts bugs in live applications across the board are relatively common.
No application is without bugs and no development team can create complex software used by thousands of users totally bug free - what matters is what strategies and practices are in place to avoid bugs in the first place and to mitigate them when they do eventually get through to user’s applications.
Generally speaking, bugs in live applications happen for one of three main reasons:
1. Complexity of Software Development
Software development involves the intricate processes of coding, integration, testing, and deployment. The complexity inherent in these activities makes it challenging to eliminate all bugs and errors during the development phase. Most applications consist of thousands of lines of code across multiple interfaces, servers and databases that all interact with one another to varying degrees.Native app development offers several advantages that make it a popular choice for building high-performance and feature-rich mobile applications. Here are some key advantages of native apps:
2. Diverse Environments
Live applications operate on a wide range of devices, operating systems, and configurations. This diversity increases the likelihood of encountering bugs, as each environment presents unique challenges that developers must address for compatibility and functionality.
3. User Interaction
In software development, users are the ultimate bug detectors, revealing the hidden flaws that lie beyond the developer's gaze. Live applications interact with users who perform actions that may not have been anticipated during testing. This unpredictability can expose new bugs or trigger existing ones, necessitating effective bug mitigation strategies.
So what are the strategies that Kode Technologies deploys to prevent bugs from occurring in the first place? And to quickly fix them when they do?
1. Good Planning
A crucial aspect of bug mitigation is thorough planning before the development process begins. This includes defining clear requirements, establishing project goals, and creating a well-defined roadmap. Good planning allows our teams to anticipate potential risks and challenges, enabling them to allocate resources effectively and identify potential areas where bugs may occur.
2. Robust Software Architecture
A strong software architecture forms the foundation of a reliable and maintainable application. Our teams prioritise architectural design principles, such as modularity, scalability, and code reusability, to minimise the occurrence of bugs. Well-structured architecture facilitates easier bug identification and isolation, making it simpler to fix issues without impacting the entire system.
- a. Rigorous Testing: Our teams conduct thorough testing throughout the development lifecycle. These include unit testing, integration testing, automatic QA testing and system testing to identify and rectify bugs at various stages. In addition to this we do manual QA testing where we have people work through all features and functions on the application on real devices regularly. We also conduct regression testing which ensures that bug fixes do not introduce new issues.
- b. Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD): Our CI/CD practices to automate build, testing, and deployment processes. This enables frequent releases and quick bug fixes, reducing the impact of bugs on live applications.
- c. Beta Testing and User Feedback: In cooperation with our clients, we engage in beta testing and actively seek feedback from users. This approach helps uncover bugs that may have been missed during internal testing. User feedback also provides insights into real-world experiences, aiding the developers in prioritising and resolving issues effectively.
- d. Monitoring and Analytics: We use monitoring tools and analytics to track live application performance and crashes. This proactive approach allows us to identify and resolve bugs in real-time, enhancing stability and reliability.
- e. Post-Release Support and Updates: Our teams provide ongoing support and release regular updates to address bugs and errors reported by users. They prioritise critical issues and continually work towards improving application performance and stability.
In conclusion, bugs and errors are common in live applications due to software development complexities, diverse environments, and user interactions. However, our teams implement a range of strategies to mitigate their impact. By conducting rigorous testing, adopting CI/CD practices, leveraging user feedback and monitoring tools, and providing timely support and updates, we can deliver high-quality applications with minimal bugs. These proactive measures contribute to enhanced user experiences and the ongoing improvement of our clients’ applications.
Get in touch with us today to learn more about how we might be able to help you in a reliable and effective way so that the goals and objectives of your application can be achieved unhindered by issues in your software.