Towards a Taxonomy of Bug Tracking Process Smells: A Quantitative Analysis

Bug tracking is the process of monitoring and reporting malfunctions or issues found in software. While there is no consensus on a formally specified bug tracking process, some certain rules and best practices for an optimal bug tracking process are accepted by many companies and open-source software (OSS) projects. Despite slight variations between different platforms, the primary aim of all these rules and practices is to perform a more efficient bug tracking process. Practitioners' non-compliance with the best practices not only impedes the benefits of the bug tracking process but also negatively affects the other phases of the life cycle of software development.