What is a software bug?

These errors can be caused by coding errors, design omissions, or simply unintended behavior in the face of unexpected inputs or interactions with other software. From minor glitches to big security holes, they can harm the system's performance, stability, and security; thus, their detection and fixing are critical.

Discover what leads to software bugs, how they can be minimized, and why thorough testing and quality assurance are crucial in software development. Read the full article here.

Malware is intentionally created to cause harm to systems, stealing data or making them inaccessible. It is a digital troll that leverages vulnerabilities to cause damage.

On the other hand, software bugs are simply the unintended mistakes made when writing the source code of an application. It can make an app freeze, act strange, and maybe some security risks, but it wasn't written with intent.

And errors are a broader category that includes bugs but also encompasses runtime failures, incorrect inputs, or system misconfigurations that cause software to crash or malfunction.

You could think of it as follows: a bug is a gap in a house's foundation, an error is any structural issue (cracks, leaks, or bad wiring), and malware is someone breaking in to exploit those weaknesses.

Here is a description of 11 types of software bugs and their impact on applications:

1. Functional bugs — A feature that does not function as it should, such as a login button that does not react.
2. Logical bugs — These are caused by errors in the logic or calculations of the program and, therefore, produce incorrect results. For instance, an e-commerce application may mess up calculating taxes because of a wrong formula, which would result in the right customers being charged the wrong amount.
3. Workflow bugs — A breakdown in the process flow, for example, an app that cannot progress to the next stage of a multi-step form.
4. Unit-level bugs — Problems within a particular function or module are usually revealed during unit testing.
5. System-level integration bugs — Defects occur when various modules or systems fail to work harmoniously.
6. Out-of-bound bugs — They happen when an operation is conducted beyond the normal range, such as an array index that is out of range.
7. Security bugs — Risks that can be taken advantage of, including poor authentication or SQL injection threats.
8. Performance bugs — Problems that slow down a system, including memory leaks and high CPU usage.
9. Compatibility bugs — Software that does not operate as it should on various devices, browsers, or operating systems.
10. Usability bugs — Design issues that make the application hard to use, such as poor navigation.
11. Concurrency bugs — These incidents occur when two or more processes are concurrently active and compete for resources, resulting in unpredictable behavior.

One of the most common bugs is a crash, or when the software quits unexpectedly and interrupts the performance of tasks, and data loss. For instance, a word processor crashing while writing a document would be frustrating for the user and reduce the user's productivity.

Typos in code may seem like small errors, but they can lead to serious failures. A small change in a single character, letter, or number can affect an application's behavior, appearance, or even security.

Bugs can also affect businesses, such as an e-commerce site that does not function properly and cannot process payments, display products, or clear carts. This frustrates customers, erodes trust, and leads to sales loss.

During the development process, bugs are usually uncovered by QA testers, product managers, or users if they were not uncovered earlier. Developers, whether the creators of the product or the troubleshooters, own the responsibility of fixing them.

To track bugs and pinpoint when they first appeared, developers employ debuggers, version control, and test programs.