Types of Software Errors

July 11, 2019

What are Software Errors?

In the field of software engineering, any sort of deviation or mismatch occurring between the actual and the expected or desired output of a software product is commonly referred to as a software error. These are generally introduced in the software product, unintentionally & undesirably by a developer.

Types of Software Errors:

Here, we are presenting some of the commonly know software errors in the field of software engineering in order to identify them easily so as to enhance the productivity of the testing phase.

1. User Interface Error:

These are the error which generally appears during the interaction of the user with the system or when a user is using & handling a software product. It may include following errors.

Different functioning opposite to what a user has expected.
Missing functionality.
Wrong functionality.
Communication gap, while a user interacts with the system such as non-availability of on-screen instructions, etc.
Inappropriate text & error message.
Spelling, factual and context error.
Uneven pattern of colour.
Incorrect & incomplete appearance of the statements.
Slow and poor responsive feature.
Error in the menu layout.
No revert function.
No back up facility.
Incompatibility with the Operating system functions and features.
Frequent time-out issues; and many such things.

2. Error Handling Errors:

One of the most common types of error where a system fails to predict the presence of an error, and lacks in safeguarding the system against it.

Inadequate or lack of protection features to get sheltered off from the malicious attacks.
Lack of protection from the bugs present in the operating system.
Inability to report an error.
Termination of task containing error, but leaving behind large hoach poach.
Inefficiency in dealing with the invalid or inappropriate feeding of the inputs by the users.
Overseeing the overflow issue caused due to the large complex calculations; and many more.
Incapability to deal with the hardware failures or other related issues.

Boundary Related Errors:

Errors pertaining to software program with respect to its functioning within and outside the boundaries.

Non-visible boundaries.
Boundaries in space, memory and time.
Mismanaging the cases beyond the boundaries, etc.

Control Flow Errors:

Errors with respect to passing on the control of program, in a wrong direction i.e. software program behaves unexpectedly in the next step of the execution.

Presence of infinite loop.
Wrong or invalid logic and conditions for the loop.
Unlimited wait for the invalid condition or loop.
Errors pertaining to data table such as inserting wrong entries, or incorrect addresses.
Backtracking to a wrong state or place.
Reporting syntax error during the run-time, etc.

Hardware Errors:

Usage of wrong device.
Non-availability of the device.
Non-compatibility with the device.
Wrong storage device.
Incorrect address of the device.
Inappropriate or incorrect paging process.
Wrongly fetching & interpreting the instructions.
Time-out issues.

Calculation Errors:

Errors, arising from the calculation mistakes.

Incorrect implementation of the computational logic.
Mistakes in using the operators.
Lack of precision in the calculation.

Race Conditions:

Errors arising due to initiation of next task without the termination of the previous task as such pre-requisites for the second task has not been met in this condition.

Load Conditions:

The errors occurring due to the non-availability of resources, insufficient memory to accommodate large size of data ignoring the low priority tasks for the execution, etc.

Source, Version & ID Control:

Unexpected occurrence of the previous old bug due to the attachment with the previous version.
No title or name being assigned to a program.
Appearance of wrong or no version number in the title of software application.
Fails to update a programming code across all the modules where it is used.

Testing Errors:

This does not include the any sort of error pertaining to a software product rather, it involves the errors occurred while implementing and executing the testing process such as in documentation, methods followed and in reporting.