While software is being written,
developers and testers will report problems to ensure they get fixed.
Managers can monitor the number and complexity of each problem to
determine the overall project completion.
There are typically a large number of problems reported during the early stages of testing.
As each problem gets resolved, the number of open problem tickets should continue to
go down until all problems are either closed, determined not to be a problem, or are catagorized
as future enhancements.
If the number of problems continues to increase (and not decrease) over time, this is not a good sign
when trying to meet project deadlines.
Once the released product reaches the customer, customers need to be able to report problems
which in turn can generate new problem tickets for developers to address.
Most problem tracking systems are web based.
Using a problem tracking system, users can submit a new problem,
assign a priority to the problem, and track the problem until it is closed.
When integrated with a configuration management system, check in of new code can only occur if
there is a problem ticket open which explains the reason for the code change.
Problem tracking systems usually can calculate statistics and generate graphs.
For large software projects, developers will submit problems tickets to a
problem tracking administrator whose full time job is to maintain and update
the problem tracking system and generate management reports.
If your software got bugs, a problem tracking system is an essential tool to keep them in check.
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