Difference between Severity and Priority in Software Testing

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Difference between Severity and Priority in
Software Testing
Often people get confused between Severity and
Priority while this question get asked in many
of the interviews for Software Testing positions.
Infact, this topic is confusing in so many ways
to count upon. However, to understand the basic
difference between the said terminologies is not
that difficult or complex if explained in a
simple and understandable manner. Apparently,
the scope for confusion emerges only due to the
non-availability of platforms which can explain
it in a simple and clear way. Besides, Software
Testing has become one of the many job generating
verticals in the IT sector around the
world. Bug Fixing is one of the most essential
process under Software Testing. And, in order to
fix these notorious bugs comes various bug
tracking systems which are responsible to detect
the errors and to reflect their severity and the
sequence in which they need to be addressed
called priority. These terms namely Priority
and Severity gets reflected under the various
results obtained on running these so called Bug
Tracking Systems to test an intended piece of
mobile or web application.
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What Exactly is Meant by Severity in Simple
Terms Severity basically means the degree of
impact a bug or defect has on the functionality
of the said application or software. Higher
severity of the bug means the higher its
potential to affect the working of an application
in a negative manner. Mostly, the Quality
Assurance Engineer determines the severity of a
bug.
What Exactly is Meant by Priority in Simple
Terms Priority is nothing but the order in
which the said bugs or defects need to be
addressed to. Higher priority of a bug means
that it needs urgent attention regardless of its
severity. Consider this - A bug might be of low
severity but if assigned a high priority, then
it has to be fixed more sooner than a bug with a
higher severity.
Categorization of Types of Severity and Priority
SEVERITY Critical This kind of bug or defect
is the one which is leading towards complete
shutdown of the process that means a tester is
not able to proceed further while doing his
work. Major It is as serious as the critical
one, but the only difference is that in this kind
of defect certain parts of the system still
works while the whole system collapses.
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Medium Some expected behaviour can be detected
while running the application but still the
application is functional. However, the app will
not respond as per the expectations. Low It
is a minor bug which affects the system and the
functionality to an extent which does not
hampers its functionality but impacts negatively
in regard to the reputation of the web or mobile
application in question. Its not going to result
in the breakdown of the system.
PRIORITY High High priority means that the
defect should be resolved as soon as possible as
it's affecting the system severely and has made
the system come to a complete shutdown. Medium
It requires for the defect to be resolved as
soon as you get time to address the concerned
bug while the application development is also
been carried out simultaneously. However, it
does not allow developers to sit back and relax
if this level of fault has occurred. Low
There is not an urgent requirement of fixing
these kind of bugs. However, it does not mean
that you are free to let them be, as it's not
affecting the system in a critical manner. It
only gives you the luxury to fix these kind of
errors whenever you get time after fixing the
major ones.
Lets Make It Simpler With The Help of These
Practical Examples
High Severity Low Priority
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Logo of the Company Suppose, a companys logo
colour is showing different or there has been an
incorrect spelling of the companys name in the
URL found of what it should be.That means its a
case of high severity because the companys
reputation and accessibility has been affected
in a severe manner. Why Severe ? Because, if the
company URL is incorrect, that means, whenever
people will type the URL in their browsers
address bar, the site will not open. Likewise,
colour fault in the logo can create
dissimilarities of the sites appearance at
different places on the web which leads to
negative impact on the reputation of the site.
High Severity High Priority Submit Button on
the Login Page not working or not getting
Displayed You may have easily understood about
why it's high on both severity and priority. If
one is unable to login on your site, then whats
the use of your site and added is the bad
response it will generate among the users that
will eventually make users leave your site
promptly.
Low Severity High Priority Kick Start not
working in a Bike but Self Start Does High
Priority because Self Start could stop to work
at any time as self start is more prone to
defects than the manual Kick Start. Low Severity
because self start is still working and your bike
is still functional.
Low Severity Low Priority A Few Spelling
Mistakes In the Text of Home Screen Both
severity and priority are low because its not
affecting much the functionality of the site and
the spellings can be corrected any time with a
lot of ease in the free time.
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Hope this blog has cleared all the confusions and
misconceptions with regard to the ever confusing
topic - Difference between Severity and
Priority.
Also Read Static and Dynamic Testing Best
wishes to all the interviewees who intend to take
interviews in the near future for various
positions in Software Testing and of course, the
learners !