What to do when you find a bug

Inevitably you will find bugs in your code (yes, even you will write bugs). Once a bug has been identified, what steps do you take to fix it? Regardless of how small the bug is, it should be put into a bug tracking system (you do have one, right? If not, consider something free like Trac). This allows you to track bugs over time and do some deeper analysis.

Once the bug is identified, take steps to reproduce the bug by writing a test that exercises the bug. Then make the code change to fix the bug. Now you've fixed it and have a test to ensure it doesn't happen again.

This is where too many people stop. It is important to identify why the bug occurred. Was it an error in specifications? An error in coding logic? or some other error? Note this in the tracking system.

Periodically, query the bug tracking system to get an idea of why these bugs are happening (root cause analysis) and take the organizational steps necessary to correct them.