Bug tracking systems, are they that fun to write?

It seems like most software shops write their own bug and issue tracking solutions. As a consultant, I see lots of projects and a surprising number use a homegrown solution. I just got out of training on my current client's system and it has so many gotcha and special behaviors that the demonstrator made several mistakes. I've always wanted to use FogBUGZ but I've never had the chance. Do you have a favorite system?

1 Comment

  • On the other hand, rolling your own may be superior to "tracking" bugs via a combination of e-mail and Excel.
    I would guess that the reason many small shops end up writing their own bug-tracking system is because it seems easy enough to knock out in an afternoon, and it's "free" to do so.
    IMO it's much better to bite the bullet and pay for something reasonable (or set up an open source alternative, I guess) and spend your time on something that pays the bills. My company started out with TrackRecord, which was written by the people who created BRIEF, and had an...interesting...user interface that never reached critical mass among our non-developers. We switched over to TestTrack Pro, by Seapine Software, and have used that ever since. It's got a couple warts, but overall is quite nice.

    (Yes, I realize I'm responding to a 4.5-year-old blog post. Thanks, Google!)

Comments have been disabled for this content.