A bug tracking system or defect tracking system is a software application that keeps track of reported software bugs in software development projects. It may be regarded as a type of issue tracking system.
Many bug tracking systems, such as those used by most open source software projects, allow end-users to enter bug reports directly. Other systems are used only internally in a company or organization doing software development. Typically bug tracking systems are integrated with other software project management applications.
A bug tracking system is usually a necessary component of a good software development infrastructure, and consistent use of a bug or issue tracking system is considered one of the "hallmarks of a good software team".
A major component of a bug tracking system is a database that records facts about known bugs. Facts may include the time a bug was reported, its severity, the erroneous program behavior, and details on how to reproduce the bug; as well as the identity of the person who reported it and any programmers who may be working on fixing it.
Generally a tracking system is used for the observing of persons or objects on the move and supplying a timely ordered sequence of respective location data to a model e.g. capable to serve for depicting the motion on a display capability.
In virtual space technology, a tracking system is generally a system capable of rendering virtual space to a human observer while tracking the observer's body coordinates. For instance, in dynamic virtual auditory space simulations, a real-time head tracker provides feedback to the central processor, allowing for selection of appropriate head-related transfer functions at the estimated current position of the observer relative to the environment.
There are myriad tracking systems. Some are 'lag time' indicators, that is, the data is collected after an item has passed a point for example a bar code or choke point or gate. Others are 'real-time' or 'near real-time' like Global Positioning Systems depending on how often the data is refreshed. There are bar-code systems which require a person to scan items and automatic identification (RFID auto-id). For the most part, the tracking worlds are composed of discrete hardware and software systems for different applications. That is, bar-code systems are separate from Electronic Product Code (EPC) systems, GPS systems are separate from active real time locating systems or RTLS for example, a passive RFID system would be used in a warehouse to scan the boxes as they are loaded on a truck - then the truck itself is tracked on a different system using GPS with its own features and software. The major technology “silos” in the supply chain are: