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I am an undergrad studying Computer Science. When I tried reporting bugs to several projects, I came across the classification untriaged a lot. A web search didn't really explain what this means.

Could you tell me what an untriaged bug is?

yannis
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user
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1 Answers1

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Triage comes from medical jargon - it is the process of prioritizing patient care.

When used in the context of bugs it has a similar meaning - determining the priority of a fix.

So, untriaged bugs are those that have not been assigned a priority yet.

Oded
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  • It can also mean it hasn't been assigned to a particular developer yet; ie it is waiting for someone to determine which person ought to investigate and fix that particular bug. – Crashworks Jan 14 '12 at 12:12
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    @Crashworks - It hasn't been assigned because it has not been prioritized. Prioritization comes _before_ assigning. It is the process of deciding if a bug should even _be_ assigned. – Oded Jan 14 '12 at 14:13
  • We do it the other way around at our studio; the person assigned to investigate the bug is the one who decides its severity and how urgently it should be fixed. For us "triaging" bugs means going through the unsorted list of fresh reports and assigning them to owners. – Crashworks Jan 14 '12 at 14:28
  • @Crashworks - So, not deciding ever that a reported bug will not be fixed? – Oded Jan 14 '12 at 14:41
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    The assigned owner makes that determination, since s/he's the one who understands the system, whether it's really a bug or by design, and the cost of fixing it. Anyway my point isn't to argue which is the better bug-reporting process; I was just pointing out an alternative definition of the word 'triage' used at some workplaces. – Crashworks Jan 14 '12 at 15:01
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    You're both right. A more generic definition of "untriaged" is that a human beyond the original reporter hasn't looked at it for classification. What that classification accomplishes is dependent on the workflow and context. – Karl Bielefeldt Jan 14 '12 at 16:13
  • Triaging a bug also often involves assessing the quality of the bug report, and bouncing it back to the QA person who reported it if it is unclear, lacking in details, etc. Also the triager may well do a quick investigation into whether the bug is possible/easy to reproduce before assigning it onwards. – Carson63000 Jan 15 '12 at 23:39
  • @Oded, Why not just "queue"? Queue vs triage? – Pacerier Feb 12 '17 at 21:44
  • @Pacerier - a queue is a simple first in - first out. Triage is about assigning an item a priority - not strictly fifo. – Oded Feb 12 '17 at 22:27