In Jira, if a Q.A. tester finds a problem with the way a developer has implemented an unreleased feature, should they be logging that as a new bug? Or is it better for them to note the problems as a comment and re-open the issue?
If they enter it as a comment on the existing issue, then when using the time-tracking features I believe you would have a more accurate impression of how long that issue actually took to implement. On the other hand, if you create new bugs then you can track how many bugs developers are generating for the number of issues they're working on for quality improvement purposes.
What are the pros and cons to each approach? Is there a way to achieve both of the benefits I outlined above?
I'm in favor of creating a new issue. In many cases a bug needs to be reopened cause the root cause has changed. Probably the developer made a number of assumptions which aren't true anymore in a new version, so the description of the original issue is not 100% correct anymore.
(If the bug needs to be reopened cause the fix is plain wrong, test strategy must be revised.)
I've seen bugs that were reopened 17 times. If you print out the comments made around this bug, you would end up with a document of more than 20 pages.
Another drawback of being able to reopen a bug is that it makes the workflow unnecessary complex, with a 'Reopened' state and additional transitions ...
Using plugins like JCALP or JCLP, it is straightforward for the tester to create a new bug out of the previous one.
An advantage of not reopening is that you will be able to report more clearly on a certain build
Francis