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Performance issues and bugs

Where is the line between a performance issue and a bug? Does a line even exist?

When something is slow, you can add a loading bar or animation. If it’s slow enough, it’s perceived as stuck - that’s a blocking bug.

How about when you’re watching a video, and it’s constantly pausing because the hardware can’t keep up? That seems like a bug - the user experience is bad. But if a video game renders at a lower resolution during a high-intensity scene to keep the FPS high enough, is that a bug?

In these cases the bug is a symptom: negative UX from pausing or stuttering, or operations failing due to timeouts. The root cause is not a code defect (“not doing the right thing”) but a performance issue (“taking too long to do the thing”).

There are differences in approaches, tools, skills, and solutions for defects vs. performance issues. Understanding which one you’re dealing with is critical.

Fun side note: many times new defect bugs crop up when a performance issue has been fixed…

- Karl

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