Reviews

Types of Reviews

A single software product or related work product may be the subject of more than one review. If more than one type of review is used, the order may vary. For example, an informal review may be carried out before a technical review, or an inspection may be carried out on a requirements specification before a walkthrough with customers. The main characteristics, options and purposes of common review types are:


Informal Review
o  No formal process
o  May take the form of pair programming or a technical lead reviewing designs and code
o  Results may be documented
o  Varies in usefulness depending on the reviewers
o  Main purpose: inexpensive way to get some benefit


Walk through
o  Meeting led by author
o  May take the form of scenarios, dry runs, peer group participation
o  Open-ended sessions
•    Optional pre-meeting preparation of reviewers
•    Optional preparation of a review report including list of findings
o  Optional scribe (who is not the author)
o  May vary in practice from quite informal to very formal
o  Main purposes:
learning, gaining understanding, finding defects


Technical Review
o  Documented, defined defect-detection process that includes peers and technical experts with optional management participation
o  May be performed as a peer review without management participation
o  Ideally led by trained moderator (not the author)
o  Pre-meeting preparation by reviewers
o  Optional use of checklists
o  Preparation of a review report which includes the list of findings, the verdict whether the
software product meets its requirements and, where appropriate, recommendations related to
findings
o  May vary in practice from quite informal to very formal
o  Main purposes:
discussing, making decisions, evaluating alternatives, finding defects, solving
technical problems and checking conformance to specifications, plans, regulations, and
standards


Inspection
o  Led by trained moderator (not the author) o  Usually conducted as a peer examination o  Defined roles
o  Includes metrics gathering
o  Formal process based on rules and checklists
o  Specified entry and exit criteria for acceptance of the software product
o  Pre-meeting preparation
o  Inspection report including list of findings
o  Formal follow-up process (with optional process improvement components)
o  Optional reader
o  Main purpose: finding defects


Walkthroughs, technical reviews and inspections can be performed within a peer group,
i.e., colleagues at the same organizational level. This type of review is called a “peer review”.