2.8 Software quality management  (Page 7/11)

Technical reviews

“The purpose of a technical review is to evaluate a software product to determine its suitability for its intended use. The objective is to identify discrepancies from approved specifications and standards. The results should provide management with evidence confirming (or not) that the product meets the specifications and adheres to standards, and that changes are controlled” (IEEE1028-97).

Specific roles must be established in a technical review: a decision-maker, a review leader, a recorder, and technical staff to support the review activities. A technical review requires that mandatory inputs be in place in order to proceed:

• Statement of objectives
• A specific software product
• The specific project management plan
• The issues list associated with this product
• The technical review procedure

The team follows the review procedure. A technically qualified individual presents an overview of the product, and the examination is conducted during one or more meetings. The technical review is completed once all the activities listed in the examination have been completed.

Inspections

The purpose of an inspection is to detect and identify software product anomalies. Two important differentiators of inspections as opposed to reviews are as follows:

• An individual holding a management position over any member of the inspection team shall not participate in the inspection.
• An inspection is to be led by an impartial facilitator who is trained in inspection techniques.

Software inspections always involve the author of an intermediate or final product, while other reviews might not. Inspections also include an inspection leader, a recorder, a reader, and a few (2 to 5) inspectors. The members of an inspection team may possess different expertise, such as domain expertise, design method expertise, or language expertise. Inspections are usually conducted on one relatively small section of the product at a time. Each team member must examine the software product and other review inputs prior to the review meeting, perhaps by applying an analytical technique to a small section of the product, or to the entire product with a focus only on one aspect, for example, interfaces. Any anomaly found is documented and sent to the inspection leader. During the inspection, the inspection leader conducts the session and verifies that everyone has prepared for the inspection. A checklist, with anomalies and questions germane to the issues of interest, is a common tool used in inspections. The resulting list often classifies the anomalies and is reviewed for completeness and accuracy by the team. The inspection exit decision must correspond to one of the following three criteria:

• Accept with no or at most minor reworking
• Accept with rework verification
• Reinspect

Inspection meetings typically last a few hours, whereas technical reviews and audits are usually broader in scope and take longer.

Walk-throughs

The purpose of a walk-through is to evaluate a software product. A walk-through may be conducted for the purpose of educating an audience regarding a software product. The major objectives are to: