1 Design and Code Inspections to Reduce Errors in Program Development. M.E. Fagan IBM Systems Journal, 1976 Presented by Ankush Varma

2 Overview What is Code Inspection Study: Quantification of Benefits The Formal Inspection Process Code Inspection for Process Management

3 Code Inspection Code is only looked at from a debugging viewpoint. Cannot revisit algorithms, check for coding standards etc. easily. Inspection is a formal process of looking at all aspects of both design and code even when nothing seems broken. Write Code Debug Add features Test

4 Programming : A Manageable Process Programming can be though of as a process: Requirement Statements are Input. A series of processing operations act on this. Each step has well-defined output. Each step has unambiguous exit criteria e.g. clean compilation, number of lines of code a design statement translates to etc. Cost of reworking errors massively increases down the process. Note the underlying ties to a waterfall model.

5 The Programming Process cost

6 The Benefits of Code Inspection : A Study

7 Study of Error Detection Rates

8 The Formal Inspection Process

9 People Involved Moderator Designer Coder/Implementor Tester

10 The Steps of the Inspection Process

11 What to Look For : Examples

12 Code Inspection for Process Management

13 Using Code Inspections for Process Control List most error-prone modules to prioritize testing, re-coding or later inspections. Compare processes to evaluate relative effectiveness. Use increased predictability to plan ahead. Error re-work moved to first half of process, where it is cheaper. Earlier quantification of product quality.

14 Inspections are NOT Walk-Throughs

15 Questions/Discussion