Software Project Management Lecture # 11

Outline Quality Management ( chapter 26 - Pressman )  Software reviews  Formal Inspections & Technical Reviews  FTR & its features  Cost Impact of Software Defects  Defect Amplification & Removal  Formal Approaches to SQA

Software Reviews Software Reviews are applied at various stages of software engg. process to identify errors that can be removed Hence they are a filter or purifier for software process Reviews are important as errors often go unnoticed by the originator. Others can catch them more easily. The idea is to use diverse people as reviewers to:  Point out improvements in a product  Confirm parts of product that do not need improvement  Achieve technical work of uniform or at least predictable quality

Formal Inspections & Technical Reviews Formal inspection is a formal & scheduled activity where a designer presents material about a design and a selected group of peers evaluate the tech. aspects of the design Formal inspection or Formal Technical Review (FTR) is an SQA activity Its objectives are:  To uncover errors in function, logic or implementation for any s/w  To verify s/w under review meets its requirements  To ensure that s/w complies to standards  To achieve a s/w developed in uniform manner  To make projects more manageable

FTR & its features FTR is conducted as a meeting and is a set of reviews including walk- throughs, inspections, round-robin reviews and technical assessments Its distinguishing features are:  Knowledgeable peers are used  The producer is an active participant  An explicit, completed work product is inspected  The primary purpose is to find defects  Specific roles are assigned  Specific inspection steps are used  At least 3 to 5 people are involved

Inspection Roles Moderator  Review leader  Selects the team  conducts inspections  Reports results Reader  Usually not the producer  Will guide the team through the work product during inspection Recorder  Maintains records of inspection and accurately reports each defect Producer  Who originally produced the product  He/she is required to answer questions during inspection  Responsible for correcting identified problems

FTR Steps FTR focuses on portion of the overall software. Rather than reviewing entire component, portions can be under focus Following are the FTR steps  Overview The producer gives an overview of the work product to acquaint the team with the product  Advanced Preparation Moderator give a copy of product details to each reviewer Each review team member studies his/her copy Base don product size, preparation time is decided, typically more than 2 hours per person A checklist is used to focus on significant issues  Inspection Meeting Moderator supervises the meeting Some approaches use a reader other than producer to conduct the inspection

FTR Steps (contd.) The producer/reader can explain material while reviewers raise issues based on their preparation Recorder maintains record of issues raised All team members sign the compiled review report Review meeting should be les than 2 hours long Decision made by all review members is made to  Accept  Reject  Provisionally accept  Rework The producer reviews the report and corrects the product  Follow up Moderator reviews report and corresponding corrections If satisfied, the inspection/review is completed If not, the moderator can make the producer rework and re- inspection can be scheduled

Review guidelines Review the product, not the producer Set an agenda and maintain it Limit debate and rebuttal Indicate the problem area but don’t attempt to solve every problem noted Take written notes Limit number of participants & insist on advanced preparation Develop a checklist for each product to be reviewed Allocate resources & schedule time for FTRs Conduct meaningful training of all reviewers Review your early reviews