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