Code review

the degree to which software meets certain criteria and standards that make it maintanable readable, reliable, and secure

• reduces defect rates

• complements testing

• identifies code smells

• provides additional benefits

• can, at least partly, be automated

• can consistently repeat several actions

• fast and high volume

• can be used on all types of documents, not just code

• can see the complete picture, not only a spot check

• can uses all information in the team

• can be innovative and inductive

• is only a spot check

• can only be used for code

• may need several stubs and drivers

• is difficult to use on compley dynamic situations

• unreliable (people can get tired)

• slow and low volume

reads the code without following a set process or using any specific tools

1. requirement specification shall be testable

2. Requirement specifications shall not conflic with other requirements specifications

3. Conditional requirements specifications shall cover all cases

4. Numerical values in requirements specificatons shall include physical units if applicable

• code structure and organization

• code functionality

• code security

• code compatibility

• code documentation

• should be periodically revides

• should be concise and fit on one page

• should not be too general

• should not be used for conventions which are better checked or enforced with software tools

1. unstructures: ad hoc reading

2. semi-structured: checklist-based reading

3. structures or systematic reading

   1. defect based reading

   2. perspective based reading

• introduction

  • explain stakeholders interests

• Intruction

  • how to read and extract informations

• Questions

  • for reviewers to answer by following the instructions

• focused

  • particular converage of part of the document

• detailed

  • instruction and questions

• adaptable

  • to particular sofware artifacts

• tailorable

  • to organizational and project setting

1. individual expertise and training

   • most important factor

2. amount of materials

   • not to attempt to inspect too many materials in one cycle

   • e.g. less than 125 lines of code per hour

3. teamsize

   • inspector may not find significantly more defects than 2 inspectors

   • 4 or 2 usually find more defects than 1

4. process and tool support

   • with good tool support, inspection meeting may not be necessary