Peer Reviews in Software: A Practical Guide


Preface

Chapter 1. The Quality Challenge

Looking Over the Shoulder
Quality Isn't Quite Free
Justifying Peer Reviews
Peer Reviews, Testing, and Quality Tools
What Can Be Reviewed
A Personal Commitment to Quality

Chapter 2. A Little Help from Your Friends

Scratch Each Other's Back
Reviews and Team Culture
The Influence of Culture
Reviews and Managers
Why People Don't Do Reviews
Overcoming Resistance to Reviews
Peer Review Sophistication Scale
Planning for Reviews
Guiding Principles for Reviews

Chapter 3. Peer Review Formality Spectrum

The Formality Spectrum
Inspection
Team Review
Pair Programming
Walkthrough
Peer Deskcheck
Passaround
Ad Hoc Review
Choosing a Review Approach

Chapter 4. The Inspection Process

Inspector Roles
The Author's Role
To Read or Not to Read
Inspection Team Size
Inspection Process Stages
Planning
Overview
Preparation
Meeting
Rework
Follow-Up
Causal Analysis
Variations on the Inspection Theme
Gilb/Graham Method
High-Impact Inspection
Phased Inspections

Chapter 5. Planning the Inspection

When to Hold Inspections
The Inspection Moderator
Selecting the Material
Inspection Entry Criteria
Assembling the Cast
Inspector Perspectives
Managers and Observers
The Inspection Package
Inspection Rates
Scheduling Inspection Events

Chapter 6. Examining the Work Product

The Overview Stage
The Preparation Stage
Preparation Approaches
Defect Checklists
Other Analysis Techniques

Chapter 7. Putting Your Heads Together

The Moderator's Role
Launching the Meeting
Conducting the Meeting
Reading the Work Product
Raising Defects and Issues
Recording Defects and Issues
Watching for Problems
Product Appraisal
Closing the Meeting
Improving the Inspection Process

Chapter 8. Bringing Closure

The Rework Stage
The Follow-Up Stage
The Causal Analysis Stage
Inspection Exit Criteria

Chapter 9. Analyzing Inspection Data

Why Collect Data
Some Measurement Caveats
Basic Data Items and Metrics
The Inspection Database
Data Analysis
Measuring the Impact of Inspections
Effectiveness
Efficiency
Return on Investment

Chapter 10. Installing a Peer Review Program

The Peer Review Process Owner
Preparing the Organization
Process Assets
The Peer Review Coordinator
Peer Review Training
Piloting the Review Process

Chapter 11. Making Peer Reviews Work for You

Critical Success Factors
Review Traps to Avoid
Troubleshooting Review Problems

Chapter 12. Special Review Challenges

Large Work Products
Geographical or Time Separation
Distributed Review Meeting
Asynchronous Review
Generated and Nonprocedural Code
Too Many Participants
No Qualified Reviewers Available

Appendix A: Peer Reviews and Process Improvement Models

Capability Maturity Model for Software
Goals of the Peer Reviews Key Process Area
Activities Performed
Commitment to Perform
Ability to Perform
Measurement and Analysis
Verifying Implementation
Systems Engineering Capability Maturity Model
CMMI-SE/SW
Prepare for Peer Reviews
Conduct Peer Reviews
Analyze Peer Review Data
ISO 9000-3

Appendix B: Supporting Materials

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