Peer Reviews in Software: A Practical Guide
This book presents the software inspection process in some detail and also describes a variety of other types of peer reviews that cover a spectrum of formality.
Several chapters address the cultural and interpersonal aspects of peer reviews, installing a review program in an organization, and recording and using inspection metrics. The emphasis is on a simple, practical approach to these important quality techniques that any organization can apply.
Review By: Mary Ann Overbaugh
07/21/2003
This book is a good primer for grasping the peer review process. It includes starting your review program, cultural considerations, finding an appropriate level of inspection robustness, ROI benefits, team training, and of course, process improvement. As in his other books, Karl always provides plenty of practical examples from his own real-life experiences. If you are starting a program or just trying to improve your process, you will find some well-thought-out approaches on estimating, training, and conducting peer reviews. You will learn what to do with the information you glean from the inspections and the metrics you should collect for improving processes. If you are implementing the CMM or an ISO 9000 quality model into your software development lifecycle, you will want to read Appendix A to learn how the peer review process can satisfy these quality model requirements.
Karl Wiegers becomes your personal coach as he discusses steps to successful software reviews. In his personable way, he seems to speak directly to you as he shares many methods, experiences, and ways to avoid pitfalls when starting a review program. The topic is logically covered and is presented in a very readable manner.
User Comments
Karl draws from his wealth of experience to give examples of productive peer review process in action. He talks about the culture of Development, why you may encounter resistance to peer reviews, and how to overcome these misgivings.
It’s not one-size-fits-all. Karl explains the different levels of formality depending on the culture and the context of the project. You may do best with fairly casual reviews among programmers, or you may need full-blown formal inspections. The book helps you sort that out. The case for peer reviews is compelling, including business reasons, reducing test cycles, improving quality, and improving morale within the Development team (if it’s done right).
An all-important difference between success and failure is how you handle the outcome of your process. From informal peer reviews to formal inspections, the book provides great insight on how best to use the information yielded from reviews and inspections. The book also helps you incorporate inspections into your standards compliance initiatives.
The bottom line is process improvement, whether formal standards compliance or just making your organization more effective. As the title says, it is a “Practical Guide,” and the insights will help you in every area: preparing and creating a culture of appropriate review/inspection, technical training, implementation, follow-up activities, and maximizing ROI.
Karl is a model of organized thought, and this book shows it—the step-by-step structure and overall organization make the concepts crystal clear and easy to adopt. To top it off, Karl Wiegers is a very good writer with a pleasing style. The book is a very good read.