Workshop: Peer Review Techniques

Duration: One Day

Description: By detecting errors early in the software development life cycle, peer reviews can dramatically reduce the time required for testing, debugging and rework on software projects. Even better, the developers who participate in peer reviews improve their own skills, reducing errors on future projects. This short workshop introduces three types of peer reviews: software inspections, walkthroughs, and desk checks. Participants gain an overall understanding of the peer review process and when to use each type of review. The workshop includes a short role playing exercise to participate in a software inspection.

Audience: Project managers, product managers, technical leads, and developers who want to use peer reviews to improve the quality of their end products.

Workshop Topics:

1. Peer Reviews: A Cost Effective Quality Tool

1. Why use peer reviews?
2. Definition of three types of peer reviews: desk checks, walkthroughs, and inspections
3. Team roles and responsibilities
4. Advantages and disadvantages of each type of peer review
5. Criteria for selecting the most appropriate method based on quality

2. Conducting a Software Inspection

1. Planning the inspection and selecting the inspectors
2. Creating effective inspection materials
3. Methods for finding potential defects
4. Collecting and logging potential defects
5. Collecting the inspection metrics

3. Measuring Peer Review Effectiveness

1. Key metrics for inspections and desk checks
2. Who benefits from inspections?
3. Example ROI statistics

4. Implementing Peer Reviews

1. Tailoring the process to fit
2. Establishing minimal infrastructure
3. Critical success factors