Formal Technical Review:-

• Formal Technical review is a software quality assurance activity performed by software engineer.

Objectives of FTR:-

1. FTR is useful to uncover error in logic, function and implementation for any representation of the software.

2. The purpose of FTR is to ensure that software meets specified requirements.

3. It is also ensure that software is represented according to predefined standards.

4. It helps to review the uniformity in software development process.

5. It makes the project more manageable.

• Besides the above mentioned objectives, the purpose of FTR is to enable junior engineer to observer the analysis, design, coding and testing approach more closely.

• Each FTR is conducted as meeting and is considered successfully only if it is properly planned, controlled and attended.

Steps in FTR:-

1. The review meeting:-

• Every review meeting should be conducted by considering the following constraints-

I) Involvement of people

Between 3 and 5 people should be involve in the review.

II) Advance preparation Advance preparation should occur but it should be very short that is at the most 2 hours of work for each person can be spent in this preparation.

III) Short duration The short duration of the review meeting should be less than two hour.

• Rather than attempting to review the entire design walkthrough are conducted for modules or for small group of modules.

• The focus of the FTR is on work product (a software component to be reviewed). The review meeting is attended by the review leader, all reviewers and the producer.

• The review leader is responsible for evaluating for product for its deadlines. The copies of product material is then distributed to reviewers. -The producer organises “walkthrough” the product, explaining the material, while the reviewers raise the issues based on theirs advance preparation.

• One of the reviewers become recorder who records all the important issues raised during the review. When error are discovered, the recorder notes each.

• At the end of the review, the attendees decide whether to accept the product or not, with or without modification.

1. Review reporting and record keeping:-

• During the FTR, the reviewer actively record all the issues that have been raised.

• At the end of meeting these all raised issues are consolidated and review issue list is prepared.

• Finally, formal technical review summary report is produced.

1. Review guidelines:-

• Guidelines for the conducting of formal technical review must be established in advance. These guidelines must be distributed to all reviewers, agreed upon, and then followed.

Walkthrough:-

Walkthrough: Method of conducting informal group/individual review is called walkthrough, in which a designer or programmer leads members of the development team and other interested parties through a software product, and the participants ask questions and make comments about possible errors, violation of development standards, and other problems or may suggest improvement on the article, walkthrough can be pre planned or can be conducted at need basis and generally people working on the work product are involved in the walkthrough process.

The Purpose of walkthrough is to:

• Find problems

• Discuss alternative solutions

• Focusing on demonstrating how work product meets all requirements.IEEE 1028 recommends three specialist roles in a walkthrough:

Leader: who conducts the walkthrough, handles administrative tasks, and ensures orderly conduct (and who is often the Author).

Recorder: who notes all anomalies (potential defects), decisions, and action items identified during the walkthrough meeting, normally generate minutes of meeting at the end of walkthrough session.

Author: who presents the software product in step-by-step manner at the walk-through meeting, and is probably responsible for completing most action items.