Peer Reviews in Software: A Practical Guide

Every developer I have known has experienced the phenomena of spending an inordinate amount of time searching for a bug only to have a colleague look at the code and find it almost immediately. Study after study has indicated that the worst review process for software is self-criticism and the best is to have other coders take a good look at it. Therefore, it is logical that a formal process for developers reviewing each others code be implemented. The problem is that the former is informal, making it "off the books" and not subject to review by decision makers. Being human, developers react differently when their livelihood is potentially at stake, which can cause problems and prevent adequate reviews of the code. Creating a stable, scalable and structured peer review system is not something that can be done by fiat or in a short time. It requires clear managerial direction that inspires confidence and builds a sense of security for both the evaluator and evaluated. Creating such an environment is the key and that is the main point of value in this book.Wiegers lays out in great detail how to create a culture where all involved are peers in the real sense. It is absolutely necessary that everyone in the review process understand that creating quality software is the only thing that matters. Therefore, posturing, ego tripping, ego inflating, ego protection and all related activities must be suppressed. These are the most difficult tasks for professional humans to engage in, and it requires a combination of carrying a big stick to move the process as well as a soft pillow for the necessary falls from perfection. Wiegers shows you how to do this with the skill of a counselor. In my reading of the trade press, the recent rise in the concern for computer security has led to a great deal of coverage about errors in software. Responding to this pressure, Bill Gates has sent out a public memo noting that quality is now the number one priority at Microsoft. The best way to achieve this quality is to have an effective peer review process and in this book you can learn how to do that. In the new world order of software, your very survival may be at stake, so your plan of action should include a rendezvous with this book.

Excellent up to date survey of the literature, excellent survey of the many methods and analysis of their differences. A rich insight into the area of peer reviews in general, including Inspections and their variations. Practical for the industrial user. Highly recommended.

I have attempted over the years to get various organizations to buy into peer reviews. We have lots of evidence why these reviews are highly worthwhile, but their implementation has not been anything to write home about. There's always many reasons why organizations don't buy in or give peer reviews half-hearted support.In my opinion, this book is an important contribution to the field. I'm sufficiently impressed that I've passed copies of the book to a few busy software development managers, software engineers and business managers so far. They've taken the time to look at it, and they find the book talks to them -- it is clear, addresses their issues, offers practical solutions which they may not have considered before, and is persuasive. I believe the book will have a postive influence in their organizations.I hope to see copies in lots more people's bookshelves.

Practical is a key element of this book. Like Wiegers' other books, this one is well written and researched; it provides a concise guide to peer reviews along with a set of useful tools for the practitioner, or "assets" -- documents, procedures, and spreadsheets that you can implement right away to put reviews into practice. It's amazing, but peer reviews are not a regular practice in many software organizations. Peer reviews are proven to save time, money and promote learning and understanding among project team members. Perhaps one reason for their lack of practice is that there has been, up until now, little in the literature that we can read and put into practice right away. Well, here it is!One of the nice things about this book is that the author shows you how you can tweak peer reviews to make them work for your team or organization. He give due diligence, the psychological aspects of peer reviews. Wiegers explains all the roles involved, target work products to review, how to prepare for a review, what to record, what to measure, and even how to train on peer reviews. The book includes a useful glossary, a set of troubleshooting review problems with symptoms and possible solutions, and those very useful assets on the author's web site(...). Example assets include: peer review process description, inspection checklist, spreadsheets for code and document inspection and a set of defect checklists. Used in the context of careful reading of this book, teams can really do a lot to improve their products and relationships. This is a book to be read by analysts, developers, architects, project leaders and managers who care about the quality and cost of software.

If you're looking for an introduction to peer reviews, this book should be your first choice. Karl covers the full spectrum of peer reviews from ad hoc to software inspections. The emphasis is on inspection and this is what I think is the most important contribution of this book. All facets of the inspection process are well covered with much valuable practical advice. Karl has also setup a companion website with valuable supplemental information including forms and checklists.