(with Daniel P. Freedman)
"a basic reference for anyone engaged in
system design and programming activities."
- Journal of Systems Management
(translated into Portuguese)
The new revision of this highly successful handbook provides information on the hows and whys of performing and documenting formal technical reviews of systems and procedures in an easy-to-follow, practical question-and-answer format.
Order now from Dorset House Books!
[email protected] from London, England , 20 October, 1999
In a worthwhile way deals more with the why than the how.
Inspections are intrinsically boring. Freeman & Weinberg don't say this. Inspections are like going to the dentist. They don't say this either. No one really wants to have their work scrutinised by others, but this book puts the case very well that one should, and that one shouldn't mind. It deals sensitively with the principles to employ when reviewing the work of others and being able to continue working with them afterwards. If the culture of your organisation opposes the notion of formal techincal reviews in practice if not in principle, but its products contain defects, then this book makes a good starting point. The Gilb & Graham book on inspections is much longer and more substantive, but no one has significantly bettered the Freeman & Weinberg approach.
[email protected] from Ireland , 20 May, 1999
Highly recommended.
Written in a lively question and answer style the book covers thoroughly the philosophy and practice of group based technical reviews. I found their discussion of the relationship between effective project management and reviews to be particularly important - they emphasis that because reviews produce evidence of actual completion of a product (rather than claimed completion) they are an essential tool for assessment of milestone completion.
The question and answer style leads to some repetition. However on the positive side the answers always get to the very core of each issue. Rather than presenting prescriptive rules they clearly explain the rationale behind each technique so one can understand the contribution each makes to the objective of achieving an effective review.
Word of caution with regard to terminology - they use the term "Inspection" to mean a review where one restricts one's attention to a few selected topics. This is regrettable because their description of "Formal Technical Reviews" is very close to the "Inspection" process as described in Tom Gilb's book and in Michael Fagan's classic article in IBM System Journal. Once this is understood this book and Gilb's book on Inspection compliment each other very well.
Essential reading to anyone involved with Sotware Project Manaagement.
Contents
Part A: Introduction
Section 1: About This HandbookSection 2: What Is a Formal Technical Review?
Part B: The Review Environment
Section 1: Selecting ReviewersSection 2: Management Participation
Section 3: Allocating Time and Facilities for Reviews
Section 4: Notes on Getting Started
Section 5: Technical Reviews and Project Management
PART C: Conducting the Review
Section 1: The Review LeaderSection 2: The Recorder
Section 3: Helpful Rules and Customs for Reviewers
Section 4: Helpful Rules for Management
Section 5: The User and the Review
PART D: Reporting the Results of the Review
Section 1: Functions of ReportingSection 2: The Technical Review Summary Report
Section 3: The Technical Review Issues List
Section 4: Technical Review Related Issue Report
Section 5: System History
Section 6: Writing Issues
PART E: Varieties of Review Disciplines
Section 1: Why There are So Many Review VariationsSection 2: The Walkthrough
Section 3: Inspections
Section 4: Round-Robin Reviews
Section 5: Review Teams
Section 6: A Collection of Review Tactics
Section 7: Informal Reviews
PART F: Types of Materials Reviewed
Section 1: Varieties of Reviews and Their OriginsSection 2: Functional Specification Reviews
Section 3: Design Reviews
Section 4: Code Reviews
Section 5: Documentation Reviews
Section 6: Test Plan Reviews
Section 7: Tool and Package Reviews
Section 8: Reviews of Training Materials and Plans
Section 9: Reviews of Procedures and Standards
Section 10: Operations and Maintenance Reviews
Section 11: Reviews in an Academic Environment
Section 12: Implementation of Structured Walkthroughs in the Classroom
Part G: Bibliography
Part H: Index