The Role of Comprehension in Object-Oriented Code Inspections Summary of Work

The software inspection process was originally developed at IBM in 1972 and has established itself as an effective means of finding defects. The inspection process can be described as a series of stages; overview, individual preparation, group inspection, rework and follow-up. One active area of inspection research is looking at different defect detection methods. During the preparation stage, each inspector works individually and attempts to gain an understanding of the documents they have been given. During this time an inspector can use defect detection methods to help find defects in code documents before the group inspection meeting. Currently the most popular defect detection methods are ad-hoc, where inspectors use a nonsystematic technique to find defects, and checklists, which contain a series of rules to guide the inspector in looking through code. More recently, the scenario approach was created to address a perceived lack of effectiveness in the use of ad-hoc and checklist methods. Several articles on inspection have suggested that an inspector should be free to use any checking method during the preparation stage that they feel gives results. This and conflicting comments from other authors highlight the current lack of agreement on the most effective way to detect defects. Both checklists and scenarios were created at a time when the vast majority of inspections were carried out on traditional procedural languages. One author has suggested that during the preparation stage an inspector should be placing a higher priority on understanding the work product, and that finding errors should be of secondary concern. Another source has suggested that “you cannot inspect what you cannot understand”, and that software engineers have poor strategies when attempting to understand a given document for inspection. The suggested solution was that a better understanding and fuller use of program comprehension techniques could improve an inspector’s performance. There have been many tools developed for inspection, specifically designed to support the inspection process. As highlighted in [1], most of these tools do not include much support for the preparation phase of inspection, e.g. there is little in the way of defect detection aids, instead these tools concentrate more on supporting the overall inspection process.