Software Reading Techniques: Twenty Techniques for More Effective Software Review and Inspection

140 Pages·2016·5.087 MB·English

by  Yang‐Ming Zhu

Sof tware Reading
Techniques
Twenty Techniques for More Effective
Software Review and Inspection
—
Yang-Ming Zhu
Software Reading
Techniques
Twenty Techniques for More
Effective Software Review and
Inspection

Yang-Ming Zhu
Software Reading Techniques: Twenty Techniques for More Effective Software Review
and Inspection
Yang-Ming Zhu
Solon, Ohio
USA
ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-2345-1 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-2346-8
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4842-2346-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016959789
Copyright © 2016 by Yang-Ming Zhu
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To Xiao-Hong, Harold, Alex, and the rest of my family.
Contents at a Glance
About the Author ............................................................................xiii
About the Technical Reviewer .........................................................xv
Acknowledgments .........................................................................xvii
Introduction ....................................................................................xix
■ Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................1
■ Chapter 2: Software Review Procedures ........................................7
■ Chapter 3: Basic Software Reading Techniques ...........................21
■ Chapter 4: Scenario-Based Reading Techniques ..........................35
■ Chapter 5: Requirements Reading Techniques .............................69
■ Chapter 6: Design Reading Techniques ........................................77
■ Chapter 7: Code Reading Techniques .........................................103
■ Chapter 8: Conclusion ................................................................119
Index ..............................................................................................123
v
Contents
About the Author ............................................................................xiii
About the Technical Reviewer .........................................................xv
Acknowledgments .........................................................................xvii
Introduction ....................................................................................xix
■ Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................1
1.1 Software Quality, Software Reviews and Inspections ....................1
1.2 A bout This Book .............................................................................4
1.2.1 Organization of This Book .............................................................................4
1.2.2 Intended Audience and How to Use This Book .............................................5
1.3 References .....................................................................................5
■ Chapter 2: Software Review Procedures ........................................7
2.1 A Generic Software Review Procedure...........................................7
2.2 Fagan Inspection and Extensions ...................................................8
2.2.1 Fagan Inspection ..........................................................................................8
2.2.2 Extensions to Fagan Inspection ..................................................................11
2.3 Active Design Review and Extensions ..........................................13
2.3.1 Active Design Review .................................................................................13
2.3.2 Extensions to the Active Design Review .....................................................15
2.4 Other Types of Reviews ................................................................15
2.5 Factors Impacting Software Reviews...........................................16
vii
■ CONTENTS
2.6 Summary ......................................................................................18
2.7 References ...................................................................................19
■ Chapter 3: Basic Software Reading Techniques ...........................21
3.1 Introduction to Software Reading ................................................21
3.1.1 Defi nition of Software Reading ...................................................................22
3.1.2 Purposes of Software Reading ...................................................................22
3.1.3 Taxonomy of Software Reading Techniques ...............................................23
3.2 Ad hoc Reading ............................................................................23
3.3 Checklist-Based Reading .............................................................24
3.3.1 Checklist Defi nition, Types, and Examples .................................................24
3.3.2 Checklists with Guidance ...........................................................................26
3.3.3 Best Practices of Checklists .......................................................................28
3.3.4 Empirical Experiences ................................................................................28
3.4 Differential Reading .....................................................................29
3.5 Summary ......................................................................................32
3.6 References ...................................................................................33
■ Chapter 4: Scenario-Based Reading Techniques ..........................35
4.1 Principles of Scenario-Based Reading .........................................35
4.2 Defect-Based Reading .................................................................37
4.2.1 Taxonomy of Defects in Requirements Specifi cations ................................38
4.2.2 Defect-Based Reading Techniques .............................................................39
4.2.3 Empirical Experiences ................................................................................41
4.3 Perspective-Based Reading .........................................................42
4.3.1 A Generic Perspective-Based Reading .......................................................42
4.3.2 Perspective-Based Requirements Reading ................................................45
4.3.3 Perspective-Based Design Reading ...........................................................48
4.3.4 Perspective-Based Code Reading ..............................................................52
viii
■ CONTENTS
4.3.5 Perspective-Based Usability Reading .........................................................54
4.3.6 Why Does Perspective-Based Reading Work? ............................................58
4.4 Alternative Partitioning of Reading Responsibilities ....................64
4.4.1 Ad hoc Partition ..........................................................................................64
4.4.2 Function Point-Based Partition ...................................................................65
4.5 Summary ......................................................................................66
4.6 References ...................................................................................66
■ Chapter 5: Requirements Reading Techniques .............................69
5.1 Critical Roles of Requirements in Software Development ...........69
5.2 A Combined Reading Technique for Requirements ......................70
5.2.1 Motivations for a Combined Reading..........................................................70
5.2.2 T he Combined-Reading Technique .............................................................70
5.2.3 Empirical Experiences ................................................................................72
5.3 Test-Case Driven Reading for Requirements................................72
5.3.1 T est-Case-Driven Reading Technique .........................................................72
5.3.2 Empirical Experiences ................................................................................74
5.4 Individual Factors Impacting Requirements Reading
Effi ciency ......................................................................................74
5.5 Summary ......................................................................................75
5.6 References ...................................................................................76
■ Chapter 6: Design Reading Techniques ........................................77
6.1 Introduction ..................................................................................77
6.2 Usage-Based Reading ..................................................................77
6.2.1 Usage-Based Reading Technique ...............................................................78
6.2.2 Variations of Usage-Based Reading ...........................................................80
6.2.3 Empirical Experiences ................................................................................80
6.3 T raceability-Based Reading ..........................................................81
6.3.1 Types of Design Defects .............................................................................82
6.3.2 High-Level OO Designs Using UML Diagrams .............................................82
ix
■ CONTENTS
6.3.3 T raceability-Based Reading Techniques .....................................................83
6.3.4 Empirical Experiences ................................................................................92
6.4 A rchitecture Reading ....................................................................93
6.4.1 What Is Software Architecture? ..................................................................93
6.4.2 T raceability-Based Architecture Reading....................................................94
6.4.3 Empirical Experiences ................................................................................95
6.4.4 Other Architecture Reading Techniques .....................................................96
6.5 Scope-Based Reading ..................................................................97
6.5.1 What Is an Application Framework? ...........................................................97
6.5.2 Scope-Based Reading Techniques .............................................................97
6.5.3 Empirical Experiences ................................................................................99
6.6 Summary ....................................................................................100
6.7 References .................................................................................100
■ Chapter 7: Code Reading Techniques .........................................103
7.1 Code Reading As a Professional Skill .........................................103
7.1.1 Importance of Code Reading ....................................................................103
7.1.2 How Do People Read Code? .....................................................................104
7.2 Reading by Stepwise Abstraction ...............................................105
7.3 Object-Oriented Code Reading ...................................................107
7.3.1 Challenges of Object-Oriented Code Reading ..........................................107
7.3.2 A bstraction-Driven Reading ......................................................................108
7.3.3 Use-Case-Driven Reading ........................................................................109
7.3.4 Empirical Experiences ..............................................................................110
7.4 Object-Oriented Framework Code Reading ................................111
7.4.1 Why Yet Another Object-Oriented Code Reading Technique? ...................111
7.4.2 Functionality-Based Approach to Framework Understanding ..................112
7.4.3 Functionality-Based Reading ...................................................................113
7.4.4 Empirical Experiences ..............................................................................114
x
■ CONTENTS
7.5 T ask-Directed Inspection ............................................................114
7.6 Code Readability Factors ...........................................................115
7.7 Summary ....................................................................................116
7.8 References .................................................................................117
■ Chapter 8: Conclusion ................................................................119
Index ..............................................................................................123
xi