Monday, April 9, 2018

Short note on Formal Technical Reviews. (FTR)

Short note on Formal Technical Reviews. (FTR)


  • Formal technical review (FTR) is a software quality control activity performed by software engineers (and others).
  • The objectives of an FTR are:
    • (1) To uncover errors in function, logic, or implementation for any representation of the software;
    • (2) To verify that the software under review meets its requirements;
    • (3) To ensure that the software has been represented according to predefined standards
    • (4) To achieve software that is developed in a uniform manner;
    • (5) To make projects more manageable. In addition, the FTR serves as a training ground, enabling junior engineers to observe different approaches to software analysis, design, and implementation
  • The FTR is actually a class of reviews that includes walkthroughs and inspections

The Review Meeting:


  • Every review meeting should abide by the following constraints:
    • Between three and five people (typically) should be involved in the review.
    • Advance preparation should occur but should require no more than two hours of work for each person.
    • The duration of the review meeting should be less than two hours. Given these constraints, it should be obvious that an FTR focuses on a specific (and small) part of the overall software.
    • For example, rather than attempting to review an entire design, walkthroughs are conducted for each component or small group of components.

Review Summary Report



  • What was reviewed?
  • Who reviewed it?
  • What were the findings and conclusions?

The Players of Review Meeting


  • Producer—the individual who has developed the work product
    • Informs the project leader that the work product is complete and that a review is required.
  • Review leader—evaluates the product for readiness, generates copies of product materials, and distributes them to two or three reviewers for advance preparation.
  • Reviewer(s)—expected to spend between one and two hours reviewing the product, making notes, and otherwise becoming familiar with the work.
  • Recorder— a reviewer who records (in writing) all important issues raised during the review.

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