Inspections are a kind of formal technical review in which participants in the review are well-trained in review practices and assigned specific roles to play. Participants inspect review materials before the review meeting, using checklists of common errors. The roles played during the review meeting help to stimulate discovery of additional errors. Inspections have been found to be much more effective at finding errors than execution testing—both in percentage of total defects found and in time spent per defect. They derive their rapid-development benefit by detecting errors early in the development process, which avoids costly, downstream rework. Inspections can be used on virtually any kind of project and on both new development and maintenance.

Efficacy

Major Risks

None

Major Interactions and Trade-Offs

For more on inspections, see Inspections in Quality-Assurance Fundamentals and Further Reading on QA Fundamentals at the end of Quality-Assurance Fundamentals.