3.5. Walkthroughs
The code walkthrough, like the inspection, is a set of procedures and error-detection techniques for group code reading. It shares much in common with the inspection process, but the procedures are slightly different, and a different error-detection technique is employed.
Like the inspection, the walkthrough is an uninterrupted meeting of one to two hours in duration. The walkthrough team consists of three to five people. One of these people plays a role similar to that of the moderator in the inspection process, another person plays the role of a secretary (a person who records all errors found), and a third person plays the role of a tester. Suggestions as to who the three to five people should be vary. Of course, the programmer is one of those people. Suggestions for the other participants include (1) a highly experienced programmer, (2) a programming-language expert, (3) a new programmer (to give a fresh, unbiased outlook), (4) the person who will eventually maintain the program, (5) someone from a different project, and (6) someone from the same programming team as the programmer.
The initial procedure is identical to that of the inspection process: The participants are given the materials several days in advance to allow them to bone up on the program. However, the procedure in the meeting is different. Rather than simply reading the program or using error checklists, the participants "play computer." The person designated as the tester comes to the meeting ...
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