Sami Kollanus

Survey of Software Inspection Research

There is a great need to assure and improve the reliability and quality of software. Software inspections were introduced over 30 years ago as an answer for this need and they have inspired a lot of research covering many different kinds of aspects. There is a need for an up-to-date survey revealing the current state and the overall evolution of the most prominent research on the area. This paper presents a comprehensive survey focusing on the most relevant 16 interna- tional high-impact scientific publication series. There are 153 articles included in the survey covering both technical and management aspects. The main results include a description of the research trends during 1980-2008 and a description of the main results of the included studies. The description is organized based on a taxonomy of the inspection research as having emerged based on the survey. At general level the surveyed research provides clear evidence that inspections gen- erally benefit software development and quality assurance. There are several proposed theoretical variations for the in- spection process but also many empirical studies. Although the conducted research is relatively scattered, proper science- based understanding about some of the most studied issues has been achieved. Our main conclusion is that conducting empirical research needs to be continued in order to validate the effects of the different kinds of proposed theoretical con- structs in practice. Empirical studies are needed especially in order to better understand the proper implementation and the actual impacts of applying inspections in different kinds of industrial and organizational settings.

ComTest: a tool to impart TDD and unit testing to introductory level programming

Research has noticed that imparting TDD-like testing to an early computing curriculum is challenging because it increases technical and cognitive load for the students. This paper addresses the challenge with a software-based solution constructed to facilitate the process of writing tests. The solution allows using a compact while efficient syntax for formulating tests, writing tests into JavaDoc comments, thus close to the source code that implements intended functionalities, and automates the generation of actual test code. The constructed solution -- the ComTest tool -- has now been used in four introductory level programming course offerings. The paper presents the tool and concludes with initial lessons learned.

Software inspections in practice: six case studies

Software inspections have been acknowledged as an important method in software engineering, but they are not well applied in practice. This paper discusses the current practices and the related problems based on six case studies in industrial settings. The analysis of inspection practices was organized according to ICMM, which is a model for systematically assessing and improving software inspection process maturity. The sample case organizations used inspections relatively regularly. The involved units are compared and the revealed practices, their characteristics, inspection problems and implications of the study discussed. The main problem areas were non-existent inspection training, limited formality of inspections and immaturity of inspection metrics.

ICMM—a maturity model for software inspections

Software inspection is widely acknowledged as an important method in software engineering. However, there is a need to better understand how to implement and improve inspection practices. This paper introduces Inspection Capability Maturity Model (ICMM), which provides support for assessment and improvement of software inspection practices in a software organization. The model has been developed iteratively based on a comprehensive literature survey and experiences from eight case organizations. This paper includes a detailed description of the used followed research process, the structure of ICMM and the rationale for the defined criteria. Additionally, the role of this kind of model in inspection process improvement is discussed. Copyright

Experiences from using ICMM in inspection process assessment

Inspection Capability Maturity Model (ICMM) is a new tool for the assessment and improvement of software inspection practices in an organization. This paper presents the first experiences in using ICMM. The model structure and usability is evaluated based on the data collected from eight case organizations. The major findings support the conclusion that ICMM worked well in identifying weaknesses in the current inspection practices. First, the perceived inspection quality in the organizations was compared with the assessment results. Second, the identified weaknesses appear to be related to the problems faced in inspection practices. Finally, the collected experiences provided some useful improvement suggestions for ICMM.

Issues in software inspection practices

The motivation for this research comes from a need to improve software inspection practices in software organizations. Even if inspections are well defined and regularly used in an organization, there may be some problems which can greatly reduce inspection effectiveness. The paper presents a list of inspection related problems which are known in the literature. It also relates some experiences from two case organizations. In addition, this paper provides an approach which helps identifying problems of this kind and directing limited improvement resources effectively.

On the motivations to enroll in doctoral studies in Computer Science — A comparison of PhD program models

While student motivation has been intensively researched, only a few studies cover motivation at doctoral level and even less focus on doctoral education in Computer Science. In this paper we investigate the motivation of graduate students to pursue doctoral studies specifically in Computer Science. We interviewed 63 doctoral students, from two different doctoral models (traditional and structured) in Finland and Austria, on their initial reasons and experiences that led them to enroll in doctoral studies. We identified five disjoint main motivational drivers that relate with different aspects of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Together with a measure of the strength of their initial motivation, we develop clear motivation profiles of different doctoral program models. We observed that students in structured programs were mainly driven by extrinsic motivation while participants in traditional European doctoral studies were mainly influenced by intrinsic factors. Our results give a practical overview of student motivation for the enhancement of student selection, support, and supervision processes in doctoral programs.

The Role of Different Approaches in Inspection Process Improvement

There is a need to better understand improvement of software inspection practices. Typically process improvement is driven by different reference models like CMMI. In the previous work we found that such model based approach alone didn’t provide sufficient support for inspection process improvement. This paper outlines an overall picture of inspection process improvement and four different approaches for it. These approaches are seen as complementary and the focus of the paper is on describing their role in the improvement process.