Peer Reviews in Software: A Practical Guide

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Summary: A great introduction and overview of software reviews
Review: "Peer Reviews in Software: A Practical Guide" continues in the tone set by Karl's previous two books - concise, practical, and directed at the software practitioner looking to improve development efficiency and raise software product quality.

Peer reviews are a proven technique to achieving both of these goals, and Karl's book does a great job of surveying and summarizing the current body of industry knowledge on the subject. Well organized and clearly written, the book is very accessible cover to cover and as a reference text. It already commands a prominent spot on my bookshelf.

The numerous tools that can be downloaded from Karl's web site (...) are an added bonus; they make it that much easier to start implementing peer reviews on the job!

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Summary: A valuable introduction to the spectrum of peer reviews
Review: An accessible, unbiased, and motivational overview of the various existing techniques for peer reviews in software has been needed for some time. Karl Wiegers' new book provides potential and existing practitioners with the background and methods to establish or improve many forms of peer reviews within an organization.

Wiegers' writing is exceptionally clear and concise, and he manages to explore the sometimes contentious world of reviews and inspections with a balanced, informative approach. This should come as no surprise to those familiar with Wiegers' writing style from his other excellent books.

Noteworthy features of the book include its excellent synopsis of the data and studies supporting the use of inspections, content on how to get a program started within a company, and a chapter on special review challenges such as cultural differences and geographic separation of participants.

Though it uses examples from software, the techniques described are broadly applicable to other arenas. Recommended reading for anyone new to peer reviews or seeking a better understanding of the entire spectrum of review formality.

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Summary: Essential reading for any software development team
Review: Every developer I have known has experienced the phenomena of spending an inordinate amount of time searching for a bug only to have a colleague look at the code and find it almost immediately. Study after study has indicated that the worst review process for software is self-criticism and the best is to have other coders take a good look at it. Therefore, it is logical that a formal process for developers reviewing each others code be implemented. The problem is that the former is informal, making it "off the books" and not subject to review by decision makers. Being human, developers react differently when their livelihood is potentially at stake, which can cause problems and prevent adequate reviews of the code.
Creating a stable, scalable and structured peer review system is not something that can be done by fiat or in a short time. It requires clear managerial direction that inspires confidence and builds a sense of security for both the evaluator and evaluated. Creating such an environment is the key and that is the main point of value in this book.
Wiegers lays out in great detail how to create a culture where all involved are peers in the real sense. It is absolutely necessary that everyone in the review process understand that creating quality software is the only thing that matters. Therefore, posturing, ego tripping, ego inflating, ego protection and all related activities must be suppressed. These are the most difficult tasks for professional humans to engage in, and it requires a combination of carrying a big stick to move the process as well as a soft pillow for the necessary falls from perfection. Wiegers shows you how to do this with the skill of a counselor.
In my reading of the trade press, the recent rise in the concern for computer security has led to a great deal of coverage about errors in software. Responding to this pressure, Bill Gates has sent out a public memo noting that quality is now the number one priority at Microsoft. The best way to achieve this quality is to have an effective peer review process and in this book you can learn how to do that. In the new world order of software, your very survival may be at stake, so your plan of action should include a rendezvous with this book.

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Summary: The Best In Depth Peer Review Textbook
Review: Excellent up to date survey of the literature, excellent survey of the many methods and analysis of their differences. A rich insight into the area of peer reviews in general, including Inspections and their variations. Practical for the industrial user. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Persuasive, practical
Review: I have attempted over the years to get various organizations to buy into peer reviews. We have lots of evidence why these reviews are highly worthwhile, but their implementation has not been anything to write home about. There's always many reasons why organizations don't buy in or give peer reviews half-hearted support.

In my opinion, this book is an important contribution to the field. I'm sufficiently impressed that I've passed copies of the book to a few busy software development managers, software engineers and business managers so far. They've taken the time to look at it, and they find the book talks to them -- it is clear, addresses their issues, offers practical solutions which they may not have considered before, and is persuasive. I believe the book will have a postive influence in their organizations.

I hope to see copies in lots more people's bookshelves.

Rating:
Summary: Persuasive, practical
Review: I have attempted over the years to get various organizations to buy into peer reviews. We have lots of evidence why these reviews are highly worthwhile, but their implementation has not been anything to write home about. There's always many reasons why organizations don't buy in or give peer reviews half-hearted support.

In my opinion, this book is an important contribution to the field. I'm sufficiently impressed that I've passed copies of the book to a few busy software development managers, software engineers and business managers so far. They've taken the time to look at it, and they find the book talks to them -- it is clear, addresses their issues, offers practical solutions which they may not have considered before, and is persuasive. I believe the book will have a postive influence in their organizations.

I hope to see copies in lots more people's bookshelves.

Rating:
Summary: Best book on peer reviews!
Review: If you're looking for an introduction to peer reviews, this book should be your first choice. Karl covers the full spectrum of peer reviews from ad hoc to software inspections. The emphasis is on inspection and this is what I think is the most important contribution of this book. All facets of the inspection process are well covered with much valuable practical advice. Karl has also setup a companion website with valuable supplemental information including forms and checklists.

Rating:
Summary: Best book on peer reviews!
Review: If you're looking for an introduction to peer reviews, this book should be your first choice. Karl covers the full spectrum of peer reviews from ad hoc to software inspections. The emphasis is on inspection and this is what I think is the most important contribution of this book. All facets of the inspection process are well covered with much valuable practical advice. Karl has also setup a companion website with valuable supplemental information including forms and checklists.

Rating:
Summary: Practical & readable - a tool for all software practitioners
Review: Practical is a key element of this book. Like Wiegers' other books, this one is well written and researched; it provides a concise guide to peer reviews along with a set of useful tools for the practitioner, or "assets" -- documents, procedures, and spreadsheets that you can implement right away to put reviews into practice.

It's amazing, but peer reviews are not a regular practice in many software organizations. Peer reviews are proven to save time, money and promote learning and understanding among project team members. Perhaps one reason for their lack of practice is that there has been, up until now, little in the literature that we can read and put into practice right away. Well, here it is!

One of the nice things about this book is that the author shows you how you can tweak peer reviews to make them work for your team or organization. He give due diligence, the psychological aspects of peer reviews. Wiegers explains all the roles involved, target work products to review, how to prepare for a review, what to record, what to measure, and even how to train on peer reviews.

The book includes a useful glossary, a set of troubleshooting review problems with symptoms and possible solutions, and those very useful assets on the author's web site(...). Example assets include: peer review process description, inspection checklist, spreadsheets for code and document inspection and a set of defect checklists.

Used in the context of careful reading of this book, teams can really do a lot to improve their products and relationships. This is a book to be read by analysts, developers, architects, project leaders and managers who care about the quality and cost of software.