software engineering Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Application software, software applications. It involves applying engineering design process, engineering principl ...

, a walkthrough or walk-through is a form of software peer review "in which a designer or programmer leads members of the development team and other interested parties through a software product, and the participants ask questions and make comments about possible errors, violation of development standards, and other problems". The reviews are also performed by assessors, specialists, etc. and are suggested or mandatory as required by norms and standards. "Software product" normally refers to some kind of technical document. As indicated by the IEEE definition, this might be a software design document or program

source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...

, but

use cases In both software and systems engineering, a use case is a structured description of a system’s behavior as it responds to requests from external actors, aiming to achieve a specific goal. It is used to define and validate functional requireme ...

business process A business process, business method, or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks performed by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (that serves a particular business g ...

definitions,

test case In software engineering, a test case is a specification of the inputs, execution conditions, testing procedure, and expected results that define a single test to be executed to achieve a particular software testing objective, such as to exercise ...

specifications, and a variety of other technical documentation may also be walked through. A walkthrough differs from software technical reviews in its openness of structure and its objective of familiarization. It differs from

software inspection Inspection in software engineering, refers to peer review of any work product by trained individuals who look for defects using a well defined process. An inspection might also be referred to as a Fagan inspection after Michael Fagan, the creator ...

in its ability to suggest direct alterations to the product reviewed. It lacks a direct focus on training and process improvement, process and product measurement.

Process

A walkthrough may be quite informal, or it may follow the process detailed in IEEE 1028 and outlined in the article on

software review Software consists of computer programs that instruct the execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital computers in the mid-20th ce ...

Objectives and participants

In general, a walkthrough has one or two broad objectives: to gain feedback about the technical quality or content of the document; and/or to familiarize the audience with the content. A walkthrough is normally organized and directed by the author of the technical document. Any combination of interested or technically qualified personnel (from within or outside the project) may be included as seems appropriate. IEEE 1028 recommends three specialist roles in a walkthrough: *The author, who presents the software product in a step-by-step manner at the walk-through meeting, and is probably responsible for completing most action items; *The walkthrough leader, who conducts the walkthrough, handles administrative tasks, and ensures orderly conduct (and who is often the Author); and *The recorder, who notes all anomalies (potential defects), decisions, and action items identified during the walkthrough meetings.

References

{{reflist Software review

Process

Objectives and participants

Further reading

See also

References