3.2.4. Review Types
There exist many review types ranging from informal reviews to formal reviews. The required level of
formality depends on factors such as the SDLC being followed, the maturity of the development process,
the criticality and complexity of the work product being reviewed, legal or regulatory requirements, and
the need for an audit trail. The same work product can be reviewed with different review types, e.g., first
an informal one and later a more formal one.
Selecting the right review type is key to achieving the required review objectives (see section 3.2.5). The
selection is not only based on the objectives, but also on factors such as the project needs, available
resources, work product type and risks, business domain, and company culture.
Some commonly used review types are:
• Informal review. Informal reviews do not follow a defined process and do not require a formal
documented output. The main objective is detecting anomalies.
• Walkthrough. A walkthrough, which is led by the author, can serve many objectives, such as
evaluating quality and building confidence in the work product, educating reviewers, gaining
consensus, generating new ideas, motivating and enabling authors to improve and detecting
anomalies. Reviewers might perform an individual review before the walkthrough, but this is not
required.
• Technical Review. A technical review is performed by technically qualified reviewers and led by
a moderator. The objectives of a technical review are to gain consensus and make decisions
regarding a technical problem, but also to detect anomalies, evaluate quality and build confidence
in the work product, generate new ideas, and to motivate and enable authors to improve.
• Inspection. As inspections are the most formal type of review, they follow the complete generic
process (see section 3.2.2). The main objective is to find the maximum number of anomalies.
Other objectives are to evaluate quality, build confidence in the work product, and to motivate and
enable authors to improve. Metrics are collected and used to improve the SDLC, including the
inspection process. In inspections, the author cannot act as the review leader or scribe.