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Different Types of Code Review
The two main categories of code review are known as, formal code review and lightweight code review. The most common form of formal code review is known as Fagan inspection and involves a careful detailed inspection with multiple phases and many participants.
Formal code review is the most traditional form of code review which involves software developers meeting together and reviewing relevant code line by line many times taking the opportunity to analyse printed copies of the materials. Formal inspections are ultra thorough and are proven methods for finding defects in software, however there is also much criticism surrounding formal reviews due to their time consuming nature which can sometimes make them unpractical.
Lightweight code reviews are less tedious than traditional formal reviews and have less overheads. However if they are carried out correctly they can be equally as efficient as the time consuming formal review. Lightweight reviews are normally carried out as part of the development process in the following ways.
There is a method known as the over the shoulder method that allows one developer to look over the authors shoulder as the other goes through the code. An email pass around is a system that manages source code and emails code directly to the reviewers to be checked and verified. A pair programming system is used by many code writers and involves two authors developing code simultaneously at the same work station, this is extremely common in terms of extreme programming. A very efficient form of code review is peer code review which involves developers using specialized tools to design and implement software.
Some of the above could also be classed as walkthrough or informal code review and they are commonly used to increase efficiency. Many developers who decide not to take the traditional route will use on of the above methods of lightweight review as one of their many development methods.
There have been many studies carried out for the purposes of proving lightweight review to be as effective as the more traditional formal review. One book that gave a great insight into this was the best kept secrets of peer code review and it put forward and proved that lightweight reviews were capable of uncovering as many bugs as the formal review process and that they were also faster and more efficient. It is for this reason that many developers now have turned their attention to peer code review and use various tools to enhance their software and development skills.
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