Write a short note on Formal Technical Review (FTR).

Formal Technical Reviews

A formal technical review is a software quality assurance activity performed by software engineers.

Purpose of FTR


  1. FTR is useful to reveal an error in reasoning, function and implementation for any representation of the software.
  2. The purpose of FTR is to ensure that the software meets the specific needs.
  3. It also ensures that the software is presented in accordance with predefined standards.
  4. It helps to review uniformity in the software development process.
  5. That makes the project more manageable
  6. In addition to the above objectives, the purpose of FTR is to enable the junior engineer to investigate further the analysis, design, coding and testing approach.
  7. Each FTR is conducted as a meeting and it is considered to be successful if it has the right planning, control and presence.



Type of FTR

(1) Formal reviews

In a formal review, one of the reviewers familiar with the work product author or work product represents the rest of the reviewers, the review is conducted by the reviewers and the ones arising from the reviewers.

Involvement of people, Between 3 and 5 people should be involve in the review.

Short duration The short duration of the review meeting should be less than two hour.

(2) Walkthroughs

Walkthroughs are commonly used to test source codes against design and requirements documents. Participants do a step-by-step, line-by-line simulation by code. 

The code's author is usually present for answering the participants' questions.

Finally, formal technical review summary report is produced.

(3) Inspection

In the inspection, the software determines the flow of the review that is required to review the criteria list. 

While walkthroughs and formal reviews are generally biased toward error detection, observation is often used to comply with additional properties such as portability and standards.

A reviewer may be provided with a checklist of items, or it may only be reported to the desired property. 

Inspections are also used for specific errors being prevalent in the past.

  1. Find out problem areas, but don’t attempt to solve every problem noted.
  2. Take written notes (it is for record purpose)
  3. Limit the number of participants and insists upon advance preparation.
  4. Develop a checklist for each product that is likely to be reviewed.


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