Software Engineering: Inspection (Definition)

"Visual examination of work products to detect errors, violations of development standards, and other problems." (Richard D Stutzke, "Estimating Software-Intensive Systems: Projects, Products, and Processes", 2005)

"The process of examining a component, subassembly, subsystem, or product for off-target performance, variability, and defects during either product development or manufacturing. The focus is typically on whether the item under inspection is within the allowable tolerances. As with all processes, inspection itself is subject to variability, and out-of-spec parts or functions might pass inspection inadvertently." (Clyde M Creveling, "Six Sigma for Technical Processes: An Overview for R Executives, Technical Leaders, and Engineering Managers", 2006)

"A core technique in software quality assurance where a group of reviewers independently and systematically examine software artifacts to find defects. Inspections are highly effective where software testing is not possible, in particular, for textual specifications and design documents." (Frank Padberg, "Counting the Hidden Defects in Software Documents", 2010)

"Examining or measuring to verify whether an activity, component, product, result, or service conforms to specified requirements. " (Cynthia Stackpole, "PMP® Certification All-in-One For Dummies®", 2011)

"A type of review that relies on visual examination of documents to detect defects - for example, violations of development standards and nonconformance to higher-level documentation. Inspection is the most formal review technique and therefore always based on a documented procedure." (Tilo Linz et al, "Software Testing Foundations" 4th Ed., 2014)

"A verification method in which one member of a team reads the program or design aloud line by line and the others point out errors" (Nell Dale & John Lewis, "Computer Science Illuminated" 6th Ed., 2015)

"Examination of a work product to determine whether it conforms to documented standards." (Project Management Institute, "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide )", 2017)

 "A type of review that relies on visual examination of documents to detect defects, e.g. violations of development standards and non- conformance to higher level documentation. The most formal review technique and therefore always based on a documented procedure" (IEEE 610, IEEE 1028)