An experimental comparison of checklist-based reading and perspective-based reading for UML design document inspection

Abstract

This paper describes an experimental comparison of two reading techniques, namely Checklist-based reading (CBR) and Perspective-based reading (PBR) for Object-Oriented (OO) design inspection. Software inspection is an effective approach to detect defects in the early stages of the software development process. However inspections are usually applied for defect detection in software requirement documents or software code modules, and there is a significant lack of information how inspections should be applied to OO design documents. The comparison was performed in a controlled experiment with 59 subject students. The results of individual data analysis indicate that (a) defect detection effectiveness using both inspection techniques is similar (PBR: 69%, CBR: 70%); (b) reviewers who use PBR spend less time on inspection than reviewers who use CBR; (c) cost per defect of reviewers who use CBR is smaller. The results of 3-person virtual team analysis show that CBR technique is more effective than PBR technique.