SOFTWARE INSPECTIONS AT FERMILAB - USE AND EXPERIENCE

Because of the critical nature of DA/Online software ii is important t o commission software which is correct, usable, reliable and maintaina ble, i.e. has the highest quality possible. In order to help meet thes e goals Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) has begun imp lementing a formal software inspection process. Formal Inspections are used to reduce the number of defects in software at as early a stage as possible. These Inspections, in use at a wide variety of institutio ns (e.g. NASA, Motorola), implement a well-defined procedure that can be used to improve the quality of many different types of deliverables . The inspection process, initially designed by Michael Fagan[1], will be described as it was developed and as it is currently implemented a t Fermilab where it has been used to improve the quality of a variety of different experiment DA/Online software. Benefits of applying Inspe ctions at many points in the software life-cycle and benefits to the p eople involved will be investigated. Experience with many different ty pes of Inspections and the lessons learned about the inspection proces s itself will be detailed. Finally, the future of Inspections at Fermi lab will be given.