Using group support systems for software inspections

This article describes the results of the routine use of a group support sy stem to support inspections in the Baan Company. The authors compare 87 ins pections using a GSS to 102 traditional inspections. The results indicate t hat mature inspections supported by a GSS are Inert effective and efficient . The difference is up to 40 percent, in terms of both major defects per th ousand lines of source code and major defects Fer person-hour for preparati on and logging. The bene-fit of a GSS disappears, however, if the inspectio n process is not followed properly and the preparation rate is too high.