Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!csn!ccncsu!handel.CS.ColoState.Edu!conca From: conca@handel.CS.ColoState.Edu (michael vincen conca) Newsgroups: comp.software-eng Subject: Re: Code inspections Message-ID: <12413@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU> Date: 29 Jan 91 03:00:49 GMT References: <14964@megatest.UUCP> Sender: news@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU Reply-To: conca@handel.cs.colostate.edu (Mike Conca) Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 Lines: 38 In article <14964@megatest.UUCP> pat@megatest.UUCP (Patrick Powers) writes: > It seems to me that it could work with programmers directly out of college > who feel in need of guidance. It also might succeed in a large > paternalistic organization as these would be more likely to attract > group oriented engineers. Note that the classic studies of code > inspection occurred at mammoth IBM. > Speaking as both a programmer who is in college and a programmer who is in the business world and has gone through numerous code inspections, I would have to say that they are a novice programmer's worst nightmare. I agree that there is a feeling of needing some guidance when you first start, but a code inspection is a difficult place to get it. Generally, people review your code looking for logic errors and the like, and usually they will find a lot more in yours than in the other programmers code. Of course, this is to be expected since you haven't had much experience and the others know what has been done in the past and what the general operating procedures are. While there is nothing wrong with this, it may leave the inexperienced pro- grammer with a feeling of inadequacy. If the code inspection is handled poorly or is particularly harsh (in the eyes of the novice), it could leave him/her feeling incompetent and questioning their abilities or education. One of the hardest things that I found to do was to review the code of senior programmers. This may sound silly, but when you get your first programming job it isn't exactly easy to tell the person who hired you that they might have done something wrong. In a worst case senario, there may be some grizzled programmer on the team who is unwilling to admit that a new kid might know something they didn't. Of course, any programmer who is unwilling to accept new ideas is much of a programmer. -=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=--=*=- Mike Conca, Computer Science Dept. * conca@handel.cs.colostate.edu Colorado State University * conca@129.82.102.32 "Everyday, as the network becomes larger, the world becomes smaller."