Software peer reviews and inspections are the in-process technical examination of work products by peers to find and eliminate defects early in the life cycle. Software peer reviews and inspections are performed following defined procedures covering the preparation for the review, the review itself is conducted, results are recorded, results are reported, and completion criteria is certified. When planning the composition of a software peer review or inspection team, consider including software testing, system testing, software assurance, software safety, software cybersecurity, and software IV&V personnel.
1.1
Related Activities
Inputs
Requirements
Planning
Architecture Items
Design items
1.2
Related NPR 7150.2 SWEs
Predecessor Activities
Predecessor Activities are performed before Peer Reviews. These activities produce the work products that will be reviewed.
The activities that initiated the Peer Review, receive the findings from Peer Reviews, and then use those findings to to fix defects and implement improvements uncovered in the reviews.
Output Work Product
Used by Downstream Activity
Supporting SWE or Topic
Peer Review Findings
Configuration Management
Coding
2. Independent V&V
IV&V is a technical discipline of software assurance that employs rigorous analysis and testing methodologies to identify objective evidence and conclusions to provide an independent assessment of critical products and processes throughout the life cycle. The evaluation of products and processes throughout the life cycle demonstrates whether the software is fit for nominal operations (required functionality, safety, dependability, etc.), and off-nominal conditions (response to faults, responses to hazardous conditions, etc.). The goal of the IV&V effort is to contribute to the assurance conclusions to the project and stakeholders based on evidence found in software development artifacts and risks associated with the intended behaviors of the software.
The IV&V Project Execution Plans (IPEP) documents the activities, methods, level of rigor, environments, tailoring (if any) of the IV&V requirements, and criteria to be used in performing verification and validation of in-scope system/software behaviors (including responsible software components) determined by the planning and scoping effort.
The rationale for independent validation and verification (IV&V) on a project is to reduce the risk of failures due to software. Performing IV&V on projects yields greater confidence that the delivered software products are error-free and meet the customer’s needs. IV&V across the project life cycle increases the likelihood of uncovering high-risk errors early in the life cycle.
IV&V artifacts and products required to perform the IV&V analysis on NASA projects are to be made available in electronic format in the original format. The electronic availability of the IV&V products and artifacts facilitates post-deliveries that might be necessary with software updates. Electronic access to IV&V artifacts and products reduces NASA's IV&V project costs and accommodates the longer-term needs when performing software maintenance.
SWE-087 - Software Peer Reviews and Inspections for Requirements, Plans, Design, Code, and Test Procedures
SWE-087 - Software Peer Reviews and Inspections for Requirements, Plans, Design, Code, and Test Procedures
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5. IV&V Issues and Risks
If the project manager does not address the issues and risks found by IV&V and track them to closure, these unaddressed risks and issues could cause the project to fail to meet its objectives (e.g. schedule, planned quality, functionality, etc.) Since IV&V personnel have generally worked across many projects, they are often likely to recognize risks and issues to the project that the project manager may not recognize.
