Experimental Studies in Software Inspection Process - A Systematic Mapping

Background: The interest in produce experimental knowledge about verification and validation techniques increases over the years. This kind of knowledge can be useful for researchers who develop studies in that area as well as for industry that can make decisions about verification and validation activities (V&V) on the basis of experimental results. Aim: This paper aims to map the empirical studies conducted in the software inspection process area. Method: Each step of the Systematic Mapping (SM) process was performed with the support of the StArt tool, and the papers from major databases, journals, conferences, and workshops were covered. Results: Seventy nine papers were accepted in this mapping and helped identifying the inspection processes, techniques and tools commonly referenced in that papers, as well as the artifacts usually inspected and the research groups and universities frequently involved in these papers. Conclusion: Different inspection processes have been investigated through experimental studies, and the Fagan’s process is the most investigated of them. To evaluate these different processes requirements document and source code were the artifacts more used. Besides, different tools and techniques have been used to support these processes. Some important lessons were learned, which are in accordance to explanations of others authors.