Inspecting module interface specifications

Despite dramatic changes in computing in the two decades since the term software engineering was coined, problems of deficient quality and unmanageable costs continue to afflict the software industry. Improvements in the software engineering process are vital to bringing software quality and costs under control. Module interface specification is a mature software engineering technology that, like many other proposed methodological improvements, has not significantly penetrated industrial practice. The inspection technique is well accepted for dealing with program code and pseudo‐code, but its potential for application to other work products is largely unrealized. This paper describes a successful pilot project in jointly transferring these two technologies to the software workplace. A central theme of the project was purposeful customization of the technology to a particular industrial setting. Such adaptation is important for success in the notoriously difficult process of diffusing software engineering methodology in industry.