Software Architect's Handbook

Walkthroughs

A walkthrough is an informal method of review. In a walkthrough, the author of a design or code deliverable hosts a meeting in which they guide reviewers through the deliverable.

Unlike a formal inspection, participants are not assigned specific roles (other than the host/author). Walkthroughs are flexible and an organization can choose how they want to organize a walkthrough based on their needs.

Participants can prepare for a walkthrough by looking at the deliverable beforehand. The focus of the walkthrough is to identify potential defects. Although the focus is not to correct any defects found, unlike formal inspections, the group can decide to allow suggestions of changes that can be made to the deliverable. Similar to formal ...