Code Inspection
Code inspection is a systematic, manual review process where developers examine source code to identify defects, improve quality, and ensure adherence to standards. It involves a structured meeting where team members analyze code line-by-line to find bugs, security vulnerabilities, and design issues before testing. This methodology is a key practice in software engineering for early defect detection and knowledge sharing among developers.
Developers should use code inspection to catch complex logic errors, security flaws, and maintainability issues that automated tools might miss, especially in critical systems like financial software, healthcare applications, or safety-critical embedded systems. It's particularly valuable during code reviews in agile teams, before major releases, or when onboarding new developers to ensure codebase consistency and reduce long-term technical debt.