How most productive team at Google sets its Code Review Culture!
- Set clear goals and criteria for the review, focusing on:
- Code correctness and functionality
- Code style and consistency
- Performance and efficiency
- Security considerations
- Readability and maintainability
- Use a checklist to ensure you cover important aspects systematically.
- Review in small batches - aim for 200-400 lines of code per session to maintain focus.
- Take your time - don't rush through the review.
- Provide constructive feedback:
- Be specific about issues
- Explain the reasoning behind your comments
- Suggest improvements rather than just pointing out problems
- Look for patterns rather than just individual issues.
- Run the code and test it yourself if possible.
- Use automated tools to catch basic issues before manual review.
- Foster a positive culture around code reviews - they should be collaborative, not adversarial.
- Follow up on the changes made after the review.
As part of building Archie AI, we focused on the above set of principles that guide our review process as well.