Dr Milan Milanoviฤ‡
Dr Milan Milanoviฤ‡

@milan_milanovic

2 Tweets 1 reads Oct 26, 2023
๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—น๐˜†
An essential step in the software development lifecycle is code review. It enables developers to significantly enhance code quality. It resembles the authoring of a book. The story is written by the author, but it is then edited to ensure no mistakes like mixing up "you're" with "yours." Code review, in this context, refers to examining and assessing other people's code.
There are different ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„: it ensures consistency in design and implementation, optimizes code for better performance, is an opportunity to learn, and knowledge sharing and mentoring, as well as promotes team cohesion.
What to look for in a code review? Try to look for things such as:
๐Ÿ”น๐——๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป (does this integrate well with the rest of the system, and are interactions of different components make sense)
๐Ÿ”น๐—™๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† (does this change is what the developer intended)
๐Ÿ”น๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† (is this code more complex than it should be)
๐Ÿ”น๐—ก๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด (is naming good?)
๐Ÿ”น๐—˜๐—ป๐—ด. ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ (solid, kiss, dry)
๐Ÿ”น๐—ง๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐˜€ (are different kinds of tests used appropriately, code coverage)
๐Ÿ”น๐—ฆ๐˜๐˜†๐—น๐—ฒ (does it follow style guidelines)
๐Ÿ”น๐——๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป, and more
Here are some good practices when doing a code review:
๐Ÿญ. ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜
Before sending a code to your colleagues, try to read and understand it first. Search for parts that confuse you.
๐Ÿฎ. ๐—ช๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฑ
This should explain what changes were at a high level and why those changes were made.
๐Ÿฏ. ๐—”๐˜‚๐˜๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ
Leave to the system everything that can be automated, such as checking for successful builds (CI), style changes (linters), automated tests, and some code smells and bugs (SonarQube).
๐Ÿฐ. ๐——๐—ผ๐—ป'๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ต
You need to understand what has changed. Every line of it. Read multiple times if needed, class by class.
๐Ÿฑ. ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€
Never mention the person (you), always focus on changes as questions or suggestions, and leave at least one positive comment. Explain the "why" in your comments and give a suggestion on how to make it better.
๐Ÿฒ. ๐—”๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ฅ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต
Don't strive for perfection, but hold to high standards. Don't be a nitpicker.
๐Ÿณ. ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฒ
We should limit the number of lines of code for review in one sitting. Our brains cannot process so much information at once. The ideal number of LOC is 200 to 400 lines of the core at one time, which is usually 60 to 90 minutes.
What is your code review process? What works for you, and what does not?
The image is inspired by the original work of Gunnar Morling.
#softwareengineering #programming #systemdesign #developers #bestpractices

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