Curious Chase

Curiously Chase

Code Review Process

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My friend Dylan Garcia asked me: "how do you generally approach code reviews? what's your mindset? do you have a checklist?"

I've been doing code reviews for over a decade.

My process has changed over time.

This is my process as it is currently.

My Process for Code Reviews

There are 3 main goals of a code review.

The goal most people will be familiar with is to make sure the code that lands in production is as safe and correct as possible.

The second goal is to learn more about the style and decision making process for the person for whom I'm doing the review.

The third goal is to learn something and teach something.

I do my reviews in 3 stages and 3 passes.

3 Stages

Stage 1: Pause

This stage is about orienting, I don't look at the Pull Request.

Here are the steps I take in this stage:

Stage 2: Explore

This stage is about going on an adventure in the Pull Request!

In this stage, I take these steps:

At this point I take a 15 minute break and do something else.

Taking a break allows my subconscious to sit with my two passes through the code.

Stage 3: Suggest

This stage is where I make suggestions based on my noticings of drag.

Here are the steps to my suggestions:

Some Quick Tips

Summary

The most important thing to notice here is that I attempt to do two passes of a code review before making suggestions.

This keeps me curious about what's happening and I think when I follow this, the experience is usually really positive for me and the person I'm reviewing the code for.

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