Code Review Guidelines

Article by Garrett Smith

Peer code review is where software developers review each others' development code.

Benefits

The number one benefit to code reviews is code quality. Code reviews make the code better. Here are some other benefits:

• Spreads understanding about the code being reviewed.
• Helps find bugs before they get to QA and avoids QA churn.
• Helps identify potential problems, bad practices, or maldesign.
• Preparation for review will require the code author to check his code against the code guidelines and clean it up (bugs fixed prior to review).
• Encourages collaboration.
• Keeps code cleaner and more maintainable.

How to perform the Review

Take your time understand the problem and how it is addressed in the solution.

Focus on a small piece at a time.

A code review should be objective and should state actual problems. Saying "the code is bad" is not a helpful review. Instead, explain the problem clearly. If the problem is severe, then say why.

Preparation of Reviewed Code

This section is for the the reviewee (the person whose code is being reviewed).

The reviewee should prepare for a code review by following the the code guidelines.

Posting Code for Review and Code Reviews

When posting code to the newsgroup, it is important to make sure to transmit it such that it can be easily read and understood.

• Format the code to 72 char width.
• Replace any spaces in the source code with tabs.
• Post small sections at a time.

  By focusing carefully on small sections, the code review can find more bugs. The reviewer may want to spend an hour reviewing the code, then come back to re-review his notes and comments for another hour.

Rebuttals

The reveiwee may challenge a criticism and, if the challenge cannot be rebutted, the criticism shall be withdrawn.