Guidelines to review Developer Code

During any software or app development process it is necessary to get the codes reviewed. Many a time companies consider code review as a distinctive process and which is kept completely separate from the routine development. Whatever the consideration be but it is a fact that code review play an important role for any development just as testing, QA and documentation is necessary. Software and app are developed by humans and it is quite obvious that mistakes are likely to happen. It does not matter how well qualified is the developer or what skills or background does a developer holds, to review the code is helpful as it contributes in improving the final product.

 

In the code review, there are two people assigned with the job of reading and considering the code before it is included in the software. Often a time, the modules that contribute in this role don’t have any resources to review the code. That is why the module author prefers to get their code reviewed and known what all changes are expected to be made.

 

What is a Code Review?

As the technology has advanced there are many amazing ways due to which code review has become simpler. Talking about the modern code review, it is a process in which inspection of code is done to understand if the final product is ready to get launched in the market or not. The code review is done depending upon the quality, service providing, and frequency of usage.

In the popular organizations like Google and Microsoft, a code review is considered to be the prime important part. If code is reviewed in a right manner, it helps to make the project development process faster and better. With code review you can be sure that software or the app that you are currently making is going in the right way and will last for long with less maintained.

 

Benefits of Code Review:

There are many advantages of code reviewer which are often ignored by people such as:

• It improves the quality of the code
• The defects from the code are eradicated in a right manner
• There is a smooth communication with regards to the content of the code
• If codes are reviewed regularly it leads to smooth testing cycle
• The pressure and dependency on technical support minimizes
• It leads to a great customer satisfaction
• The codes can be easily maintained for a long time.

 

 

Review the codes that are less than 400 lines:

As per the experts who have been working on code review section stated that developer should review the code in small quality which means around 200-450 lines at one time. This allows in better focus and brain can work in a progressive way. If the code more than 400 is reviewed, your brain may start ignoring minute mistakes. For around 200 codes, the review should not take more than 60 minutes and should gather at least 90% if defects.

 

Don’t not hurry, take you own time:

You might feel that you have entered the competition due to which you may end up catching the errors thinking that your competitor will catch the errors. However, it is a good option to keep your mind calm and empty while reviewing the code and check it at a slow pace. The more time you take, the better it becomes for you to check every detail. That does not mean you must waste the time. Utilize it as needed and dry to make the review in a span within the stringent deadline set for the release of the product.

 

Give 60 minute to each code:

As stated earlier, your 200 code reviews should be done in 60 minutes. In case, your 200 codes are not reviewed in 60 minutes still do not get nervous. Give some gap and take some break after every 60 minutes so that your brain can again get back on track and start finding out the defects. Instead of counting how many lines of code you reviewed, it will be great to focus on the time that you take for finding the defects. You must have heard the phase ‘Slow and steady wins the race.’ Well consider code review as the similar part

 

Make some goals and try to achieve them:

Before you implement the process of code review, you must sit with your team and discuss on the right ways to measure the peer review effectiveness. It is necessary to make some tangible goals which should includes cost effective features like support call should be reduced by 20%, the defects in the development should be cut down to more than half. The message of more bugs should be eliminated.

 

Create a checklist:

For any review of the code that you make whether for software or the app, you should have an effective checklist to avoid the inconsistent quality of the review. The checklist must include certain crucial points such as whether documentation is done in a proper way, whether the guidelines of the company’s code are followed, what all features are covered in the tests, is there any kind of duplication in the code that must be known. If the entire checklist is mentioned in the document, it gives a better review.

 

You must know your role:

If you are playing the role to review the code, ensure that you are aware about your role and responsibilities. You must be active enough to take down the observation that you have noticed. In case, you don’t understand any particular point then make sure you ask the questions about it and get the doubt cleared.

 

Don’t be always a Negative Commentator:

Your job is to find out the flaws but that does not mean you should be always picky. If the work is done well with fewer mistakes, then try to reflect the same with your word for review that you make. To achieve the results at a faster rate and in a better way, you must review properly and try to set your words in a such a way that team should feel encouraged and get back to work taking the review as a challenge.

 

Know your duty:

There are two teams that generally work on the software that is the team of developers and the team of designers. A code review that you make should not focus on the designs but on the functions used. You should only review the code and avoid criticizing the designs.

 

Your review should be helpful:

You are putting your efforts to review a code which will soon release in the market. The business for which you will be working depends on whether the software must be released or not. You should be truthful about what you review and ensure that all the defects are fixed before the proceeding of the code goes to the testing stage. Never release the product unless you approve it to be all clear.

Remember, a code review is important for every small and biog business that are planning to launch a new software or app in the market. Your job is to ensure that before the release, all the codes are free of errors and works smoothly enough to give the customer a much needed satisfaction.