From the course: Inclusive Tech: Conducting Humane Code Reviews

Code reviews: heated, but needed

From the course: Inclusive Tech: Conducting Humane Code Reviews

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Code reviews: heated, but needed

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- [Instructor] Raise your hand if there's nothing you'd change about your code review process. Oh, you too. Well, you're not alone. Despite being one of the most important parts of the software development process, many developers dread performing one. Why? Well, there are a few reasons. Some developers like to use this process as an opportunity to rehash old arguments. They find ways to indirectly connect some part of the code review to an existing argument they want to keep having. Others like to show their superiority during the process. From the tiniest nitpicks to a stubborn and subjective critique of their colleagues' work, doing code reviews in this way becomes inefficient and unproductive. Not to mention, feelings are unnecessarily hurt and unneeded tension built among the team. And still others go even further and try to circumvent the process altogether. Whether that's through unfairly enforcing the process for some and not others, or even worse, having no process at all. These kinds of tactics negatively affect the team and the code base overall. If any of this sounds familiar to you, then you're just like many other developers who rightfully despise doing code reviews. The good news is that we can do so much better. And for such an integral process in our industry, we should. In this course, I'll introduce you to the goals we should be striving for with every code review process. Goals that are pretty synonymous with why we do them in the first place. I'll discuss what the most common code review complaints are among developers and see how they usually stray from those code review goals. And I'll work with you to create a team working agreement. A key document that helps your team design and enforce your code review process. And finally, I'll guide you through the preferred strategies your team can use to conduct fair and productive code reviews. I'm Adrienne Braganza Tacke, and I've been a software engineer for almost nine years. I've had my fair share of less than ideal code review processes on various teams. So I've learned what works and what doesn't work when establishing clear team processes. If you'd like to learn how to facilitate a fair code review process, one where substantiated mistakes and design flaws are caught, one where productive suggestions are made, and most importantly, one where you and your colleagues still like each other afterward, then join me for my course on LinkedIn Learning, where we'll learn how to conduct humane code reviews.

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