A code review process occurs when a colleague or superior looks at code written by another developer. Design, complexity, naming conventions, comments, and automated tests are all examined during code review. The fundamental benefit of code review is that it saves time early in the development process for swiftly discovering and addressing issues.
Code review is an important part of DevOps throughout the early stages of the development pipeline since it ensures that the code is as clean as feasible. In fact, it is one of the tests that every developer should perform before committing changes to the main branch.
Source Code Review
What are the steps associated with software development, or how does a project take shape?
The seven steps of the software development life cycle include planning, analysis, design, development, testing, implementation, and maintenance. This final phase marks the heart and soul of the project. Source code review is here to put them to work, taking them along with the development phase.
Since programmers are humans, they are prone to making mistakes. An error can severely disrupt your framework and make you clock-beaten. A new source code audit service accompanies your development cycle, and this is where the importance of source code reviews and audits is found.
#6 Key Benefits of Code Review
Code review benefits developers by allowing them to improve their skills, techniques, and overall understanding of all aspects of development. It also helps businesses by encouraging collaboration, increasing efficiency, and reducing costly errors. Most importantly, code review ensures high-quality code optimization through internal collaboration.
1| Code optimization for better performance
In terms of code optimization, code reviews help younger developers identify areas for improvement. The lack of experience among younger developers prevents them from knowing about code optimization techniques that help them write cleaner code. As a result of the code review process, they are able to gain valuable feedback from the senior developers.
2| Reduce Bugs
One of the primary benefits of coder reviews is the reduction of bugs. Regular code reviews may save a significant amount of time and money. By implementing regular code reviews, the company will save resources and ensure that the final product is smooth and error-free.
3| Consistency in design and execution is ensured
Code review compels developers to adhere to particular coding principles during the sprint development period. As a result, every developer (even new ones) can easily study and understand the source code with this approach.
4| Collaboration
Each member of a team is not solely responsible for code review. As a consequence, each member can take a rest. The code is not solely written by a single developer, thus reducing delays, streamlining development, and building a sense of teamwork.
Code review also gives a chance for team members to contribute knowledge.
5| Track project quality and requirements
Code review allows developers to focus on requirements, thereby ensuring project success. It also validates the developed feature against the desired feature. This ensures that any misunderstandings about the scope or needs are rectified as soon as possible. As a result, teams avoid missing critical features.
6| Built-in Mentorship
Mentorship is built into code review for upcoming developers. The new developer received regular mentorship from the start, which included impartial feedback and code optimization techniques. Such a relationship makes it possible for all parties to grow – both the developer and the organization as a whole.
Purpose of code review
Even though code review can take on many forms, it always aims to accomplish a few basic goals regardless of the coding environment. Some of these include:
❖ Remove defects:
The code sharing approach enables developers to detect faults early in the coding phase and more quickly address errors later in the implementation process.
❖ Compliance:
Code review assists developers in ensuring that software adheres to business code standards.
❖ Optimization:
Code review enables engineers to zoom down on and enhance program performance. This is especially helpful for new developers who are unfamiliar with code optimization techniques.
❖ Collaboration:
The code review process develops a team atmosphere and mutual trust inside the organization.
Code review process
Software development begins with a code review, which identifies bugs and defects before the testing phase begins. During the development phase, it’s easy to disregard code review, yet studies have proven that it’s the most effective quality assurance technique.
Preparation-
During shared desktop meetings or in person, the developer finds available reviewers.
Inspection meeting-
Code is walked through by the developer. The viewer asks a question. Defects are noted by the developer.
Rework-
The developer fixes defects in the code.
Complete-
At the end of the development process, the developer checks the code into version control.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Source Code Review
Advantages
- Software that is free of defects and well documented.
- The behavior doesn't need to be guessed or interpreted.
- All possible behaviors of the software are available.
- Coding standards are adhered to by enterprise software.
- Developers teach and share knowledge.
Disadvantages
- Have access to both the source code and the binary code.
- Build requires access to a sufficient quantity of software artifacts.
- Completion of software builds typically requires proficiency.
- Operational deployment environments will not be affected.
Step by steps points of source code review
It is important to conduct code reviews in order to improve your code quality and stability. Code reviews can also reinforce relationships and improve collaboration between programmers. Code review steps are given below-
Set a goal:
Finding errors and bugs is only one aspect of code reviews. You should clarify the goals as early in the process as possible so that employees understand them and work towards them. The team's ability to make progress will be hampered by the inability to establish consensus.
Make your first step:
After you receive the request, try to make the initial step as soon as possible. It's not necessary to go into details yet. Write down your team's impressions and thoughts after a quick overview.
Utilize a ticketing system:
Whenever a code change is proposed, a new ticket is created. When a team member notices a modification that needs to be done, they create a ticket. In the ticket, a change request should be described, where it would be implemented, and why it is needed. As a result of this system, you will not only be able to keep track of all proposed changes, but the discussion could lead to further improvements.
Analyze source code before review:
An annotation can be used at any point in the software development life cycle. As a result, the code reviewer understands the code and what each block of code performs better. Annotations should be added to the code, but not in excess.
Review not more than 60 minutes:
Several studies have shown that a person's efficiency depletes if they attempt to work continuously without a break for long stretches. Code review is no exception. Code reviews should not last more than 60 minutes. According to research, the reviewer's ability to find all defects can dwindle after the 60-minute mark and some may slip through the cracks.
Fix the defects discovered through a process:
The ultimate goal of a code review is to fix the defects. In addition, defining a process for fixing the defects will ensure that it is done as effectively as possible and with the least amount of technical debt.
Time-saving automation:
Software companies can benefit greatly from automated code review tools such as Codegrip. Using these tools, code reviews can be completed in a few seconds. In less than a minute, they can check the entire codebase for defects and provide solutions.
Importance of test source code
It is tested using unit tests to ensure that it works correctly. As a result, future bugs are more likely to be detected. Many attacks are targeted at source code, the cleaner the code, the lower the risk of it being attacked.
Code is often written first, then unit tests are written. In TDD, testing is done incrementally by converting requirements into specific test cases. Unit testing is a similar idea in which developers can tweak code without affecting the functionality of other units or the entire product.
FAQs
Final Thoughts
Managing time and resources in development teams requires code reviews to be effective. In addition to keeping up with the highest standards and catching bugs, code reviews build trust between team members and facilitate more efficient and effective development through optimization and estimates. It is important to incorporate code reviews throughout the project development lifecycle.
