code reviews - leave your ego at the door
DESCRIPTION
Presentation I held internally at Bigpoint, at the PHP Unconference 2012 in Hamburg (19/08/2012) and at the Barcamp Hamburg (11/03/2012)TRANSCRIPT
Code Peer Reviews
Leave your ego at the door
Frank SonsSenior Software Engineer
So, what’s this about?
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Introducing Reviews
Collective code ownership
Some ways to review code
Beware the dragons!
3
A short introduction to reviewsForget about the code for the moment…
What’s the idea?
4
Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve
performance and provide credibility.
Reviews aren’t limited to code…
5
Back to code reviews…
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IBM: Inspection introduced in 1970s
Google: 20% rule used for reviews
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„That‘s not my code!“Collective code ownership is a mindset
What about the ego?
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„Everyone has the right and freedom to totally suck in private.“
Forget about your ego!
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„Attempt to be awesome in public and embrace the suck!“
Reviews are knowledge sharing!
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Share within your team…
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Product knowledge
Technical knowledge
Coding Standards
Transparency
12
How to reviewA comprehensive overview
Ad hoc
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Just ask someone
Takes only a few minutes
Happens everywhere
Little impact beyond problem
Completely informal
Peer deskcheck / passaround
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Asking someone for input
Can be done asynchronous
Author is not present
Good for mentoring and coaching
Very informal
Pair programming
15
Agile approach
Driver and navigator
Rapid iterations
Cultural change needed
Informal review
Walkthrough
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Author explains code
Code reading
Ideal to present and educate
Risk of overlooking critical code
Informal, no defined process
Team review
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Used to judge product
Check against specifications
Preparation needed
Review collects data and input
Planned and structured
Inspection
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Most formal approach
Industry standard
Specific roles and trained inspectors
Checklist
Moderated review
“Inspection Walkthrough”
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Reader doesn‘t know code
Experienced dev for „eagle eye“ view
Author explains and answers questions
Specific code section
No leads involved
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Beware the dragons!It can be tricky…
Egoless!
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My ego is not tied to my „perfect“ or „imperfect“ work product.
Avoid the dragons
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No fingerpointing
Leave the egos at the door
Resistance to change
Lack of knowledge
Cultural issues
Some things to keep in mind
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Three to seven participants
Not longer than two hours
Manager should be involved in planning
Find problems, not solutions
Review coverage vs. project size
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JUST DO IT!
This helps…
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I hope you had a good time!
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Reviews can help your team
Reviews are all about the mindset
Don‘t fear the dragons
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Thanks!
Find us on
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Bigpoint GmbHFrank Sons
Senior Software Engineer
Drehbahn 47-4820354 Hamburg
Germany
Tel +49 40.88 14 13 - 0Fax +49 40.88 14 13 - 11