Google’s Engineering Practices – Code Review Standards

We dig into Google’s engineering practices documentation as we learn how to code review while Michael, er, Fives is done with proper nouns, Allen can’t get his pull request approved, and Joe prefers to take the average of his code reviews.

In case you’re reading this via your podcast player, this episode’s full show notes can be found at https://www.codingblocks.net/episode132. Be sure to check it out and join the conversation.

Sponsors

• University of California, Irvine Division of Continuing Education – One of the top 50 nationally ranked universities, UCI offers over 80 certificates and specialized programs designed for working professionals. Registration is NOW OPEN! Sign up and reserve your seat today!
• Datadog.com/codingblocks – Sign up today for a free 14 day trial and get a free Datadog t-shirt after your first dashboard.

Survey Says

Do you *always* include (new or updated) unit tests with your pull requests?

Take the survey at: https://www.codingblocks.net/episode132.

News

• Thank you to everyone that left us a review:
  • iTunes: Jbarger, Podcast Devourer, Duracce
  • Stitcher: Daemyon C

How to Code Review

Code Review Developer Guide

Q: What is a code review?

A: When someone other than the author of the code examines that code.

Q: But why code review?

A: To ensure high quality standards for code as well as helping ensure more maintainable code.

What should code reviewers look for?

• Design: Is the code well-designed and appropriate for your system?
• Functionality: Does the code behave as the author likely intended? Is the way the code behaves good for its users?
• Complexity: Could the code be made simpler? Would another developer be able to easily understand and use this code when they come across it in the future?
• Tests: Does the code have correct and well-designed automated tests?
• Naming: Did the developer choose clear names for variables, classes, methods, etc.?
• Comments: Are the comments clear and useful?
• Style: Does the code follow our style guides?
• Documentation: Did the developer also update relevant documentation?

Picking the Best Reviewers

• Get the best reviewer you can, someone who can review your code within the appropriate time frame.
  • The best reviewer is the one who can give you the most thorough review.
    • This might or might not be people in the OWNERS file.
    • Different people might need to review different portions of your changes for the same pull request.
  • If the “best” person isn’t available, they should still be CC’d on the change list.

In Person Reviews

• If you pair-programmed with someone who was the right person for a code review, then the code is considered reviewed.
• You can also do code reviews where the reviewer asks questions and the coder only speaks when responding