Code Review Tips (How I Review Code as a Staff Software Engineer)

As a staff software engineer that has been in the industry for a while, I've done my fair share of code reviews (probably thousands of reviews at this point). In this video I talk about my own code review process so that you can learn from my mistakes and become a better code reviewer. By the end of the video you'll understand my own code review best practices, so with that out of the way, let's get into the video ☺️

As with every single video I do about software engineering, if you have any questions or comments please let me know below 😊

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⏰ TIMESTAMPS ⏰
0:00 - Intro To Code Reviews
1:05 - Have An Open Mind
2:28 - Read The Description
3:04 - Skim Through The Code Changes
4:15 - Straight Forward Code Reviews
7:32 - More Difficult Code Reviews
9:26 - Determine Code Review Outcome

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None 😅

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#codereview #softwareengineer #softwaredeveloper

[CodyEngelCodes]

So after making this video it got me thinking... What are the best qualities in a code reviewer? Let me know in the comments, would be interested to see your thoughts 😊

[nromancarcamo]

Love the tips, I feel 100% relatable due to I have done some of the things you said, but I learn somethings as well, the difference I see is that you have already like a framework in your head, maybe because of your vast experience which is something really good. 👍

You gained a new subscriber.

[tizuwze]

Amazing video. You just gained another subscriber.

[robertstitt]

Greetings! I'm also a software engineer here in Chicago! Love you videos!

[gunedaa]

This was super helpful as a junior software engineer who hasn't delivered a proper code review before, I especially like that you also take the time to compliment when you see a good piece of code. Do you have any recommendations for code review interviews? I've applied to a job and passed the live coding session and next is to do a code review interview which I haven't done before for any of my previous job applications. Would be super helpful to get your insights :)

[dimaorols]

I'd be straight to be point with things I dislike, and have an open mind. I'd ask questions when I wouldn't understand the intended output for project N, but not to say that I found something wrong with the code.

Had a co-worker leaving such remarks: "Don't you think this would've been better?", "Why did you do it this way instead if using our in built code?"

That's a bad approach. I rather guide the developer and explain within reason why something might be out of bounds and provide examples.

[mani]

being Senior engineer, how do we manage our own work along with the PR review, which is quite challenging, which leads to poor code quality.

[roltthehunter]

When you say business requirements what do you mean by that? I am curious also great video I am an Android engineer with about 2 years of experience and I have not really had anyone explicitly give me business requirements I feel like maybe I am slipping. Is it something I should be searching out or something that I should just be getting from my manager and lead and stuff?

[naveenkumar-nssg]

Please do some good video on writing unit test with more details

[steveyoo]

What do you typically do if there are no unit tests in a pull request?

[stoicacquiescence]

Cody, how do you approach code reviews
-for juniors/new grads who’ve just joined and are generally confident but their code has room to improve
-for juniors/new grads who’ve just joined who are less confident and their code has room to improve
-if you are a senior engineer but new to the code base and/or tech stack and the team expects you to participate heavily

[azkaarkhatib]

Successfully accomplished destruction of the like button. 👍💥

[iconelias]

I love reviewing other people's code

[sashasyrotenko]

My TL
35% of comments
65% of changes requested

xD

[valydo]

You can't start with saying you reviewed 1000 PRs as a staff, which is far from impressive, and then immediately make a cringey joke about liking the video. Wait for people to see the actual video, mate.
The content is top notch though.

[dimaorols]

Don't talk to developer and put your mind out. Developer might come to you and then you negotiate.

[CallousCoder]

Naming is utterly useless! A developer that relies on names to understand the code doesn’t crash the code! The fact that us old folks had to track registers and memory addresses should say enough that names are overrated. Especially long ones, ugghh hate those! I’m fine with dealing with p for a person object instance for example. And in maths and physics all formulas also use one or 2 letters and your also not lost.