Category Archives: Code Reviews

Code Reviews for Quality Assurance

As we continue in CS443 – Software Quality Assurance and Testing, we’ve delved into the test strategy/skill of group code reviews for debugging. So, this week I chose to search for a blog about effective code reviews with a focus on good practices to extract the most value from participating in them and found a valuable article posted on Vates.com. This article is from August 2023, so it is modestly recent and applicable to our current learning materials and discusses best practices and habits.

Code review is a pivotal practice in software development, offering more than just bug detection. It serves as a collaborative process where developers meticulously inspect code changes before integration into the main codebase. By doing so, it not only identifies defects but also enhances code quality, ensures alignment with project requirements, and upholds coding standards. The process fosters collaboration among team members, facilitates knowledge sharing, and integrates multiple perspectives, ultimately leading to the creation of reliable, maintainable, and efficient software.

To maximize the benefits of code review, it’s essential to implement effective strategies. This begins with establishing clear objectives tailored to the project’s goals. By defining specific focuses, such as code quality improvements, security enhancements, or performance optimizations, teams can streamline the review process and prioritize areas of concern.

Moreover, involving the right team members is crucial. Senior developers, subject matter experts, and team leads contribute diverse viewpoints, enriching the review process and leading to better outcomes. Adhering to a comprehensive code style guide ensures consistency in coding practices, which is vital for long-term maintainability. Utilizing code review tools further enhances efficiency by automating checks, highlighting changes, and facilitating collaborative discussions.

Promoting a culture of constructive feedback is equally important. Emphasizing that reviews aim to enhance overall code quality rather than criticize individuals encourages open communication and continuous improvement. Balancing review speed with depth ensures timely feedback without compromising quality, fostering agility while maintaining code integrity.

Lastly, following up on review feedback is essential for iterative improvement. Addressing comments promptly, clarifying questions, and implementing necessary changes contribute to a learning culture within the team, leading to continuous enhancement of development practices.

Vates is a leading provider of IT and software services and the host of this blog. They provide tools and resources to enable teams to unlock the full potential of code review, IoT consulting, and software testing services. This collaboration empowers organizations to elevate their software development practices, delivering exceptional value to stakeholders through collaborative development and effective code review implementation.

Source:

https://www.vates.com/the-art-of-code-review-effective-strategies-for-collaborative-development

From the blog CS@Worcester – Tech. Worth Talking About by jelbirt and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Exploring the in’s and out’s of Software Quality Assurance.

SQA ( Software Quality Assurance)

This blog is dedicated to exposing the reader to best practices while performing Software Quality Assurance.

Within this blog you will find different types of content regarding;

  • System testing (exploring ways to address defects or errors) 
  • Security testing ( exploring different ways companies can reduce risk) 
  • Code Reviews ( exploring code quality and ways to improve) 
  • Performance Testing ( exploring performance issues and ways to improve) 
  • And more…

This blog post will be closely related to the course taught within most computer science majors at colleges entitled, Software Quality Assurance and Testing, which covers these topics and more. Stay tuned for the latest entry for this blog and how you can be informed on the latest news on SQA Testing practices. 

From the blog CS@Worcester – In's and Out's of Software Testing by Jaylon Brodie and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

Code Reviews

Code reviews are one of the most productive components of software testing. What is code review? Code review is the processes of systematically checking a fellow programmer’s code for errors to prevent bugs and identify potential trouble spots such as scalability issues and buffer overflows.

Not only do code reviews save time and money in the development process, it also provides irreplaceable education to junior developers that they would not be able to obtain otherwise. This give an opportunity for Senior developers to demonstrate how to write clean code, identify problems such as memory leaks, and use shortcuts through real world application.

Some insights about code review found through analyses of the process suggest that each reviewer should only be looking at 200 – 400 lines of code per hour, authors should prepare the review with annotations and explanation of the code, and reviews should only last an hour at a time. With 200-400 lines of code reviewed and only 60 minutes at a time for each review ensures that the detection quality and rate stays high. After those marks the quality starts to drop. Annotations and explanations of code makes the author review it himself first, and then sets it up for the reviewer to understand later.

Code reviews can be done in many approaches and do not have to be long drawn out processes unless working on a software that cannot have any errors where someone’s life will depend on it. Some lightweight approaches include pair programming, sending out code through email threads for peers to review, and tool assisted review. Tool assisted review is one of the most useful. In this approach, you use a code review tool that allow the reviews to happen non-locally and asynchronously, with comment and solution tracking, notifications, and more.

Source:

What is code review? (n.d.). Retrieved May 02, 2021, from https://smartbear.com/learn/code-review/what-is-code-review/#:~:text=Code%20Review%2C%20or%20Peer%20Code,like%20few%20other%20practices%20can.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Austins CS Site by Austin Engel and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.