HACKER Q&A
📣 fosterfriends

What do you dislike about code reviews?


What do you dislike about code reviews?


  👤 alex_lav Accepted Answer ✓
So much. I think most engineers aren't really equipped with the behavioral skills to conduct code review in a healthy way, and I think the industry just turns a blind eye to terrible/unproductive behavior being a core part of the development process. The prevalence of comments starting with "Nit" is a good example. Never leave a nit.

I also think reviewers shouldn't have a freeform textbox to leave comments in. I think feedback items should be something like a dropdown. The goal is to remove opinion and bias as much as possible. Style, linting, etc should all be automated.


👤 fosterfriends
eg:

* Time Consumption: Reviews can slow down development.

* Inconsistent Standards: Varying coding standards among team members.

* Nitpicking: Overemphasis on minor details.

* Lack of Constructive Feedback: Comments may lack guidance for improvement.

* Knowledge Gaps: Reviewers might not fully understand the context or technology.

* Ego Clashes: Personal biases or ego can affect the review process.

* Blocking Progress: Waiting for reviews can delay other tasks. Lack of Recognition: Feeling that efforts in code quality are undervalued.

* Tool Limitations: Frustration with the limitations or inefficiencies of review tools.

* Overwhelming Backlog: Large volumes of code to review can be daunting.


👤 simulosius
> Reviews can slow down development.

I don't get this. Yes, the development seems faster _without_ a code review. But the issues that you miss, the quality that could be increased will bite you back tenfolds later on. So why is that "slow down" such a big issue?


👤 potamic
When probing questions are answered literally.