Becoming a better programmer is a worthwhile objective. Many software developers miserably fail to achieve this during their career, as they end up delivering code with more bugs.
These code defects, that could have been easily identified and fixed earlier during the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) by effective code review processes, remain unnoticed till the software is delivered.
End result – More rework, Effort & Schedule Slippages and bad remark for the programmer.
The four simple steps a programmer should take to avoid such situations are
1. Prepare (or Obtain) a Code Review Check-list
- Check out a sample here
2. Perform Self-Review
- Focus on requirements during review
- Use tools to identify defects
- Complete the checklist
3. Perform Peer-Review
- Arrange a code review/walk through meeting with a reviewer who understands the business & technology
- Reviewer should focus on determining if the code is actually doing what it’s supposed to be doing
- Record feedback from the reviewer & complete the checklist
- Rework. Incorporate the review comments
4. Publish Best Practices & Lessons Learnt
- Never repeat a mistake
- Help the fellow programmers in delivering a better code
Posted by Gregg Sporar on November 16, 2009 at 1:13 am
All good advice. Additional resources on code review available here: http://smartbear.com/codecollab-white-paper.php