Make Code Reviews 10x Better
The code review process is a vital part of software development and an important component of every developer’s job.
During a code review, developers go over the changes made to the codebase by their peers. They look for potential issues, security vulnerabilities, performance bottlenecks, and deviations from coding standards. Reviewers may then provide constructive feedback, suggest improvements, and ask questions to clarify the changes.
This process helps maintain code quality, catch bugs, and ensure consistency across the codebase. It also allows developers to share knowledge, learn from each other, and ultimately improve their skills.
We can all agree that reviewing code is as important and valuable as writing code.
Benefits of Code Review
The code review process is vital to software development for several reasons.
One of the main reasons is that it exposes you to other people’s code. When reviewing code, you see how different developers approach problem-solving. It also exposes you to various coding styles, which helps you learn new techniques. This exposure improves your programming knowledge and makes you a better developer.
Another significant benefit of code reviews is that they help you learn the codebase quickly. You get to explore and understand different modules, components, and parts of the project. You’ll also understand the overall system architecture and how different parts of the codebase interact.
Lastly, reviewing code allows you to see different angles and alternative solutions. You can learn from your peers’ different perspectives and approaches, helping you expand your own problem-solving skills.
Reviewing code has many more benefits, but we have glanced over the most important ones here.
The Problem with Code Reviews
While code reviews are essential and valuable for developers, the process of reviewing code could be more efficient and effective.
The traditional code review process is time-consuming, as it requires going over the code from the pull request line by line. You spend significant time just reviewing a single pull request, and the time you spend reviewing code can add up significantly, especially in larger teams or projects with frequent code changes.
Additionally, code reviews are prone to human error. Even experienced developers can overlook subtle bugs, potential issues, and security vulnerabilities due to fatigue and tight deadlines.
These problems can lead to costly mistakes and slower progress overall.
How To Improve Code Reviews
While the manual code review is still necessary, there are now tools to make the process more efficient and effective.
One such tool is CodeRabbit, a code reviewer that automatically reviews your pull requests, and provides context-aware feedback and even suggests code changes. It uses Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to analyze code changes, identify potential issues, and provide valuable insights such as summaries and repository stats.
Sequence Diagrams
CodeRabbit automatically generates sequence diagrams based on the code changes in a pull request, providing a visual representation of the interactions between the different parts of the code. This feature helps code reviewers quickly understand the flow and logic of the changes.
The image above illustrates an example from one of my pull requests. If you push new changes to the pull request, you can easily regenerate the sequence diagram to keep it up-to-date.
sequenceDiagram
participant User
participant System
User->>System: Submit form with fields
System->>System: Validate fields
alt Field has metadata
System->>System: Process field
else Field missing metadata
System-->>User: Throw error with specific message
endMoreover, CodeRabbit allows you to export the underlying code representation of the diagram, which allows you to reuse it elsewhere.
This feature is helpful as it allows code reviewers to quickly understand the flow and logic of the changes.
Summaries and Walkthroughs
One of the hurdles in code reviews is figuring out the changes introduced by the pull request. As a reviewer, you often need to review the changes multiple rounds before fully understanding the PR changes.
CodeRabbit addresses this challenge by providing a concise overview of the pull request. The image below illustrates a summary of one of my pull requests.
In addition to the summary, CodeRabbit offers a detailed walkthrough of the pull request, breaking down the changes introduced file by file or directory by directory. This walkthrough provides reviewers with a structured and organized view of the changes, making them easier to understand.
While manual review is still required, the extra context leads to a more efficient and quicker code review.
Virtual Pair-Programmer
In addition to providing valuable context, CodeRabbit goes a step further and reviews your code. It reviews the code and provides suggestions while taking into consideration your codebase. This context-aware approach ensures that the suggestions are relevant and valuable, as they take into account your project.
One of the standout features of CodeRabbit is the ability to interact with it directly. You can start a conversation with CodeRabbit, asking questions and clarification on its suggestions. For example, you can:
- Ask to provide explanations on why certain changes were recommended
- Ask for alternative solutions or approaches
- Provide feedback to correct CodeRabbit when its suggestions are not suitable
It acts as an experienced virtual pair-programmer, with a huge amount of knowledge and unlimited availability. It also learns from your feedback and adapts its recommendations accordingly.
By combining contextual review, conversational capabilities, and continuous learning, CodeRabbit brings a fresh breath of air to the code review process, making it more efficient, effective, and engaging.
Conclusion
It’s important to mention once again that AI tools like CodeRabbit don’t replace manual code reviews altogether. Instead, they provide assistance and automate certain tasks, allowing code reviewers to focus on more important parts of the code review.
I’ve been using CodeRabbit at work for months, and I couldn’t be happier with it.
CodeRabbit offers a 7-day free trial for private repositories and is free for open-source projects. Thanks to Code Rabbit for sponsoring my post.
