zzSource Code Review Process

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Source Code Review Process

Source Code Review Process
 
A source code review is the process where the developers and the architect meet and discuss code. The purpose of source code reviews is to exchange ideas about how the source code is written and to establish a standard group interpretation of the code. During these reviews, developers should be given the opportunity to explain their code to one another. Often, simply explaining the code helps developers identify problems and envision new solutions for previously troubling dilemmas.

When the group members discuss the code, their discussion should focus on important issues such as algorithms, object-oriented programming, and class design. However, many source code reviews do not do this; often, code reviews are dry, boring, and mechanical. That’s why many developers hate them. For code reviews to be effective, they have to be fun and creative. Very often, code reviews deteriorate to focusing on enforcing coding standards—a practice that can be automated. When this occurs, groups usually decide that code reviews are not valuable, drop code reviews from their development process, and lose the potential benefits that can stem from a correctly implemented code review.