Despite being among the most effective ways of finding defects and improving code quality, code reviews are rarely done with any consistency. Enter PMD, a static analysis tool that can make reviewing code easier and more fun.
by John Ferguson Smart
April 20, 2006
ode reviews are widely recognized as one of the most effective ways to detect bugs, performance issues, and coding errors of all sorts. And by promoting discussion and knowledge sharing, code reviews also have the rare ability to improve both the quality of your code and the skill of your developers.
A code review involves presenting and discussing the code for a project. The aim is to spot potential problems and check that the software architecture and design rules are being applied correctly. Reviewers generally use a checklist of common errors and applicable coding standards and best practices to ensure that they examine the code thoroughly.
The following are the different types of code review, which vary mostly in degree of formality:
A code walkthrough simply involves developers meeting to review code.
Code reading is a little more formal, with reviewers independently examining a designated block of source code.
Code inspection, the most formal of all code reviewing techniques, was introduced by Michel Fagan in 1976. Code inspections follow a rigorous formal process where trained participants are assigned predefined roles, such as moderator, scribe, author, and reviewer.
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ode reviews are widely recognized as one of the most effective ways to detect bugs, performance issues, and coding errors of all sorts. And by promoting discussion and knowledge sharing, code reviews also have the rare ability to improve both the quality of your code and the skill of your developers.
A code review involves presenting and discussing the code for a project. The aim is to spot potential problems and check that the software architecture and design rules are being applied correctly. Reviewers generally use a checklist of common errors and applicable coding standards and best practices to ensure that they examine the code thoroughly.
