We’ve been holding code reviews for close to a year now and the process has evolved from the first days. We’ve seen many of the common benefits:
- Better code quality and readability.
- Catching some defects early.
- Mentoring opportunities around design.
We’re still a bit informal about it and probably reviewing less code than we should, but overall I’m pretty happy with the results.
That said I’m starting to weed myself out of more code reviews because I simply can’t keep up and I don’t need to be a bottleneck in the process. I really enjoy the break of a good 30-60 minutes of just reading and examining code and maybe running the corresponding tests, but I don’t have much time for it. Luckily we have enough senior developers now who have gotten used to the process and are able handle code reviews on their own projects.
As a manager code reviews can be important, but so are standup meetings, one-on-ones, staff meetings, removing impediments, planning out future project opportunities, and recruiting.