Software Development

What is Code Review?

Quick answer

The practice of having other developers examine code changes before they are merged, to catch bugs and keep quality consistent.

Code Review, explained

Code review is usually done through pull requests. Reviewers check whether the change works, is readable, follows team conventions, handles errors properly, and avoids security issues. Reviews also spread knowledge, so more than one person understands each part of the system.

For example, a reviewer might notice that a new payment form logs card details to a debug file and ask the author to remove it before release. With AI coding assistants producing more code faster, review has become a common bottleneck, and teams are adapting by keeping changes small, relying on automated tests and linters for routine issues, and focusing human attention on design, security, and business logic. Review works best as a collaborative check rather than a gate for criticism.

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