Code review helps developers better understand the product code and learn new technologies and techniques that enhance their skills.
What exactly is a code review?
When one developer is done working on an issue, another developer looks at the code and asks questions like:
Are there obvious logic errors in the code?
Looking at the requirements, are all cases fully implemented?
Are the new self-tests sufficient for the new code? Do existing automated tests need to be rewritten to account for changes in code?
Does the new code comply with existing style guidelines?
Code reviews must integrate with the team's existing processes. For example, if a team uses workflows with task branching of activities, a code review should be initiated after all code has been written and self-tests have run and passed, but before the code is merged into the master repository .
Every team can benefit from code reviews, regardless of development methodology. No one is the only one who knows a specific part of the code base. Simply put, code reviews help facilitate knowledge sharing within the team.
Why implement an automated code review process
Automated code review is an essential step in building a high-quality, secure application. With the potential for human error during development, implementing best practices for systematic code review is an important step in improving software quality. The benefit of having a team of experts review new code for intent and logic is invaluable.
However, if you add an automated code review to your manual code review, you can address publicly disclosed vulnerabilities in a timely manner.
An automated code review process compares source code against a set of standard guidelines to check for common sources of errors or security threats. This revision can produce false positives and negatives, but still improves the software's resistance to security threats and overall application performance. An increased risk of security breaches and suboptimal performance could affect the ability of the software to function as intended.