It's Time to Look Beyond Traditional Ways of Reviewing Product Code

As a senior developer, you’ll be well-aware that code review is an essential part of your job. Therefore, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that an average senior developer spends five hours a week reviewing codes. However,  code review isn't just about spending time looking at lines of codes and reviewing them for quality - it's also about sharing constructive feedback with your team.

Detailed feedback is necessary for the growth of the team, quality learning and documentation which can be used for future training purposes. But what’s the best way of communicating code review feedback? There are a baffling number of options to choose from, including email, chat and phone calls, and deciding the best is subjective as each of them have their own downsides:

• Email: If it gets too descriptive, it’ll be difficult for the reader to follow. Besides, it’s not very personal either.
• Chats: A lot of time is spent exchanging messages. Code review has to be detailed, so this is not the best approach. You can share screenshots via chat, but they’re just static images.
• Meetings and calls: This is a very personal form of communication, but if it gets too long, it can be overwhelming.

One tool that works really well in sharing code review feedback is video messages. Here, we’re referring to video messages created with the help of screen recording. Screen recording tools that can record your screen and face using a webcam simultaneously are great for sharing code review feedback. This type of communication is asynchronous in nature, which means there’s no pressure on staying online in a call for a long time. Moreover, it’s personal in nature, so even if the feedback is lengthy and detailed, it will hold the viewer’s attention for an extended period.

How video recording can be effective in reviewing code

It’s difficult to summarize the effectiveness of screen recording videos in two lines, so let’s dive deeper into this and understand how video messages recorded via screen recording can be a great tool for code review.

Highlight bugs in the codes

During code review, it’s very normal to come across a bug, especially if you have beginners in your team. The chances of spotting frequent issues like missing keywords in the source code, breaking contracts, using null references without need or even ignoring exceptions is high. Stressing on the point that your feedback will be for the beginners in your team, do you think writing a long report is the best way of sharing feedback with them? Your answer is, most probably, no.

Screen recording videos offers a great escape route from these lengthy reports. With screen recordings, it’s not just a a case of recording the screen to show the bug; but more about how you can record your voice to make it more personal, use screen annotations to highlight bugs and have overall clearer communication. When you share a screen recording with the code author, they’ll have a precise understanding of what mistake they made, how it happened and how it can be avoided in the future.

Explain new product features

A stagnant product won’t survive in the market for very long; companies know this and so do developers. The only way to be relevant and staying competitive is to work on new product releases. However, if there’s a lack of communication in the team that’s building the new feature, the possibility of coming up with more advanced features in the future gets curtailed.

By recording video messages with a screen recorder, the team can share release notes with the team. It’ll also give great exposure to the junior members on how a product is built, how a timeline has to be followed and what activities are to be performed. Also, most of the teams have a private chat network, so they can use these channels to have informal but thoughtful conversations.

Show architectural diagrams

Maintaining an architectural diagram is highly beneficial for the developers, test engineers and all the other stakeholders that are directly involved in product development. However, there’s no straight rule or format to structure these diagrams, meaning it differs from one project to another.

Therefore, when you have a new member joining the team or there’s an internal transfer, you’ll have a tough time explaining every shape and arrow that you’ve used in the architectural diagram. Instead, by sending them a screen recording video you can give them a detailed overview along with sharing the rationale behind following the format. This will save hours of time and help to maintain transparency at a high level. 

Report usability issues

As a senior developer, your job doesn’t end with just reviewing codes and giving feedback. You’re also often entrusted with checking the usability and performance of the app. This task requires checking multiple parameters and coordinating with different teams to weed the issue out. In instances like these, it’s tiresome to create a new email thread for every conversation and then get involved in an email loop that goes on for a frustrating amount of time. 

By using a screen recording tool, you can record a video of the issue, highlight the areas and add a descriptive detail about the issue. This is like condensing your multiple emails in a single video without typing a word and spending time more than what’s necessary, whether it’s an inconsistency in design, unclear UI or slow loading website.

Create instructional videos

Most senior developers highlight similar problems in the source code of new code authors. After the code author is made aware of that, the propensity to commit the same error reduces to a great extent. However, this approach of identifying the most common errors and then fixing it is time-consuming in nature. With screen recording videos, you can take the proactive route. Once you identify an error, you can record your feedback, offer steps to fix the bug and then save it in their workspace. Similarly, other bug issues can also be recorded this way. So, after a few months of this practice, you’ll have a library of instructional videos which can be referred by your team whenever they need.

Final note

Code review is an indispensable part of a senior developer’s work responsibilities. It’s crucial for them to identify the bugs in the code before it goes for production and share feedback with their team members, so they learn from their mistakes. While there are many tools that can help them with code reviews, video messages recorded with the help of a screen recording tool will be the most effective.

Screen recording tools are great for code reviews, but they can be used for a far greater purpose. You can explain the new product features that you’re working on and also share the architectural diagram that will help a beginner to understand the design. Besides, the smart features of adding annotations make it convenient for the code author to understand the exact information that you’re trying to convey.

It’s a wise decision to use a screen recording tool in daily development activities. It doesn’t cost a large amount of money, it’s easy-to-use and you don’t have to worry about training the team to use the tool.