Defending the Python lanuage...

[Peter Milliken]

"Justin Sheehy" <justin at iago.org> wrote in message
news:mailman.1012581067.14621.python-list at python.org...
> "Peter Milliken" <peter.milliken at gtech.com> writes:
>
> > Actually, if you are *good* at what you do, then code review, whilst
still
> > beneficial, is not nearly *that* beneficial.
>
> I deeply disagree.

Sorry Justin, I knew as soon as I pressed "send" on this one it would spark
some controversy :-)

Please note the wording, I intended my statement in a very heavily qualified
manner (obviously this hasn't come through :-)) i.e. I do not deny that code
review will *always* be beneficial, even for the best of programmers
because, as you say, nobody is perfect. My statement is based on the fact
that it is sometimes almost impossible to get people to approach a reveiw in
the correct spirit i.e. you have the review and nothing comes from it
because nobody really put in the necessary effort - mainly because they were
behind in their own schedule and just had no time or incentive to look at
someone else's code :-).

I once (not that long ago) was the "chief" programmer for a very small
effort (4 other programmers). I wrote a SDP (Software Development Plan) that
mandated code reviews - I couldn't motivate the individuals working on the
project to do them properly, so when Phase 2 of the job swung around I
removed the mandatory code reviews from the SDP - practicality at work :-).
I was determined *not* to have plans and procedures that were not being
followed - sure I had plenty of pieces of paper that said the reviews took
place but because there was no practical benefit being gained I took the
logical approach and deleted them from the 2nd phase.

So I won't argue against anything you say below, I agree whole heartedly
with everything I see in a quick "skim" of it :-) My aplogies if my wording
didn't convey what I meant.

Peter

>
> Some of the most valuable code reviews that I've seen at my current
> employer have been of programs written by very competent programmers.
>
> First off, no one is perfect.  A few more pairs of eyes on the code
> that are explicitly looking for odd things can be very useful in
> finding subtle problems.
>
> Also, it is very possible that a requirement or interrelationship has
> been ignored or mishandled.  Even if the code is good in a relative
> vacuum, having someone with a different day-to-day focus look at it
> can help to expose important issues.
>
> There is another major benefit of code review that may not occur to
> you, since it is not a direct benefit to the code being reviewed.
> Code reviews are an excellent way for programmers of all skill levels
> to learn from each other.  This is one of the major reasons that I
> like them, even if they take a bunch of time out of my schedule.
>
> -Justin
>
>
>
>