CONDUCTING CODE REVIEWS
Zeichick said there are a couple of ways to
conduct code reviews. “You can have a team
where there are two people working on it, or you
can meet in a conference room to review code.”
Teams in which each member reviews someone
else’s code are becoming more popular as
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organizations, periodic meetings to review code
are still useful because they add several sets of
eyes to the review process. Zeichick said even the
most senior programmers should have their code
reviewed.
So why did Siemens allow Tinley to go for all
those years without a code review? Tinley
considered his code to be proprietary and used
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according to comments by his attorney during the
trial.
Why this was allowed to happen is unclear, but
both Zeichick and Gold point out that a
requirement for code reviews should be part of
any contract between a business and an
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the contract not only mention code reviews but
also specify how and when they take place.
Zeichick noted that some large development
shops may do their own code reviews, which he
said makes sense. “The best people to do the code
review are the people on the development team,”
he said.
Wayne Rash
Periodic meet-
ings to review
code are still
useful because
they add sev-
eral sets of
eyes to the re-
view process.
