peer reviews

Articles

Lightweight Code Reviews: Team Building for the Rest of Us

The author explores the people side of peer code reviews. Besides the technical and quality benefits, peer code reviews help build better teams. Believe it!

Jason Cohen
The Largest Case Study of Code Reviews—Ever

In May 2006, we wrapped up the largest case study of peer code review ever published, done at Cisco Systems®. The software was MeetingPlace® — Cisco's computer-based audio and video teleconferencing solution. Over 10 months, 50 developers on three continents reviewed every code change before it was checked into version control. We collected data from 2500 reviews of a total of 3.2 million lines of code.

This article summarizes our findings.

Jason Cohen
The Pros and Cons of Four Kinds of Code Reviews

The authors explore the pros and cons of four other common styles of code reviews—over-the-shoulder, email pass-around, pair programming, and tool-assisted reviews—and see which ones is the most promising candidate for practical peer code reviews.

Jason Cohen
Lightweight Code Reviews A Lightweight Alternative to Inspections

In this article, we explore why almost no one does "proper" inspections and set up the case for lightweight peer code review. Try it. You'll like it!

Jason Cohen

Conference Presentations

Performance Appraisals for Agile Teams

Traditional performance evaluations, which focus solely on individual performance, create a “chasm of disconnect” for agile team members. Because agile is all about team performance and trust, the typical HR performance evaluation system is not congruent with agile development. Based on his practical experience leading agile teams, Michael Hall explores how measurements drive behavior, why team measurement is important, what to measure, and what not to measure. Michael introduces tangible techniques for measuring agile team performance-end of sprint retrospectives, sprint and project report cards, peer reviews, and annual team performance reviews. To demonstrate what he’s describing, Michael uses role plays to contrast traditional, dysfunctional annual reviews with agile-focused performance reviews.

Michael Hall, WorldLink, Inc.

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