How to Do a Code Review: 12 steps

Want to know how to do a code review and why choosing DevTeam.Space to review your code can ensure your software product is a success?

In this article, we will provide you with a detailed guide on how to do a code review in 12 simple steps and answer the vital question of which company to choose to conduct your code review.

This is a good question that all companies looking for a great code review service must answer.

In this article

1. How to Do a Code Review?
2. Why You Should Choose DevTeam.Space to Review Your Code?
3. Want Code Reviews That Make Your Project Successful? Work With Us!
4. Frequently Asked Questions on How to Do Code Review

There are tons of research papers on various aspects of code review. A ResearchGate report states — quite predictably — that code review can enhance software maintainability.

According to an article in RhodeCode, “The yield of the Code Review phase is 50 to 80% better than that of the Test phase.”

Getting your code right is the only way to ensure you have a great end product. Keep in mind that 20% of projects fail before launch. Getting your code review done right is paramount to project success.

How to Do a Code Review: 12 steps

Performing a code review is an essential practice in software development that helps improve code quality, identify bugs, and ensure adherence to coding standards. Peer reviews are a very good tool for identifying bugs, as developers might miss their own errors. Frequent reviews are also a good idea.

Here are some general steps to follow when conducting a code review:

1. Set Clear Objectives: Understand the purpose of the code review. Are you looking for bugs, ensuring code quality, or evaluating adherence to coding standards? Define your goals beforehand. Ensure your developers are aware of coding guidelines.

2. Choose the Right Tools: Decide on a code review tool or platform that supports the review process. Popular options include GitHub’s pull requests, GitLab’s merge requests, or specialized code review tools like Crucible or Phabricator.

3. Review Small Portions: Break down the code into manageable chunks for easier review. Reviewing smaller pieces makes it easier to focus on specific functionality or modules.

Get a complimentary discovery call and a free ballpark estimate for your project

Get Started

Trusted by 100x of startups and companies like

4. Understand the Requirements: Familiarize yourself with the project requirements, user stories, or specifications. This understanding helps evaluate if the code meets the intended purpose.

5. Read the Code Thoroughly: Go through the code carefully, analyzing each line for correctness, readability, maintainability, and adherence to best practices. Pay attention to variable names, comments, error handling, and code structure.

6. Test the Code: If possible, compile and run the code on your local machine. Test the code against the specified requirements, and identify any functional or logical issues.

7. Evaluate Code Structure and Design: Assess the overall architecture, design patterns, and modularity of the code. Look for code smells, anti-patterns, and opportunities for refactoring or optimization.

8. Provide Constructive Feedback: Document your findings and provide feedback in a clear, respectful, and constructive manner. Point out specific lines of code, explain the issues, and suggest improvements or alternatives.

9. Prioritize Issues: Differentiate between critical and non-critical issues. Address critical issues like security vulnerabilities or major bugs first, followed by improvements for code readability or maintainability.

10. Encourage Collaboration: Code reviews are not meant to be one-sided. Encourage the developer to actively participate in the review process, ask questions, and provide their own insights.

11. Follow-Up and Track Changes: After the review, ensure that the necessary changes are made. Use the code review tool or platform to track the progress and update the code as required.

12. Learn from the Process: Code reviews offer a learning opportunity for both the reviewer and the developer. Use the review process to improve your own skills and knowledge by exploring different coding approaches and techniques.

Remember, peer code reviews should promote collaboration and maintain a positive environment. Aim to foster open communication and encourage discussions that lead to a better code review process.

Back to Top

Why You Should Choose DevTeam.Space to Review Your Code?

There are several important reasons why you should choose us to review your source code. I will explain the challenges you face in finding competent code reviewers, and how we at DevTeam.Space can help. These challenges are as follows:

1. The challenges of finding competent reviewers

Proficient code reviewers possess extensive expertise in software development and encompass several other essential competencies. However, locating skilled developers can be challenging due to their increasing scarcity, which makes it difficult to onboard competent reviewers for the code review process.

To put this into perspective, the demand for software developers is growing at a much higher rate compared to other professions. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for developers is estimated to increase by 21% from 2018 to 2028, as mentioned in its Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Considering that code reviewers are highly experienced developers, finding the best reviewers for reviewing code and conducting peer code reviews can be quite challenging. In such circumstances, engaging a reputable software development company like DevTeam.Space for code review provides an excellent shortcut to overcome this problem.

2. Onboarding competent reviewers at scale can be challenging

Imagine that you are executing a large and complex software development project. You will likely offer a considerable number of functional features, meaning that your project will have a large codebase.

Onboarding one or two experienced code reviewers will not do! You will need to onboard competent reviewers with code review best practices at scale.

Experienced code reviewers need several other competencies in addition to being experienced developers. This I covered in our guide on “How to find the best software code reviewers“.

The additional competencies are as follows:

• An in-depth understanding of software defect prevention processes and practices;
• Leadership competencies;
• Thorough knowledge of application security vulnerabilities.

As you can see, finding such competent people at scale can be hard. This is why you should engage a trustworthy and capable software development company like DevTeam.Space.

3. Finding code reviewers with a credible track record can be hard

While you will rightly focus on skills and competencies when onboarding code reviewers, you also have to look for a credible track record. You need code reviewers that can demonstrate their credentials as successful reviewers.

We, at DevTeam.Space, have an impressive track record of helping our clients with code reviews. Our expertise and track record cover established technologies.

We have a credible track record when it comes to code reviews involving cutting-edge technologies. E.g., we successfully undertook a blockchain code audit for DDKoin, a large blockchain network in the Asian market.

Read “Undertaking a blockchain code audit and its importance” if you would like to judge our track record.

4. The challenge of finding enough reviewers to cover the breadth of technologies

Quite often, companies execute several projects simultaneously, usually because they are aligned to a large transformation in their organization. Naturally, these projects would involve a breadth of technologies.

How do you find competent code reviewers for all the technologies you are using?

Well, you need the help of a reputed software development company that has experienced code reviewers covering all of those technologies.

At DevTeam.Space, we are uniquely positioned to help you since we have vast experience with all the main technology stacks. Consider this:

• We have significant expertise in developing web applications using Node.js, which is a popular open-source runtime environment. You can judge our expertise by reading “10 great tools for Node.Js software development”.
• If you are building a mobile app, say, a native Android development project, then you will require code reviewers with experience in either Kotlin or Java. DevTeam.Space has excellent capabilities in both, as you can judge by reading “Kotlin vs Java: Which is the best choice?”.
• Are you executing a native iOS development project? You will need competent code reviewers with experience in either Swift or Objective-C. You are well-covered if you work with us since we have lots of experience with both. Read “How to migrate your Objective-C project to Swift?” to judge our capabilities.
• Planning to launch an enterprise blockchain system to take advantage of the security, decentralization, and distributed ledger that blockchain technology offers? You will likely use a reputed enterprise blockchain framework like Hyperledger Fabric. We have significant experience working with Fabric, as you can judge by reading “Pros and cons of Hyperledger Fabric for blockchain networks”.
• Building a “Decentralized App” (DApp)? You will likely develop it using the Ethereum blockchain network, and DevTeam.Space has a significant experience there, too! Read “Blockchain software development using the Ethereum network” to judge our expertise.
• Are you developing an “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) or “Machine Learning” (ML)-powered app? You will likely use Python or Julia, and we have impressive capabilities in both of these languages. Judge our capabilities by reading “Julia VS Python: Can this new programming language unseat the king?”.
• If you are developing an “Augmented Reality” (AR) app, we can help. Read “The ultimate guide to Choosing the right enterprise AR Solution” to judge our capabilities here. On the other hand, if you are developing a VR app, we can help there, too. Assess our VR capabilities by reading “10 great tools for VR Development”.

5. Onboarding code reviewers with application security knowledge are often hard

It’s one thing to find out bugs in code that might prevent your app from delivering on its promises, however, it’s a completely different ball game to find out application securities vulnerabilities. Testing often doesn’t unearth application security risks.

Code review is absolutely important to detect application security vulnerabilities, moreover, automated code review tools can only identify a few such vulnerabilities. You need code reviewers with significant experience in detecting such vulnerabilities.

Finding enough reviewers with such in-depth experience can be hard. We, at DevTeam.Space, are in the best place to help you here.

Read “How to secure your fintech app”, which will help you to judge our capabilities vis-à-vis application security.

We have highly competent code reviewers, and they can identify key application security risks, e.g.:

• Injection;
• Cross-site scripting (XSS);
• XML external entities (XXE);
• Broken authentication;
• Insecure deserialization;
• Sensitive data exposure;
• Security misconfiguration.

The “Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Top 10 application security risks” report is considered an authoritative one. It identifies 10 risks as critical vis-à-vis application security, which includes the above-mentioned risks.

6. Finding code reviewers with in-depth knowledge of IT architecture can be hard

A review of the technical solution for your project should precede the code review, so you should look for competent reviewers early in the process. Even during code reviews, expert reviewers often find sub-optimal architectural decisions.

Expert reviewers might also find sub-optimal coding practices, which don’t align with the software architectural decisions taken during the design phase. These could have adverse impacts on the application, e.g., it may not scale well.

You need code reviewers that know software architecture well. We, at DevTeam.Space, have just the right capabilities that you need. Our expert code reviewers are well-versed with key architecture patterns, e.g.:

• Layered (n-tier) architecture;
• Even-driven architecture;
• Microkernel architecture;
• Microservices architecture;
• Space-based architecture.

You can judge our capabilities in this area by reading our article Large Enterprise Java projects architecture.

7. The challenge of finding code reviewers with experience in reviewing APIs

You will likely develop APIs as part of your software development projects. APIs have become important in the context of modern software development, and most organizations developing apps design and code their APIs.

You ought to have reviews of your APIs, however, you need experienced reviewers for this. Code reviewers need to inspect several aspects of your APIs, e.g.:

• Are the APIs using modern database solutions effectively?
• How secure are the APIs? Are you using all available means to secure them, e.g., digital signatures, encryption, authentication tokens, quotas, throttling, secure gateways, etc.?
• Did you design effective URL paths for your APIs, moreover, have you formulated effective rules for requests and responses?
• Have you documented your APIs adequately?

We, at DevTeam.Space, have experienced reviewers that are well-versed in reviewing APIs. Judge our capabilities by reading How to build RESTful API for your mobile app?

8. Onboarding code reviewers with the right people skills can be hard

As I have already explained, competent code reviewers need the right leadership skills. Code review isn’t just about finding bugs and reporting them, effective reviewers foster collaboration with the developers whose code they review.

DevTeam.Space believes in building empowered code review teams. Towards this, we use the time-tested “Scrum” technique to manage projects and foster the right leadership competencies in our people.

Read How to build a Scrum development team? to judge how seriously we invest in leadership competencies.

Back to Top

Want Code Reviews That Make Your Project Successful? Work With Us!

We have covered why a peer review is so important. You must conduct code reviews effectively and at the end of each sprint or iteration. Both manual reviews and automated reviews are advised.

DevTeam.Space offers a comprehensive and scalable code review service so that we can manage the entire gamut of your code review requirements. We have been performing code reviews on a daily basis for years, both for the applications we are helping to build as well as to help third-party clients, to help identify any issues with their apps.

We are able to scale your code review development teams at a second’s notice, meaning you always have the human resources you need to review code when you need them. This helps ensure that your product doesn’t suffer delays while also ensuring you get the most out of your development budget.

Also, our data-driven processes can help you to streamline your code review work. If you hire us, you won’t need to onboard individual code reviewers or a team of code reviewers and manage their work. We manage your code review work, therefore, you can focus on the other aspects of your project.

Contact us with your project specifications and we will get back to you right away to answer any questions that you might have.

DevTeam.Space is an innovative American software development company with over 99% project success rate. DevTeam.Space builds reliable and scalable custom software applications, mobile apps, websites, live-streaming software applications, speech recognition systems, ChatGPT and AI-powered solutions, and IoT solutions and conducts complex software integrations for various industries, including finance, hospitality, healthcare, music, entertainment, gaming, e-commerce, banking, construction, and education software solutions on time and budget.

DevTeam.Space supports its clients with business analysts and dedicated tech account managers who monitor tech innovations and new developments and help our clients design, architect, and develop applications that will be relevant and easily upgradeable in the years to come.

Back to Top

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Do Code Review

Back to Top

Related Code Review Articles

Learn more about code review from our expert articles:

1. What is Code Review?
2. Best Code Review Strategy
3. Code Review Checklist: Stop Producing Bugs Now!
4. Code Review Checklist – What to Include?
5. Java Code Review Checklist – What to Include?
6. Code Review Process Tool – How to Build One for Your Future Projects?
7. How To Find The Best Code Review Companies?