Efficient code reviews are a critical skill for...

Efficient code reviews are a critical skill for a software engineer. Reading a lot of code is the best way to learn about various parts of one or more systems. While reading and reviewing are two different things, they are connected: you must first read to review!" "" "Reading code isn't a linear exercise like reading a book. Code is reentrant, has loops, function calls, library calls, etc. To effectively read code, you must scan through to find the key logical details and start reading from the beginning of execution, continuing in the execution order. This will mean scanning a few times and potentially looking up reference documents to understand specific details. " "" "Volume does not necessarily indicate mastery, but mastery requires volume. To get good at reading code, you will inevitably need to read a lot of code, but you must constantly be looking to improve how you read code to reach mastery. Improvement happens through remembering patterns and styles that help you understand a piece of code faster and having a store of knowledge about various libraries and function calls in the back of your mind. " "" "Since doing code reviews is a great way to read a lot of code, do a lot of code reviews! #bendevtip

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Original post on LinkedIn