A developer who immediately approves PRs is a liability
A developer who immediately approves PRs is a liability. Why? Because they eliminate an opportunity for a *real* review.
A fake reviewer glances at the PR and quickly approves.
A real reviewer reads/runs the code, asks questions, considers alternatives, and makes suggestions.
Many replies boil down to “ain’t got time for that”
I frequently work with clients who want to improve their team’s velocity.
The common thread? The teams are doing few meaningful code reviews.
Glossing over reviews doesn’t save time. It steals time from tomorrow.
The other common reply: “nitpick reviews waste time and block work”
Agreed.
Code reviews require a balance.
Don’t rubber stamp.
Don’t be overly critical.
Find a balance in between these extremes.
Other tips for healthy code reviews:
Pair if you can.
Use a definition of done to focus your review.
Open tickets for follow up so you can merge today and improve later.
Automate every check that can be automated. Then your review can focus mostly on logic, not style.
One more thing: Many people seem to believe we should just "trust" our fellow developers.
Hogwash.
What industry simply trusts people to not make mistakes? What industry assumes that if two people are working together, they're faultless?
Bridges need inspected. So does code.
Oh, and *no one* on the team should be blindly trusted - even the most senior developers.
Don't let ego get in the way.
Everyone's code should be reviewed.
Everyone has room to improve.