Why reviewing your own PRs is good Jul 17
We’ve all been there - you’ve written what you think is perfect code, only to have your co-workers point out a glaring mistake. It’s not a great feeling, but it’s part of the job. However, there’s a way to minimize these instances and make the development process smoother for everyone involved: reviewing your own pull requests.
I’ve found that when I review my own PRs in the GitHub UI, I approach the code with a fresh perspective. Issues that I missed while writing the code suddenly become obvious. It’s like a new set of eyes on my work, and it’s saved me from many embarrassing mistakes.
My process is simple: I open a new PR as a draft with no reviewers selected. I then go over the diff and make any necessary changes. Once I’m satisfied, I mark the PR as ready and assign reviewers. This takes a little more time, but it’s worth it for the improved signal-to-noise ratio and the more pleasant review experience for my team.
In the main body of the pull request, I provide a high-level overview of the changes I’m making. If I’m adding new dependencies, I explain why they’re necessary and any alternatives I’ve considered. I generally aim to limit the number of dependencies, so a new one must be justified.
I also use this opportunity to add inline comments about my design choices and the alternatives I considered. This helps my reviewers understand my thought process and makes the review process more efficient.
The other advantage is that these comments create their own thread on the code review UI. If there’s any discussion or controversy, it’s all contained in one place. This makes it easier to follow the discussion and avoids fragmented threads scattered throughout the PR’s activity log. It even works great if developers use the Github plugin for VS Code.
So, reviewing your own pull requests is a simple yet powerful way to catch mistakes before your co-workers do. It’s not just about avoiding embarrassment - it’s about making the development process smoother and more efficient for everyone involved. So next time you’re about to hit that “Create PR” button, take a moment to review your own work. Your co-workers will thank you, and you’ll thank yourself.