Or just criticize and take criticism like its part of the job. Being perfect in it has huge costs.
Semantic Code Reviews – Simple and direct comments without drama
11–20 of 49 posts
Re: Semantic Code Reviews – Simple and direct comments without drama
#12Nice post. However, imho with a good enough writing style it should be possible to convey the purpose of the text without an explicit label.
The label takes a fraction of a second to type, and saves the reader(s) many seconds spent inferring what purpose the writer had.
The label makes it easy to find comments still in need of replies, and for automated security to prevent merging items with outstanding crucial comments.
The label opens the possibility of automated reporting and/or review of reviews.
Re: Semantic Code Reviews – Simple and direct comments without drama
#13Nice post. However, imho with a good enough writing style it should be possible to convey the purpose of the text without an explicit label.
This "good enough writing style" must also be able to cross cultural borders - I dare to say even journalists don't get it right most of the time: * I've heard Kiwis say "F*ck you?" in lieu of "Seriously?" * A Brit who says "That is an interesting solution!" usually does not feel intellectually stimulated by the solution but is conveying that it is utter garbage. Thus, I very much like the proposed idea of well-defin…
Where I come from (western US) that would be "f*ck me?" I think "interesting" has become the universal anodyne term for dismissal.
Re: Semantic Code Reviews – Simple and direct comments without drama
#14Nice post. However, imho with a good enough writing style it should be possible to convey the purpose of the text without an explicit label.
Unfortunately, it’s extremely common for less senior people to interpret suggestions from more senior people as instructions to be followed even if they aren’t worded as such. Having a consistent, explicit, and unambiguous way of distinguishing between these scenarios that everybody on the team can follow easily is valuable. You can’t rely upon all developers to be good writers or even good readers, especially across language barriers.
Re: Semantic Code Reviews – Simple and direct comments without drama
#15There's another fundamental problem we often don't talk about. It takes years for developers to learn how to accept feedback and even longer to know when to reject it.
Comparing this with designers, they go through rounds of feedback constantly in college. They come out as feedback/revision machines.
Re: Semantic Code Reviews – Simple and direct comments without drama
#16I've been a big fan of this approach for years (introduced to me by Conventional Comments [1]) - even though it may not always be necessary, it's a low-effort way to make sure you're not misunderstood. [1] https://conventionalcomments.org/
Thank you for sharing. The example, where the same sentence is presented with different labels, effectively illustrates the essence of the idea.
Re: Semantic Code Reviews – Simple and direct comments without drama
#17The question label is interesting, since I often ask questions in code review. However, the answer is only sometimes relevant in terms of just learning something. Someone else reading the code having a question is a signal that the code may not be as obvious as it should be and therefore should be changed (if only by replying to the question in the form of an added comment).
Of course sometimes the reviewer is just dumb/tired/distracted and a simple explanation is all that's needed....
Re: Semantic Code Reviews – Simple and direct comments without drama
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
This "good enough writing style" must also be able to cross cultural borders - I dare to say even journalists don't get it right most of the time: * I've heard Kiwis say "F*ck you?" in lieu of "Seriously?" * A Brit who says "That is an interesting solution!" usually does not feel intellectually stimulated by the solution but is conveying that it is utter garbage. Thus, I very much like the proposed idea of well-defin…
Where I come from (western US) that would be "f*ck me?" I think "interesting" has become the universal anodyne term for dismissal.
That's modern social media and even then partly.
If in work setting your coworkers (god forbid teamleads or managers) interact like that just run, don't try to solve it with conventional reviews or something. Believe me you will not finish blinking before they start misusing this too to cope with their repressed anger through mockery/shallow sarcasm. "nitpick: have you considered escaping user input?"
Re: Semantic Code Reviews – Simple and direct comments without drama
#19Respectful agreement: I can see how this would work well to encourage the encoding of correct tone in comments, which typically lack the ability to convey that information.
Whimsical analogy: The Elcor in Mass Effect adopted a similar approach to manage communicating with other races who lacked their ability to communicate nuance through scent and microgestures.
> Elcor speech is heard by most species as a flat, ponderous monotone. Among themselves, scent, extremely slight body movements, and subvocalized infrasound convey shades of meaning that make a human smile seem as subtle as a fireworks display. Since their subtlety can lead to misunderstandings with other species, the elcor prefix all their dialog with non-elcor with an emotive statement to clarify their tone.
Re: Semantic Code Reviews – Simple and direct comments without drama
#20Nice post. However, imho with a good enough writing style it should be possible to convey the purpose of the text without an explicit label.
Unfortunately, it’s extremely common for less senior people to interpret suggestions from more senior people as instructions to be followed even if they aren’t worded as such. Having a consistent, explicit, and unambiguous way of distinguishing between these scenarios that everybody on the team can follow easily is valuable. You can’t rely upon all developers to be good writers or even good readers, especially across…
Eh, suggestions from more senior people are in practice instructions. The risk in ignoring them is that something comes back to bite you and you look like an idiot for not following the suggestion of the senior.