The Ultimate Code Review Checklist for Engineering Teams
Effective code reviews are crucial for maintaining code quality, sharing knowledge, and preventing bugs from reaching production. This comprehensive checklist ensures your team covers all essential aspects of the code review process.
Pre-Review Preparation
Before submitting code for review, ensure your changes are well-organized, properly tested, and include clear descriptions of what was changed and why. Self-review your code first to catch obvious issues.
Functional Requirements
✓ Code implements the required functionality correctly
✓ All acceptance criteria are met
✓ Edge cases are handled appropriately
✓ Error handling is implemented where needed
✓ Input validation is thorough and secure
Code Quality and Style
✓ Code follows team coding standards and style guides
✓ Variable and function names are descriptive and meaningful
✓ Code is properly formatted and consistent
✓ Comments explain complex logic and business rules
✓ Dead or commented-out code is removed
Architecture and Design
✓ Code follows established architectural patterns
✓ Separation of concerns is maintained
✓ Code is modular and reusable where appropriate
✓ Dependencies are minimal and justified
✓ Design patterns are used correctly
Performance and Efficiency
✓ Code is efficient and doesn't introduce performance regressions
✓ Database queries are optimized
✓ Caching is used appropriately
✓ Memory usage is reasonable
✓ Algorithms are appropriate for the problem size
Security Considerations
✓ No sensitive information is hardcoded
✓ Input sanitization prevents injection attacks
✓ Authentication and authorization are properly implemented
✓ Data is encrypted when necessary
✓ Security best practices are followed
Testing and Documentation
✓ Adequate test coverage for new and modified code
✓ Tests are meaningful and test the right things
✓ Documentation is updated to reflect changes
✓ API documentation is current and accurate
✓ Code comments explain the "why" not just the "what"
Review Process Best Practices
Keep reviews focused and manageable in size, provide constructive feedback, explain the reasoning behind suggestions, and celebrate good code when you see it. Remember that code reviews are learning opportunities for everyone involved.
