[Python-Dev] We should be using a tool for code reviews (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido at python.org
Wed Sep 29 20:32:19 CEST 2010

I would like to recommend that the Python core developers start using a code review tool such as Rietveld or Reviewboard. I don't really care which tool we use (I'm sure there are plenty of pros and cons to each) but I do think we should get out of the stone age and start using a tool for the majority of our code reviews.

While I would personally love to see Rietveld declared the official core Python code review tool, I realize that since I wrote as a Google engineer and it is running on Google infrastructure (App Engine), I can't be fully objective about the tool choice -- even though it is open source, has several non-Googler maintainers, and can be run outside App Engine as well.

But I do think that using a specialized code review tool rather than unstructured email plus a general-purpose issue tracker can hugely improve developer performance and also increase community participation. (A code review tool makes it much more convenient for a senior reviewer to impart their wisdom to a junior developer without appearing judgmental or overbearing.)

See also this buzz thread: http://www.google.com/buzz/115212051037621986145/At6Rj82Kret/When-will-the-Python-dev-community-start-using

-- --Guido van Rossum (python.org/~guido)

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