Automated code review tools are powerful tools that can help you quickly and effectively assess the quality of your codebase. Whether you are a web application developer looking to improve your development process or a seasoned programmer looking to optimize your existing workflow, these tools can be immensely useful.

With features like automatic scanning of code for potential errors and issues, code complexity analysis, and flexible reporting capabilities, automated code review tools are a must-have for any modern developer. So if you’re looking to improve the quality and efficiency of your development work, be sure to check out the wide range of automated code review tools available today.

What is code review?

Code review, also known as peer review, is the process of examining source code for potential errors or issues. This typically involves reviewing individual lines of code, commenting on coding style and best practices, and evaluating how well different parts of the code work together.

While many developers conduct manual code reviews as part of their regular development workflow, automated code review tools can help make this process more efficient and effective. With features like automatic scanning of code for potential errors and issues, code complexity analysis, and flexible reporting capabilities, these tools can help you quickly identify problems in your codebase, improving the overall quality and reliability of your software.

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Why Is Code Review Important?

There are many benefits to conducting code reviews, including the following: 

  • Finding bugs early: One of the main benefits of code review is that it helps to identify bugs and other issues early in the development process. Since these problems can be spotted and addressed before your software goes into production, you can significantly reduce the risk of releasing faulty code that could negatively impact your users or customers.
  • Higher software security: By identifying and addressing potential code issues early on, automated code review tools can help you maintain higher software security over time. Rather than letting these problems linger and potentially lead to more serious issues down the line, automated review tools can help you identify and fix coding errors as soon as they arise, keeping your codebase clean and reliable at all times.  Whether you’re a developer looking to optimize your existing workflow or a team looking to ensure the highest quality of your software, automated code review tools are invaluable for any modern development project.
  • Teaching and sharing knowledge: The other primary benefits of code review is that it can help to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration within a development team. By reviewing one another’s code, developers can learn new techniques, gain valuable insights into best practices, and get helpful feedback on their own work. In addition, by identifying and addressing issues in the codebase early on, developers can prevent these problems from impacting their work further down the line.
  • Coding standards compliance: In addition to teaching and sharing knowledge, code review can also help ensure that your code adheres to established coding standards and best practices. This can be especially important for teams developing software that must meet specific regulatory or compliance requirements. By regularly assessing your codebase’s quality and reliability, automated code review tools can help you stay on track and ensure that your code always meets the highest standards.
  • Confidence of stakeholders in the software: Another key benefit of automated code review tools is that they can help to instill confidence in your stakeholders. By ensuring that your code is clean, reliable, and well-tested, these tools can help demonstrate to both internal and external stakeholders that you take software quality seriously.  This can be especially important for teams working on critical applications or software that is used by the public, as automated review tools can help you build trust and reassure your stakeholders that their software will always perform as expected. Whether you’re looking to improve your development workflow or simply ensure that your code meets the highest standards, automated code review tools are valuable tools for any modern developer.
  • Team cohesion and collaboration: In addition to helping instill confidence in your stakeholders, automated code review tools can also help promote team cohesion and collaboration. By providing developers with valuable feedback on their work and allowing them to learn from one another’s insights and experience, these tools can help build stronger connections within your development team, improving both productivity and morale over time.
  • Consistent design and implementation: Finally, automated code review tools can help ensure that your code is consistently designed and implemented across the entire team. By providing developers with a central resource for determining best practices and common solutions to coding issues, these tools can help ensure that all members of your team are working from a shared understanding of how to write clean, reliable code. Whether you’re looking to improve your development workflow or simply ensure that your team is on the same page, automated code review tools are a great tool for any modern software project.

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4 Ways to Perform a Code Review?

There is no single “right” way to perform a code review, as the process will often vary depending on your team’s preferences and style. However, there are four ways to perform a code review that you can consider:

1. Tool-Assisted Code Review Process

One common approach to the code review is to use automated code review tools, which can help you quickly and effectively scan your code for potential issues. This often involves using specialized software that performs automatic scans of your code for errors, compares it against industry standards and best practices, and generates detailed reports on its quality and reliability.

While some developers may be hesitant to rely solely on automated tools for code review, these tools can be a great way to supplement your existing manual reviews. Additionally, many of the best-automated code review tools come with features like customizable rules and thresholds, so you can easily tailor them to meet your team’s specific needs.

2. Over-the-Shoulder Code Review Process

Another approach to the code review is to have another developer perform an “over-the-shoulder” review of your code. This involves asking someone else on your team to look at and comment on a specific section of your codebase, usually focusing on areas that may be more prone to errors or issues, such as complex functions and interconnected parts of the codebase.

As with other types of code review, over-the-shoulder reviews can help you uncover potential issues in your code and provide feedback on your development style. However, it is important to remember that, as with any form of peer review, the results of an over-the-shoulder review will depend heavily on the reviewer’s knowledge and experience.

3. Pair Programming

Pair programming is another common approach to code review and involves collaborating with a colleague on a specific section of your codebase. Typically, one developer will work on writing the actual code, while their partner will act as a “second pair of eyes” and provide feedback on the implementation and overall quality of the code.

4. Email Pass-Around Code Review Process

Finally, some teams may choose to perform email pass-around code reviews, in which developers simply forward their code to a colleague and ask for feedback. While this approach can be quick and easy, it often lacks the structure and detail of other forms of code review, making it less effective at uncovering potential issues.

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Best Code Review Tools

1. Review Board

Review Board is one of the most popular and widely-used automated code review tools available today. With a comprehensive set of features that includes issue tracking, diff viewing, and inline commenting, Review Board makes it easy to find and fix issues in your codebase quickly and efficiently. Additionally, its intuitive user interface makes it simple for developers of all skill levels to use, making it an ideal choice for teams of all sizes.

Offering extensive analysis and reporting capabilities, Review Board makes it easy to identify bugs, security issues, and other potential problems in your codebase. Its user-friendly interface and powerful filtering options also make it a great choice for developers at all skill levels.

If you’re looking for a powerful and reliable automated code review tool, look no further than Review Board. With its advanced features and intuitive interface, it is sure to help you take your development work to the next level. Give it a try today.

2. GitHub

Another popular choice among web application developers is GitHub, a powerful and widely-used code hosting platform. With features like project management tools, issue tracking, and collaboration capabilities, GitHub makes it easy to manage your codebase and work effectively with your team. Additionally, its built-in code review functionality makes it an ideal choice for teams that want to ensure the quality and consistency of their code.

So if you’re looking for a powerful and user-friendly automated code review tool, be sure to check out GitHub. With its advanced features and intuitive interface, it is sure to help you take your development work to the next level. Give it a try today. 

3. Collaborator

Looking for a comprehensive automated code review tool that can help you streamline your development work and improve the quality of your code? Collaborator is an excellent option. With its advanced code review capabilities, flexible customization options, and intuitive user interface, Collaborator makes it easy to find issues in your codebase and quickly resolve them. Featuring advanced collaboration features like real-time feedback, automated analysis of all project files in the cloud, and customizable notifications, Collaborator is an ideal choice for any developer looking to get more out of their development process.

4. Phabricator

Another popular automated code review tool is Phabricator, an open-source platform designed to help developers easily find and fix bugs in their code. With its advanced diff viewing capabilities, flexible configurations, and intuitive interface, Phabricator makes it easy to identify issues in your codebase and optimize your development workflow. 

And thanks to its intuitive interface and support for all programming languages, it can be easily used by developers of all skill levels. So if you’re looking for an efficient and effective way to improve the quality of your code, don’t hesitate to check out Phabricator today.

5. Crucible

Crucible is among the most popular and highly-regarded automated code review tools that can help you find and resolve issues in your codebase quickly and easily. With its advanced features like inline commenting, flexible workflow customization options, and intuitive user interface, Crucible makes it easy to streamline your development work and ensure the quality of your code. 

Besides, this powerful tool offers a wide range of features, including real-time scanning for potential errors and issues, advanced reporting capabilities, flexible team collaboration functions, and much more. Whether you are a small startup or an established enterprise, Crucible is a highly recommended tool for anyone looking to streamline their development process and improve the quality of their code.

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6. Visual Expert

For a comprehensive and advanced automated code review tool, look no further than Visual Expert. With its intuitive interface, flexible customization options, and powerful code analysis capabilities, Visual Expert makes it easy to find issues in your codebase and resolve them quickly and efficiently. It also supports all major programming languages and frameworks.

7. Rhodecode

One of the most popular and well-regarded automated code review tools on the market today is Rhodecode. With powerful features like automatic dependency analysis, real-time notifications, and flexible access controls, Rhodecode makes it easy to keep your codebase clean and efficient. Whether you’re working on a small personal project or a large enterprise application, Rhodecode is the perfect tool for automated code review.

8. Gerrit

The other popular automated code review tool on the market today is Gerrit Code Review. With its advanced scanning capabilities, intuitive user interface, and flexible configuration options, Gerrit makes it easy to identify and address potential issues in your codebase quickly. Additionally, Gerrit also offers reporting features that give you a comprehensive overview of your codebase, helping you identify areas for improvement and track the progress of your development work over time.

If you’re looking for an efficient, powerful automated code review tool, look no further than Gerrit Code Review. With its advanced features and easy-to-use interface, Gerrit is a must-have for any web application developer looking to take their development work to the next level.

9. Veracode

While there are many automated code review tools on the market, Veracode remains one of the most popular and well-regarded options. With its advanced scanning capabilities, intuitive user interface, and flexible configuration options, Veracode easily identifies and quickly addresses potential issues in your codebase. Additionally, Veracode also offers reporting features that give you a comprehensive overview of your codebase, helping you identify areas for improvement and track the progress of your development work over time.

10. CodeScene

Looking for an alternative to Veracode that offers advanced features and capabilities? CodeScene is another popular automated code review tool that is quickly gaining traction among developers. With its automatic dependency analysis, real-time notifications, and flexible access controls, CodeScene makes it easy to keep your codebase clean and efficient. Whether you’re working on a small personal project or a large enterprise application, CodeScene is the perfect tool for automated code review.

11. gitStream

Check out gitStream, an automated code review tool that offers all the features you need to take your development work to the next level. With advanced scanning capabilities, real-time notifications, intuitive access controls, and a wide range of other useful features, gitStream is the perfect tool for developers looking to improve the quality, efficiency, and security of their codebase. 

12. WorkerB + LinearB

If you’re looking for an efficient, powerful, automated code review tool that can keep up with the demands of modern web application development, look no further than WorkerB and Linear B. With their powerful combination of advanced scanning capabilities and intuitive user interfaces, WorkerB and Linear B are the perfect choices for developers looking to optimize their existing workflows and achieve greater code quality and performance.

13. Reviewable

Reviewable is among the most reliable automated code review tools on the market today. This powerful tool offers a wide range of features and functionality, including automatic scanning of code for potential errors and issues, code complexity analysis, customizable reporting options, collaboration capabilities, and more.

Final Thoughts

Overall, code review is an essential part of any successful web application development process. Whether you are a seasoned developer or just starting out in the field, automated code review tools can help you achieve better results while saving time and resources. So if you’re looking to improve your coding skills and create better software more quickly and effectively, be sure to check out the many automated code review tools available today.

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Resources

  1. Free Cybersecurity Services and Tools
  2. Security considerations when coding in the open

Author

Dennis M
Dennis M

Hi, I'm Dennis, a software developer and blogger who specializes in programming languages and compilers. My blog posts focus on software development and programming topics like HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript frameworks like AngularJS and ReactJS as well as PHP-based applications. Check and join my group to ensure that you do not miss any of my informative articles on this field: https://www.facebook.com/groups/softwaredevelopmentinsights

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