Pull Requests & Code Reviews: Do They Really Help?

This is basically my blog writing to-do list, disguised as a blog post, but hey, stick around—let’s talk about the problems with code reviews.

I’ve seen syntax errors slip through because interpreted languages don’t compile until the code actually runs (which is a whole separate rant about why I don’t trust them for production).

I’ve watched personal preferences derail common sense, dragging out approvals for no good reason.

Rarely do reviews question the validity of code comments—which is probably why some argue that code should document itself (wow, yet another blog post I need to write).

And let’s be honest: every single one of us has been frustrated waiting for a pull request to get approved. One company "solved" this by enforcing 100% pair programming… effectively doubling costs. But hey, that’s a whole other debate.

To be fair, sometimes code reviews do provide valuable feedback. I’m not saying we should ditch them. But we need to rethink their role and the impact they have on production. Engineering is too expensive to ignore this conversation.

 Drop your thoughts through my contact page.