Peer reviews

Code reviews are a part of the data structures project. The code reviews are worth 2 points each.

The intention of the code reviewing is to teach code reading comprehension and understnding of project structures. Sadly, code written by other people is not often read on courses, even tho good reading comprehension is an essential skill for a developer. A well conducted code review is a excellent way to find problems in programs and to fix issues as early as possible.

Guide

After the code reviews are started, you will find the project assigned to you from labtool. Your assignment is to read through the project assigned to you and give constructive feedback. You should also try to execute the program. If the project is empty or in a programming language you are unable to comprehend, you should contact the course assistant.

  • Clone the project or download the zip archive of the repository
  • Make note of the time and date when the project was downloaded
  • Extract the archive is you downloaded the zip
  • Read the topic definition
  • Familiarize yourself with the code and test as much as possible
  • Also try to run the tests in netbeans
  • Try to understand what each class and method does
  • Be persistant: Some things may be difficult or infeasible to understand, and this is fine!
  • When you are have done all ff the above, it is time to create the feedback. You do not need to provide feedback on the documentation or the visual appareance of the program

Feedback

In your feedback you should tell the other student about the things you found that could be improved. Try to be as specific as possible. Detailed feedback is more valuable to the receiver. If you can, you may give hints as to what could be done differently or how the structure of the project could be improved. If you find clear bugs or errenous coude, you should report it. Also report if the tests don’t work or the project doesn’t compile. The idea is not to make small general observations like the labtool feedbacks, but to be as thorough and detailed as possible. Also remember positive feedback!

Feedback as a Github issue:

  • Browse to the repository you are reviewing
  • Select the “Issues” tab
  • Press “New Issue”
  • Set the topic to “Code review”
  • Enter your comments in the text box. On the preview tab you can see how your review will be displayed to the recipient
  • There is a link to a guide on markdown text formatting below the text box
  • You can also embed images in the feedback
  • Copy yout feedback to your own computer for safe keeping
  • Add the time and date when you downloaded the project to the start of the feedbackprojektin
  • Submit a new issue by pressing “Submit new issue”
  • The feedback will be public so anyone with internet can read it
  • Add the direct link to your issue to labtool
  • The course assistant will read adn grade the feedback as soon as possible after the deadline

Each review is worth 0-2 points. At least 4 high quality pieces of constructive feedback typically yield 2 points. The feedback format is free but try to be as clear as possible. Split your feedback into different sections based on classes or topics. If you write you feedback as bullet points, try to write fill sentences and preferably several sentences. Don’t attack people in your feedback! Also don’t let received feedback get to you. At the time of the feedbacks the projects are still works in progress and changing. The reviewer may also have misunderstood your code/project ro may be giving faulty advice.

N.B. The project you are reviewing may have changed while you were working on the feedback. This is why the time and date is included in the feedback. On this course you do not need to pay attention to changes during making the feedback, and you are not required to check if simething you mention in the feedback has changed during writing. Some of the feedback may be out of date when it is submitted.