Comment by DanHulton
5 hours ago
I’ve caught bugs in code reviews before, but I would agree that it’s probably not the most crucial thing you should strive to do with code reviews.
That said, I think I’ve done a tremendous amount of PREVENTING bugs from being introduced via code review. Caught all kinds of weird code patterns, duplication, wrong levels of abstraction, etc. Essentially, the kinds of places that bugs like to hide and grow in.
I still think that’s valuable, and it’s the kind of thing that models generally aren’t great at, to this day. It generally relies on having a large amount of context about the project and about what’s being solved, so if you wanted to do this via automated review, you maybe COULD, but it would probably get pretty expensive, especially on larger projects.
At another level, code reviews also give you the time to really think about what is being built and why. I've often come across looming architectural or strategic failures simply by having to stare at a bunch of code and wonder why it works a certain way. Same goes for writing the code by hand too, though it's harder to see past your own biases and ideas sometimes. I find code reviews deeply valuable for myself and my team.
> Essentially, the kinds of places that bugs like to hide and grow in.
I like an ecological-framing, especially as systems get more complex.
Yes, I could hunt cockroaches all day, but it would be even better to have caught how the new wall was missing a metal screen over a low ventilation opening.