What are the most user-friendly code review tools for beginners?

Hi Connections, During every software development cycle, code review is a crucial phase where developers test the source code to identify bugs early on. The code review prevents bugs and errors and improves the quality of the code, helping the team meet its end goals. Top 10 Code review tools can help make the process faster and simpler. 1. Review Board 2. Collaborator 3. CodeScene 4. VisualExpert 5. Rhode code 6. GitHub 7. Veracode 8. Phabricator 9. Reviewable 10. Gerrit

GitHub Copilot, Codacy, DeepCode (now part of Snyk), SonarQube/SonarCloud, ReviewPad, Tabnine. Codacy provides inline code reviews, suggests improvements, and delivers quality metrics directly in the pull request. Snyk gives simple integration with GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket.

Starting with a tool like Visual Studio and Azure DevOps is a great choice for beginners. These platforms are incredibly streamlined for Microsoft development environments, offering both ease of setup and integration.

Alguien por ahi dijo que la mejor herramienta de desarrollo es la que mejor usamos, por eso desde mi experiencia de uso les nombro las siguientes: vscode como IDE que puede integrar muchos utlilitarios que ayuden al versionamiento como ser git y github, Copilot o hugging code que le ayudara con la IA a la generacion de codigo, Docker para la virtualizacion de entornos de trabajos, Anaconda para la creacion de proyectos en entornos virtuales, python como lenguajes script de desarrollo heroku para probar tu codigo en la nube, y otros.

I started with GitHub Pull Requests for code review solution which is great for beginners since it is simple to set up, integrates seamlessly with your working environment and code editors, and provide clear instructions. It have beginner-friendly default settings, so anyone can concentrate on learning code reviewing without any difficulties.

Absolutely, receiving clear and actionable feedback is crucial for beginners to learn and improve their coding skills. A good code review tool should indeed allow experienced developers to annotate code with comments that are easy to understand and address. Highlighting specific lines or blocks of code where improvements can be made can greatly facilitate the learning process, helping beginners understand not just what needs to be changed but also why, thus fostering their growth as developers. Effective communication through clear feedback is key to productive collaboration and skill development within a team.

Code review solutions like GitHub Pull Requests provide learners with understandable and useful input. GitHub enables your seniors or mentors to make clear comments straight on your code, pointing up places that need work and creating a learning environment that encourages developer growth and productive teamwork.

Its easy to fall into the trap of thinking that feedback is only human to human. But the IDE complaining is also feedback. Red/green text, greyed out buttons...these are all feedback devices. I've spent years teaching newbies, and i was self taught myself so I understand well how FRUSTRATING it is when the tool is confusing / overwhelming. For feedback to be received & processed it must be uncluttered by all the other overwhelming cr*p on screens eg: when trying to compare working and non working code, I use diffchecker.com to pull out just the problematic lines of code and show the diff with what the learner wrote. No github, no PR diff view nothing...just the lines of code diffed to spotlight code only. That reduces cognitive load.

Clear comments are fundamental when code reviewing. Considering there are many solution to the same problem, what may seem obvious to you may not be so clear to others. This does not mean comments should be long and tedious, on the contrary, being as concise and direct as possible is often times more valuable. By adding examples, or even showing the suggested change along with an explanation can improve the comment even further.

I recommend the Self-Hosted version of Gitlab, why? Because it's always with you, you're sure your code won't be released, and finally you won't risk client information if you've signed an NDA for your project.

Live Share in Visual Studio is a standout feature for real-time collaboration. It allows you to code together with your peers or mentors in real-time, sharing the same coding environment.

Collaborating in real time can significantly accelerate your learning process. PHPStorm’s “Code With Me” feature is an excellent tool for this purpose, enabling real-time code review and collaboration. This feature allows you to discuss code changes with peers as they happen, offering immediate clarification of doubts and promoting a dynamic exchange of ideas. With "Code With Me," you can engage in pair-programming, where you and a partner can work independently or together on different parts of the code. Additionally, you can use the teacher-student mode to guide multiple participants through your project, enhancing the learning experience.

For beginners, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Visual Studio Code with relevant extensions are user-friendly options. They offer easy setup, clear feedback, real-time collaboration, version control integration, automated checks, and personalized learning features.

For beginners, user-friendly code review tools are essential for understanding version control in software development. GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket offer intuitive web-based interfaces for collaborative code review using Git. These platforms support features like pull requests, inline commenting, and issue tracking, making them suitable for beginners. Review Board and Phabricator are open-source alternatives with similar functionalities, although Phabricator may have a steeper learning curve. Ultimately, choosing the right tool depends on individual preferences and project requirements.

I'm not a fan of getting newbies on to github, bit bucket etc too early. They're already overwhelmed and worried they cant keep up. That's why I isolate the bit that needs to be learned..if its working code vs non working code, then I identify the problematic block and use diffchecker to share an image of the diff with the student. This focuses them EXCLUSIVELY on the code lines that are different. This is much more efficient for learning as it spotlights the code and no brain cycles are expended on the other tools (for now). This reduces cognitive load on learning.

Integrating with version control systems like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket is essential for beginners to grasp the foundations of software development. These tools enabling you to manage code changes effortlessly. Also, we can easily locate effective addons for code editors for version control systems like Git to view and get insights into our code's evolution, understand historical modifications, and improve your capacity to detect and learn from mistakes.

Code review is a learning opportunity both for the creator of the code as well as for the reviewer. It is esencial to incorporate it as soon as possible, and encourage developers to engage, ask questions and start conversations without fear of being wrong. This will contribute not only to the quality of your code but to the strength of your team. Code review is not only a chance to fix mistakes and improve your code but a knowledge sharing experience where junior devs can learn from senior devs or vice versa.

PHPStorm is an excellent code review tool that integrates seamlessly with version control systems like Git. This integration allows you to easily manage and track changes to your code, helping you comprehend the history and evolution of your codebase. By using PHPStorm, you can identify issues and learn from past mistakes more effectively. The user-friendly interface simplifies version control operations, making it easier for beginners to understand and utilize these crucial features. This comprehensive approach ensures a smoother learning curve and a better grasp of software development practices.

When it comes to code review tools, finding the right balance between user-friendliness and robust functionality is crucial, especially for beginners diving into the world of software development. Fortunately, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have paved the way for innovative approaches to streamline and enhance the code review process. Using tools like Github copilot as a AI code reviewer is a great option and can provide valuable insights as well as suggestions and even automated refactoring and corrections.

PHPStorm excels in this area by providing built-in tools for code analysis and error detection. These automated checks help you learn to produce cleaner code by highlighting issues as you write, ensuring that basic problems are addressed early. This not only improves your coding skills but also reduces the time your peers need to spend on reviewing easily detectable issues, making the overall review process more efficient and effective.

Using tools like Codacy and SonarQube can feel like having a personal coding coach. They analyze your coding habits and provide insights and metrics tailored just for you. These tools highlight recurring issues in your code and suggest best practices, helping you learn and improve over time. This personalized feedback ensures that you're getting relevant advice, making it easier to grow as a developer. In my experience, using these personalized learning tools was a game-changer. They didn't just improve coding skills; they will help to understand the why behind coding standards.

1. Pull Request Reviews (GitHub, GitLab): - Purpose: Receive feedback from senior developers. - Benefit: Learn best practices and improve coding skills. 2. Pair Programming (VS Code Live Share, JetBrains Code With Me): - Purpose: Real-time collaboration with senior developers. - Benefit: Immediate feedback and hands-on learning. 3. AI-Powered Reviews (GitHub Copilot, JetBrains AI, ChatGPT): - Purpose: Pre-submit code review and suggestions. - Benefit: Early error detection and efficiency. Strategy: - Start with pair programming for guidance. - Use AI tools for initial reviews. - Submit PRs for senior developer feedback. Submit Combining these methods ensures proactive learning and high-quality code.

Some of the most beginner-friendly code review tools are as follows: 1. GitHub Pull Requests: GitHub’s pull request system is integrated directly into its platform, making it easy to use if you're already using GitHub for version control. It offers inline comments, code highlighting, and integration with CI/CD pipelines. 2. Bitbucket Pull Requests: Bitbucket offers robust pull request features including inline comments, task lists, and branch permissions. It also integrates well with JIRA for project management. 3. Crucible: Atlassian Crucible offers detailed code review capabilities with threaded comments, inline discussions, and integration with other Atlassian products like JIRA and Bitbucket.

Here is two points to consider: 1. Automatic checks- Danger file setup or copilot or anything that going to help initial code review and, 2. Versions control system helps developers to segregate new changes and review by keeping on top of business needs.

For beginners, GitHub Pull Requests, GitLab Merge Requests, and Bitbucket Pull Requests are particularly recommended due to their seamless integration with popular Git hosting services and straightforward interfaces. These tools are widely used and have extensive documentation and community support, making them excellent choices for those new to code review.

Lean into unit tests. The most influential tool I’ve used that makes me a better programmer, is unit tests. Aim for 100% coverage too. Another approach is to try test first. Some of the hardest things to do is to write “testable” code.