CS 190: Software Design Studio (Spring 2015)

Code Review 3

The goal for this round of reviews is to discuss how easy or hard it was to add new features to an existing code base, and what architectural changes you made to implement the new features. In each session we will review three projects that added the same new features to the same code base, so we can compare different approaches. Each session will focus on one of the two new features, with the project developers presenting their changes and a few other students offering their perspectives.

Presenters

You should spend about 10-15 minutes on the following topics:

• How easy was it for you to understand and modify the code base you were given? Trying to enhance someone else's code gives you a different perspective than simply reading the code, as you have done in the past. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the code base that you discovered during the project.
• Describe the architectural changes you made to implement the particular feature that is the topic for this session (deleting tweets or user quotas). What are the advantages and disadvantages of your approach?
• If you did any refactoring not directly related to the two new features, describe those changes, and why you made them.
• Which of the two new features was easier to implement, and why?

As in the past, try to organize your presentation so that it will be understandable even to students who have not read your code.

When you set up for your presentation, make sure you have your code accessible in case reviewers want to refer to it.

Reviewers

Read over the relevant code before class using the issue on cs190codereview.appspot.com. First look at the refactoring file in order to learn about the major changes. Then read the relevant code and compare the versions from Project 2 and Project 3. You can focus your reading on the particular new feature that is the topic for this session (see table below). Note: some files from Project 2 may not be present in the code review, if they were not modified for Project 3. If you need to look at those files, you should be able to find them in the corresponding Project 2 code review. Come to class prepared to address the following issues:

• How cleanly was the particular feature added to the code base? Did the addition of the feature make the code base more complicated or less complicated? Does the result look like it was designed that way from the start?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the architecture changes made for this project?
• In your review, focus on the changes made in this project, as opposed to a critique of the original code base.

Your comments will be most useful if they are specific (e.g., with examples from the implementation?). Try to formulate your review so that it can be appreciated even by students who have not read the code. The presenters will have the actual code available, so feel free to ask them to display particular sections of code that illustrate your points.

Create an online code review with your key comments. The code review need not be extensive, but it should highlight your most important points. As in the past, wait to publish your code review until after the in-class discussion.

Schedule

Bring your laptop to class for the code reviews, so that you can browse the code online while we are discussing it.