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Effective Code Reviews with Conventional Comments • Paul Slaughter & Adrienne Braganza
Manage episode 504625108 series 2896766
This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted.
https://gotopia.tech
Read the full transcription of this interview here
Paul Slaughter - Staff Fullstack Engineer at GitLab & Creator of Conventional Comments
Adrienne Braganza Tacke - Senior Developer Advocate at Viam Robotics & Author of "Looks Good To Me: Constructive Code Reviews"
RESOURCES
Paul
https://x.com/souldzin
https://github.com/souldzin
https://gitlab.com/pslaughter
https://gitlab.com/souldzin
https://souldzin.com
Adrienne
https://bsky.app/profile/abt.bsky.social
https://x.com/AdrienneTacke
https://github.com/AdrienneTacke
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriennetacke
https://www.instagram.com/adriennetacke
https://www.adrienne.io
https://blog.adrienne.io
Links
https://conventionalcomments.org
DESCRIPTION
Can "Conventional Comments" transform code reviews from frustrating experiences into productive collaborations?
Paul Slaughter shares his experience developing and practicing "Conventional Comments", a structured approach to improving code review communications through labeled feedback. The conversation explores clear communication patterns with labels (e.g. 'suggestion:', 'issue:' or 'question:').
Paul and Adrienne discuss the importance of empathy in the review process, the balance between politeness and efficiency, and how GitLab's Code Review Weekly Workshops have helped normalize review experiences across their remote teams. The interview highlights that effective code reviews depend not just on technical evaluations but on thoughtful communication that acknowledges developers' emotional investment in their work while fostering a culture of collaborative ownership.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Adrienne Braganza Tacke • "Looks Good to Me": Constructive Code Reviews
Adrienne Braganza Tacke • Coding for Kids
Grace Huang • Code Reviews in Tech
Martin Fowler • Refactoring
Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais • Team Topologies
Dave Thomas & Andy Hunt • The Pragmatic Programmer
Bluesky
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facebook
CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS
Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join
Looking for a unique learning experience?
Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!
Chapters
1. Intro (00:00:00)
2. Conventional Comments: Origins & structure (00:02:02)
3. The most common labels & their uses (00:09:32)
4. Navigating disagreements in code reviews (00:13:41)
5. Code review culture & communication (00:18:11)
6. Code review weekly workshops & team learning (00:27:26)
7. Outro (00:36:12)
242 episodes
Manage episode 504625108 series 2896766
This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted.
https://gotopia.tech
Read the full transcription of this interview here
Paul Slaughter - Staff Fullstack Engineer at GitLab & Creator of Conventional Comments
Adrienne Braganza Tacke - Senior Developer Advocate at Viam Robotics & Author of "Looks Good To Me: Constructive Code Reviews"
RESOURCES
Paul
https://x.com/souldzin
https://github.com/souldzin
https://gitlab.com/pslaughter
https://gitlab.com/souldzin
https://souldzin.com
Adrienne
https://bsky.app/profile/abt.bsky.social
https://x.com/AdrienneTacke
https://github.com/AdrienneTacke
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriennetacke
https://www.instagram.com/adriennetacke
https://www.adrienne.io
https://blog.adrienne.io
Links
https://conventionalcomments.org
DESCRIPTION
Can "Conventional Comments" transform code reviews from frustrating experiences into productive collaborations?
Paul Slaughter shares his experience developing and practicing "Conventional Comments", a structured approach to improving code review communications through labeled feedback. The conversation explores clear communication patterns with labels (e.g. 'suggestion:', 'issue:' or 'question:').
Paul and Adrienne discuss the importance of empathy in the review process, the balance between politeness and efficiency, and how GitLab's Code Review Weekly Workshops have helped normalize review experiences across their remote teams. The interview highlights that effective code reviews depend not just on technical evaluations but on thoughtful communication that acknowledges developers' emotional investment in their work while fostering a culture of collaborative ownership.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Adrienne Braganza Tacke • "Looks Good to Me": Constructive Code Reviews
Adrienne Braganza Tacke • Coding for Kids
Grace Huang • Code Reviews in Tech
Martin Fowler • Refactoring
Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais • Team Topologies
Dave Thomas & Andy Hunt • The Pragmatic Programmer
Bluesky
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facebook
CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS
Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join
Looking for a unique learning experience?
Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket: gotopia.tech
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL - new videos posted daily!
Chapters
1. Intro (00:00:00)
2. Conventional Comments: Origins & structure (00:02:02)
3. The most common labels & their uses (00:09:32)
4. Navigating disagreements in code reviews (00:13:41)
5. Code review culture & communication (00:18:11)
6. Code review weekly workshops & team learning (00:27:26)
7. Outro (00:36:12)
242 episodes
All episodes
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