How code review works (and doesn't) in the real world
summary
Empirical results show that file order in code review changes what gets inspected and what bugs get found. By instrumenting a code review tool and by analyzing 200k pull requests on GitHub reviewers start with the first file in over 50 percent of reviews and follow the list in about 40 percent of navigations. Controlled experiments with an online review setup find a 250% more likely detection of a test bug when tests are shown first and a 175% higher find rate for a corner case presented first.
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