Chapter 6
Mechanical Gates Over Advisory Review
The question “is this code good?” has no defined answer. This is a property of the question, not a limitation of the person being asked. “Good” is not a measurable attribute of code in the way that “compiles” is, or “passes the test suite” is, or “handles the specified error conditions” is. It is a composite judgment that reflects the evaluator’s model of quality, shaped by their training, their aesthetic sensibilities, their risk tolerance, and their position within the system. Two competent reviewers examining the same artifact will assess it against two different implicit models, and their assessments will diverge in proportion to how far those models differ. The divergence is not a sign of ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access