Your team needs to review code. What software design tools will make it a breeze?

Code review is a crucial part of software development, where you and your team check each other's work for quality, functionality, and readability. But code review can also be a tedious and time-consuming process, especially if you have to deal with complex, large, or unfamiliar code bases. How can you make code review a breeze and boost your team's productivity and collaboration? Here are some software design tools that can help you.

1 Design patterns

Design patterns are reusable solutions to common problems in software design. They provide a common language and structure for your code, making it easier to understand, maintain, and modify. By following design patterns, you can ensure that your code follows best practices, avoids common pitfalls, and meets the requirements of your project. Some examples of design patterns are Singleton, Factory, Observer, and Strategy. You can use design pattern libraries or frameworks to implement them in your code, such as Gang of Four, Head First Design Patterns, or Refactoring Guru.

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Raafat Abaid

Lead DevOps Engineer | Technical Product Manager @ IBM | Technical Expertise
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For streamlined code reviews, tools like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket offer robust features. IDE integrations like VS Code or IntelliJ IDEA streamline the process. Code analysis tools such as SonarQube or ESLint ensure adherence to standards. Collaborative platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams facilitate communication. Additionally, using code review checklists enhances thoroughness and efficiency.

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2 Code formatting tools

Code formatting tools are software applications that automatically format your code according to a set of rules or standards. They help you keep your code consistent, readable, and compliant with your team's coding style. Code formatting tools can also detect and fix syntax errors, indentation issues, and code smells. Some examples of code formatting tools are Prettier, ESLint, Black, and StyleCop. You can use code formatting tools as standalone applications, plugins, or extensions for your code editor or IDE.

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Andrii Yefymenko

Software Engineer
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You may want to use some tools in your development environments to perform and check formatting for you. Here's a simple list of popular software design tools for code review and formatting: 1. Prettier 2. ESLint 3. JSHint 4. Stylelint 5. SonarQube 6. Review Board 7. Crucible 8. ReSharper Remember to check with your team about the preferred or commonly used tools to ensure smoother collaboration.

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Dhanik Sahni

Salesforce Architect & Founder | Driving Business Transformation through Innovative Cloud Solutions | Empowering Success at Vagmine Cloud Solution Pvt Ltd.
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VS Code supports many extensions/tools for code formatting based on language developer use. VS Code also has a code formatter for HTML, JSON, JavaScript and CSSs (CSS, LESS, and SCSS). We can utilise this default formatter as well for clean code. We can utilise code formatting tools based on our code language, like Vetur for Vue, Svelte for VS Code, ESLint for Javascript, and Prettier for most languages.

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3 Code documentation tools

Code documentation tools are software applications that generate documentation for your code based on comments, annotations, or metadata. They help you document your code's purpose, functionality, parameters, dependencies, and usage. Code documentation tools can also create diagrams, charts, or graphs to visualize your code's structure, flow, or relationships. Some examples of code documentation tools are Javadoc, Doxygen, Sphinx, and Swagger. You can use code documentation tools to create HTML, PDF, or Markdown files for your code documentation.

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4 Code analysis tools

Code analysis tools are software applications that analyze your code for various aspects, such as performance, security, quality, or complexity. They help you identify and resolve issues, bugs, or vulnerabilities in your code before they cause problems or affect your users. Code analysis tools can also provide feedback, suggestions, or metrics to improve your code's efficiency, reliability, or maintainability. Some examples of code analysis tools are SonarQube, CodeClimate, Coverity, and NDepend. You can use code analysis tools as standalone applications, plugins, or extensions for your code editor or IDE.

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Osama Wafi

Muslim | Software Engineer | Team lead | Solution architect | Microsoft MCP | Microsoft MCPD | Like to gain and share knowledge
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Static code analysis tools like SonarQube, ESLint, or FindBugs can automatically analyze code for potential issues, such as bugs, security vulnerabilities, or coding style violations. Integrating these tools into the code review process can help identify and address common coding problems early on, saving time and effort during the review.

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Dhanik Sahni

Salesforce Architect & Founder | Driving Business Transformation through Innovative Cloud Solutions | Empowering Success at Vagmine Cloud Solution Pvt Ltd.
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Code analysis tool selection should be based on pricing, language support, ruleset availability, product support, customization support, organization policy etc. If we have a lot of rulesets then we will get better results. It might be possible that the best tool will not work well for your language so choose based on code language as well. SonarQube is an excellent tool but for Salesforce if we combine Apex PMD+ EsLint then it will also give good results so sometimes free tools can also work well.

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Mesut Gurle
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These tools should be configured according to your team approach. It will help you reduce false positives. Just checking the static code analysis reports are not enough.

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5 Code review platforms

Code review platforms are software applications that facilitate the process of code review by providing features and functionalities to support your team's workflow and communication. They help you create, manage, and track code review requests, assign reviewers, compare code changes, comment on code snippets, and approve or reject code modifications. Code review platforms can also integrate with other software design tools, such as version control systems, code formatting tools, or code analysis tools. Some examples of code review platforms are GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Gerrit. You can use code review platforms as web-based applications, desktop applications, or mobile applications.

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Prajwal Chincholikar

Serving Notice Period | Project Lead | Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) solutions
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I have used GitHub for code reviews, GitHub provides built-in code review features with pull requests (PRs). Teams can review code changes, leave comments, and discuss feedback directly within the PR interface. GitHub also offers integrations with various tools for automated code analysis and continuous integration (CI).

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6 Code visualization tools

Code visualization tools are software applications that create graphical representations of your code, such as diagrams, charts, or graphs. They help you understand, explore, and communicate your code's architecture, design, or behavior. Code visualization tools can also help you find and fix issues, optimize your code's performance, or refactor your code's structure. Some examples of code visualization tools are CodeMap, NDepend, CodeScene, and Sourcetrail. You can use code visualization tools as standalone applications, plugins, or extensions for your code editor or IDE.

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Andrii Yefymenko

Software Engineer
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If you are dealing with complex code structures, it's time to consider using tools: 1. Lucidchart: An online application that enables you to create UML 2. Sourcetrail: An open-source cross-platform source explorer 3. PlantUML: An open-source tool that generates different diagram types from static code. 4. NDepend: A static analysis tool for .NET managed code 5. CodeScene: A tool that detects delivery risks, visualizes and prioritizes technical debt. 6. Understand: A static analysis tool that helps analyze large codebases 7. Visustin: A flowcharting software that automatically converts source code to flow charts. 8. CodeMap: A Visual Studio extension that enables you to visualize code Hope you find the tool of choice that suites your needs

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Your team needs to review code. What software design tools will make it a breeze?

1

2

3

4

5

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1 Design patterns

2 Code formatting tools

3 Code documentation tools

4 Code analysis tools

5 Code review platforms

6 Code visualization tools

7 Here’s what else to consider

Software Design

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Your team needs to review code. What software design tools will make it a breeze?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Design patterns

2 Code formatting tools

3 Code documentation tools

4 Code analysis tools

5 Code review platforms

6 Code visualization tools

7 Here’s what else to consider

Software Design

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