

Project Idea: Trade or buy code reviews (for independent developers) - baberuth
http://baberuth.posterous.com/idea-trade-or-buy-code-reviews

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frobozz
Interesting that the author suggests "maybe a feature off of stack overflow"
Something like <http://codereview.stackexchange.com> perhaps?

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baberuth
something like that. This morning I had this thought for 2 things:

1\. a python filtering function I wrote 2\. how to restructure an entire
django project.

Both (esp #2) are a little big for posting a code snippet. Bigger architecture
problems probably only make sense within the context of the larger scope, so
I'd pretty much want someone to check out the whole repository.

The SO thing would be great because SO has built in reputations so it'd help
people feel more comfortable with giving away the entire project. I personally
don't care, but I can imagine that being a barrier to code reviews by
strangers.

Obviously, that sort of code review is a much more time-expensive request, so
finding reviewers might also be hard without some sort of compensation.

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rch
I'd get into that. I am a C/C++ guy, writing Python (etc.,etc.), with R/Perl
programming coworkers. There is obvious value for me in external reviews.

The trick is, could there be some sort of bilateral confidentially agreement?
That's one I'd need to ponder a bit.

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baberuth
I'm not super concerned about confidentiality for my code, but then again I'm
not doing anything groundbreaking.

Mostly, if I cared about confidentiality, it'd be so I don't get publicly
embarassed for crappy code.

Rating systems for reviewers would also let people build reputations so that
reviewee's could feel more comfortable about code confidentiality.

Stack overflow already has reputations built in, so as I mentioned, it might
just be awesome as a feature for SO. And another revenue stream, if they
weren't already swimming in cash.

~~~
frobozz
The main confidentiality issue is not about whether you, the coder, cares
about people stealing your groundbreaking idea. When you are doing work for
hire, the code is not necessarily yours to publish.

Whilst sharing it with someone you could refer to as a colleague, employee, or
contractor might be OK. Sharing it with the world, or someone who might share
it with the world, is not.

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davesmylie
A big issue I can foresee with this (other than confidentiality, etc) is
simply the time required to give a quality review of a decent sized block of
code, and making sure you get back a fair review in exchange.

You can review and give decent feedback on a small snippet of code fairly
easily and quickly, but that's of limited value in a real project.

To be able to give a decent review (eg beyond a cursory "You should name that
variable better, or your indentation sucks), requires that either the amount
of code you are reviewing is so small that you can grok it quickly (limiting
the value of the review), or that you spend at least some time familiarizing
yourself with the rest of the code base so be able to gauge the impact of the
code changes.

This is all good if the person you're trading reviews is prepared to spend the
same amount of time on your code, but for example, I find it very frustrating
when I spend 30-45 minutes giving a detailed review of a website on
<http://feedbackroulette.com> (a similar concept, but for websites reviews),
only to get back a 3 sentence review in exchange that was clearly bashed off
in about 30 seconds. Awarding points for reviews goes someway to alleviate
this, but still it's a real pita...

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BasDirks
Trading and buying unknown goods is considered bad practice. Build a system
that matches people building similar things and I will be your first user. (SO
is not modular enough)

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Stuk
I was thinking along similar lines last week with regards to APIs. Obviously
you want people to use them, and they only will if they're understandable and
useful. It would be good to have something like <http://fivesecondtest.com/>,
where people can comment on your ideas for "karma".

(aside: I can't actually work out if people who complete reviews at 5 sec
tests get paid? Or if they do just get karma)

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omouse
Great idea, posted an order on Bitcoin-OverTheCounter: [http://bitcoin-
otc.com/vieworderbook.php?sortby=id&sorto...](http://bitcoin-
otc.com/vieworderbook.php?sortby=id&sortorder=ASC&type=&nick=&thing=CODE+REVIEW&otherthing=&eitherthing=&notes=)

If anyone has some bitcoins and wants a code review, send me an email:
omouse@gmail.com

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dy
Another project in a similar vein is project metrics. Various times as I'm
reviewing a library to include in my code, I'd like to compare various ones
and see where the momentum is, how easy the code is to understand, how much
work is being done on it. I think github is starting down this path but would
like to see more of this type of thing.

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bguthrie
Rather than using a web site, join (or start) a local software craftsmanship
group. I'm sure a lot of people would be happy to donate some time to look at
your code, and you get the benefit of meeting other people in a community
specifically dedicated to improving code quality and acquiring technical
mastery.

