Leaders in some development teams where I worked singled out individuals. They inspected developers’ code with external reviewers without including the developer or informing them about the code review. This practice created a toxic culture and instilled fear, even when developers put their heart and soul into producing quality code and following best practices.

When this happened to me, the review team (internal and external) found no issues, but I couldn’t shake off the bitter feeling. I strongly advocate for code reviews as they help maintain good standards. However, teams should conduct them inclusively. Teams that inform developers about end-to-end code reviews and involve them create valuable learning opportunities.

Many teams now conduct code reviews without involving the developer, which creates distrust and wastes learning opportunities. This approach breeds a toxic culture where developers feel scrutinized and undervalued.

GitHub Copilot’s new code review feature excites me for these reasons. Developers can now ask Copilot to review their code before pushing it and creating a pull request. Copilot can review the pull request before the development lead or PR reviewer examines it. The GitHub Copilot Code review feature offers AI-driven insights, automatic reviews using repository rules, and one-click fixes. It streamlines the code review process and lets developers start iterating while waiting for human reviewers. This feature will relieve my fellow developers, as they’ll know Copilot has reviewed their code and caught major issues, reducing scrutiny fears.

You can learn more here: GitHub Copilot code review in GitHub.com (public preview) – GitHub Changelog

We must create an inclusive culture where developers can excel, feel trusted, and grow through continuous learning opportunities. I believe technologies like GitHub Copilot will help overcome these challenges and foster collaboration and support.

Happy Coding!