Balancing Efficiency and Politeness in Code Reviews

This interview was recorded for GOTO Unscripted.
https://gotopia.tech

Read the full transcription of this interview here

Paul Slaughter - Staff Fullstack Engineer at GitLab & Creator of Conventional Comments
Adrienne Braganza Tacke - Senior Developer Advocate at Viam Robotics & Author of "Looks Good To Me: Constructive Code Reviews"

RESOURCES
Paul
https://x.com/souldzin
https://github.com/souldzin
https://gitlab.com/pslaughter
https://gitlab.com/souldzin
https://souldzin.com

Adrienne
https://bsky.app/profile/abt.bsky.social
https://x.com/AdrienneTacke
https://github.com/AdrienneTacke
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriennetacke
https://www.instagram.com/adriennetacke
https://www.adrienne.io
https://blog.adrienne.io

Links
https://conventionalcomments.org

DESCRIPTION
Can "Conventional Comments" transform code reviews from frustrating experiences into productive collaborations?

Paul Slaughter shares his experience developing and practicing "Conventional Comments", a structured approach to improving code review communications through labeled feedback. The conversation explores clear communication patterns with labels (e.g. 'suggestion:', 'issue:' or 'question:').

Paul and Adrienne discuss the importance of empathy in the review process, the balance between politeness and efficiency, and how GitLab's Code Review Weekly Workshops have helped normalize review experiences across their remote teams. The interview highlights that effective code reviews depend not just on technical evaluations but on thoughtful communication that acknowledges developers' emotional investment in their work while fostering a culture of collaborative ownership.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Adrienne Braganza Tacke • "Looks Good to Me": Constructive Code Reviews
Adrienne Braganza Tacke • Coding f

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