Optimizing Pull Request Processes

Full episode notes: https://threedots.tech/episode/prs-that-get-merged-the-same-day/

Quick takeaways

• Prioritize reviews over new work - treat PRs as work that’s almost done and needs to be pushed to production quickly
• Big PRs create a dead loop - when reviews take ages, developers make even bigger PRs to avoid multiple long waits
• Knowledge sharing is the hidden benefit - code reviews aren’t just gatekeeping, they spread understanding of how things work across the team
• One-day cycle time is possible - start work in the morning and merge by end of day with proper team culture and practices
• Split work vertically and horizontally - break features into small slices and layers that multiple people can implement in parallel

In this episode, we discuss how to make code reviews fast and effective by keeping pull requests small.

We explore why big PRs are problematic, what causes them, and practical strategies to create PRs that can be merged within a day.

Instead of waiting days for reviews with 200 comments, we focus on techniques that help teams achieve smooth, fast review cycles where work flows quickly from code to production.

Introduction