Adrienne Braganza Tacke: Code Review Patterns & Principles - Episode 347

8 snips

Apr 28, 2025

Adrienne Braganza Tacke is a software development engineer at DebtTrader and author passionate about STEM education. She shares her unique journey into tech and the unexpected paths that shaped her career. The conversation dives into the significance of effective code review patterns and how they enhance developer collaboration. Adrienne discusses common pitfalls in code reviews, emphasizing the need for clear communication and automation tools. The evolution of how developers communicate during reviews, including the role of chatbots, also sparks an engaging dialogue.

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ANECDOTE

Adrienne's Career Happy Accidents

Adrienne's career path was shaped by happy accidents, starting from a student help desk role for its pay, not passion.
She gradually fell in love with development through an internship working with Google APIs and administrative apps.

INSIGHT

No Universal Code Review Process

There is no one-size-fits-all code review process; it depends on team size, experience, and familiarity.
Code reviews help newcomers learn standards and ensure collaborative code ownership for maintainability.

ADVICE

Avoid Communication and PR Size Mistakes

Avoid ineffective communication as a reviewer, which causes long code reviews and debates.
As authors, keep pull requests manageable; large PRs make proper review nearly impossible.

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Adrienne Braganza Tacke is an accomplished author and software engineer with a passion for educating others about software development. Choosing a path distinct from the expected trajectory of nursing, she pursued a degree in management information systems at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Over the course of nearly eight years in the field, she has contributed her expertise across multiple industries, including healthcare and higher education. Currently, she serves as a software development engineer at DebtTrader, where she embraces the challenge of modernizing fintech workflows traditionally dependent on spreadsheets.

Beyond her professional work, Adrienne is an international speaker, instructor, and dedicated advocate for STEM education. Her first book, Coding for Kids: Python, has consistently ranked among the top-selling children's programming books on Amazon. She frequently visits schools to inspire students with insights into software engineering and the transformative power of coding. When she’s not engaging with young aspiring developers, she speaks at tech conferences throughout the U.S. and Europe. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@AdrienneTacke) to stay updated on her latest endeavors.

Topics of Discussion:

[3:20] Adrienne’s journey and the happy accidents and formative moments that led her to working in this field.

[5:46] What does a developer advocate do?

[7:04] Adrienne started teaching in 2017, when tech influencers were starting to become more popular.

[9:02] There is no one-size-fits-all about the code review process, and what it looks like will be different for every team.

[11:19] The price of ineffective communication.

[15:30] The power of fixing things during development and before the code review.

[19:10] Adrienne gives a few real-life examples of time wasters in code reviews.

[22:08] More about Adrienne’s book, Looks Good to Me: Constructive Code Reviews, and how it can help streamline and save time.

[23:44] Like Adrienne’s chapter title, if you can automate it — do it.

[26:51] There are still errors that won’t be caught by static analysis.

[30:46] Some tips to remember when using AI, like making sure your titles are descriptive.

[36:17] Maybe an “auto-polite” button is coming soon? We wish.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Clear Measure Way

Architect Forum

Software Engineer Forum

Programming with Palermo — New Video Podcast! Email us at programming@palermo.net.

Clear Measure, Inc. (Sponsor)

.NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer’s Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo

Looks Good to Me: Constructive Code Reviews

CodeRabbit

OFFER: First listener to use the code gets a free copy of the book: "braganza-FBEE"Instructions: 1. Go to book link (https://www.manning.com/books/looks-good-to-me) 2. Follow purchase process 3. Apply coupon (braganza-FBEE) at checkout

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