[llvm-dev] [RFC] High-Level Code-Review Documentation Update

[Aaron Ballman via llvm-dev]

On Thu, Nov 14, 2019 at 10:46 PM Finkel, Hal J. via llvm-dev
<llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
>
> Hi, everyone,
>
> I've been fielding an increasing number of questions about how our
> code-review process in LLVM works from people who are new to our
> community, and it's been pointed out to me that our documentation on
> code reviews is both out of date and not as helpful as it could be to
> new developers.
>
>    http://llvm.org/docs/DeveloperPolicy.html#code-reviews
>
> I would like to compose a patch to update this, but before I do that, I
> want to highlight some of my thoughts to get feedback. My intent is to
> capture our community best practices in writing so that people new to
> our community understand our processes and expectations. Here are some
> things that I would like to capture:
>
>   1. You do not need to be an expert in some area of the compiler to
> review patches; it's fine to ask questions about what some piece of code
> is doing. If it's not clear to you what is going on, you're unlikely to
> be the only one. Extra comments and/or test cases can often help (and
> asking for comments in the test cases is fine as well).
>
>   2. If you review a patch, but don't intend for the review process to
> block on your approval, please state that explicitly. Out of courtesy,
> we generally wait on committing a patch until all reviewers are
> satisfied, and if you don't intend to look at the patch again in a
> timely fashion, please communicate that fact in the review.
>
>   3. All comments by reviewers should be addressed by the patch author.
> It is generally expected that suggested changes will be incorporated
> into the next revision of the patch unless the author and/or other
> reviewers can articulate a good reason to do otherwise (and then the
> reviewers must agree). If you suggest changes in a code review, but
> don't wish the suggestion to be interpreted this strongly, please state
> so explicitly.
>
>   4. Reviewers may request certain aspects of a patch to be broken out
> into separate patches for independent review, and also, reviewers may
> accept a patch conditioned on the author providing a follow-up patch
> addressing some particular issue or concern (although no committed patch
> should leave the project in a broken state). Reviewers can also accept a
> patch conditioned on the author applying some set of minor updates prior
> to committing, and when applicable, it is polite for reviewers to do so.
>
>   5. Aim to limit the number of iterations in the review process. For
> example, when suggesting a change, if you want the author to make a
> similar set of changes at other places in the code, please explain the
> requested set of changes so that the author can make all of the changes
> at once. If a patch will require multiple steps prior to approval (e.g.,
> splitting, refactoring, posting data from specific performance tests),
> please explain as many of these up front as possible. This allows the
> patch author to make the most-efficient use of his or her time.
>
>   6. Some changes are too large for just a code review. Changes that
> should change the Language Reference (e.g., adding new
> target-independent intrinsics), adding language extensions in Clang, and
> so on, require an RFC on *-dev first. For changes that promise
> significant impact on users and/or downstream code bases, reviewers can
> request an RFC (Request for Comment) achieving consensus before
> proceeding with code review. That having been said, posting initial
> patches can help with discussions on an RFC.
>
> Lastly, the current text reads, "Code reviews are conducted by email on
> the relevant project’s commit mailing list, or alternatively on the
> project’s development list or bug tracker.", and then only later
> mentions Phabricator. I'd like to move Phabricator to be mentioned on
> this line before the other methods.
>
> Please let me know what you think.

+1 to all of this, thank you Hal!

~Aaron

>
> Thanks again,
>
> Hal
>
> --
> Hal Finkel
> Lead, Compiler Technology and Programming Languages
> Leadership Computing Facility
> Argonne National Laboratory
>
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