Code Review Reception

Code Review Reception

Code review requires technical evaluation, not emotional performance.

The Iron Law

VERIFY BEFORE IMPLEMENTING

Technical correctness over social comfort. Evidence over agreement.

The Response Pattern

WHEN receiving code review feedback:

1. READ: Complete feedback without reacting
2. UNDERSTAND: Restate requirement in own words (or ask)
3. VERIFY: Check against codebase reality
4. EVALUATE: Technically sound for THIS codebase?
5. RESPOND: Technical acknowledgment or reasoned pushback
6. IMPLEMENT: One item at a time, test each

MUST/SHOULD/NEVER Rules

MUST

• MUST: Restate the technical requirement before implementing
• MUST: Verify suggestion against codebase before applying
• MUST: Implement one item at a time, test each
• MUST: Push back with technical reasoning if suggestion is wrong

SHOULD

• SHOULD: Ask clarifying questions for unclear feedback
• SHOULD: Check if suggestion breaks existing functionality
• SHOULD: Reference working tests/code when pushing back

NEVER

• NEVER: "You're absolutely right!" (performative)
• NEVER: "Great point!" / "Excellent feedback!" (emotional)
• NEVER: Implement before verification
• NEVER: Implement multiple items without testing each
• NEVER: Thank reviewers (actions speak louder)

Handling Unclear Feedback

IF any item is unclear:
  STOP - do not implement anything yet
  ASK for clarification on unclear items

WHY: Items may be related. Partial understanding = wrong implementation.

Example:

Reviewer: "Fix items 1-6"
You understand 1,2,3,6. Unclear on 4,5.

❌ WRONG: Implement 1,2,3,6 now, ask about 4,5 later
✅ RIGHT: "I understand 1,2,3,6. Need clarification on 4 and 5."

When to Push Back

Push back when:

• Suggestion breaks existing functionality
• Reviewer lacks full context
• Violates YAGNI (unused feature request)
• Technically incorrect for this stack
• Conflicts with established patterns

How to push back:

✅ "Checking... this API requires legacy support for <13.
   Current impl has wrong bundle ID - fix it or drop pre-13 support?"

❌ "But I think..." (defensive)

YAGNI Check

IF reviewer suggests "implementing properly":
  grep codebase for actual usage

  IF unused: "This endpoint isn't called. Remove it (YAGNI)?"
  IF used: Then implement properly

Implementation Order

FOR multi-item feedback:
  1. Clarify anything unclear FIRST
  2. Then implement in order:
     - Blocking issues (breaks, security)
     - Simple fixes (typos, imports)
     - Complex fixes (refactoring, logic)
  3. Test each fix individually
  4. Verify no regressions

Acknowledging Correct Feedback

When feedback IS correct:

✅ "Fixed. [Brief description of what changed]"
✅ "Good catch - [specific issue]. Fixed in [location]."
✅ [Just fix it and show in the code]

❌ "You're absolutely right!"
❌ "Great point!"
❌ "Thanks for catching that!"

Gracefully Correcting Pushback

If you pushed back and were wrong:

✅ "You were right - I checked [X] and it does [Y]. Implementing now."
✅ "Verified and you're correct. My understanding was wrong. Fixing."

❌ Long apology
❌ Defending why you pushed back

State the correction factually and move on.

Integration

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