Code Review Skill

You now have expertise in conducting comprehensive code reviews. Follow this structured approach:

Review Checklist

1. Security (Critical)

Check for:

• Injection vulnerabilities: SQL, command, XSS, template injection
• Authentication issues: Hardcoded credentials, weak auth
• Authorization flaws: Missing access controls, IDOR
• Data exposure: Sensitive data in logs, error messages
• Cryptography: Weak algorithms, improper key management
• Dependencies: Known vulnerabilities (check with npm audit, pip-audit)

# Quick security scans
npm audit                    # Node.js
pip-audit                    # Python
cargo audit                  # Rust
grep -r "password\|secret\|api_key" --include="*.py" --include="*.js"

2. Correctness

Check for:

• Logic errors: Off-by-one, null handling, edge cases
• Race conditions: Concurrent access without synchronization
• Resource leaks: Unclosed files, connections, memory
• Error handling: Swallowed exceptions, missing error paths
• Type safety: Implicit conversions, any types

3. Performance

Check for:

• N+1 queries: Database calls in loops
• Memory issues: Large allocations, retained references
• Blocking operations: Sync I/O in async code
• Inefficient algorithms: O(n^2) when O(n) possible
• Missing caching: Repeated expensive computations

4. Maintainability

Check for:

• Naming: Clear, consistent, descriptive
• Complexity: Functions > 50 lines, deep nesting > 3 levels
• Duplication: Copy-pasted code blocks
• Dead code: Unused imports, unreachable branches
• Comments: Outdated, redundant, or missing where needed

5. Testing