The Essence of Google-Style Code Review: A Culture of 'Improvement' Over 'Perfection'

Introduction

For engineers, code reviews occupy a significant portion of daily work. However, many struggle with questions like, "How granular should I get?", "Where is the line between personal preference and a bug?", or "Why is the review process stalling our development?"

Google's Engineering Practices documentation provides clear, battle-tested answers to these issues. This article explains the "Code Review Standards" practiced by one of the world's top engineering organizations, adapted for common development workflows like GitHub.

Terminology Note: At Google, a Pull Request (PR) is called a CL (Change List). This article uses PR/CL interchangeably for clarity.

1. The True Purpose of Code Review

Google defines the purpose of code review with a single, clear mission:

"The primary purpose of code review is to ensure that the overall code health of Google’s codebase improves over time."
— The Standard of Code Review

The key takeaway here is that they are not seeking "Perfect Code."

Why Perfection is Not the Goal

If a code change is "not perfect, but better than the current state," it should be approved. Even if a reviewer sees room for further improvement, as long as the current change doesn't degrade code health, they can leave comments for future consideration and still grant LGTM (Looks Good To Me). This pragmatic compromise is the secret to maximizing development speed.

2. What to Look for in a Review

Reviewers shouldn't just skim the code; they should evaluate it based on the following priorities:

1. Design: Is the overall architecture sound and well-integrated?
2. Functionality: Does it behave as the author intended and provide value to the user?
3. Complexity: Is the code simple? Is there "clever code" that others won't be able to understand?
4. Tests: Are there correct, maintainable unit tests?
5. Naming: Did the author choose clear, descriptive names?
6. Comments: Do comments explain "Why" instead of just "What"?

Reference: What to look for in a code review

Important Note: Personal Preferences

Google's guidelines explicitly state that for personal preferences without a technical basis, the reviewer should defer to the author’s judgment. A reviewer should never impose their own coding style on others.

3. Speed of Code Review

Google places extreme importance on review speed. This is because delays in code review decrease the productivity of the entire team exponentially.

• The One-Business-Day Rule: Reviewers should aim to provide their first response within one business day (ideally by the following morning).
• Interrupt vs. Focus: You don't need to break your deep focus to respond immediately. Instead, treat reviews as a top priority during natural breaks (e.g., after a task or returning from lunch).
• The Cost of "Slow Reviews": The longer a review takes, the more the author forgets the context, leading to high context-switching costs during the fix phase.

Reference: Speed of Code Reviews

4. Respectful Communication

Review is not "criticism"; it is "collaboration."

• Review the Code, Not the Person: Instead of "You wrote this poorly," say "This function feels complex because..."
• Provide the "Why": Don't just demand a fix; explain why it’s necessary (e.g., performance, future extensibility).
• Nit (Nitpick): Use the Nit: label for minor suggestions that aren't mandatory but would be "nice to have." This reduces the psychological burden on the author.

Reference: How to write code review comments

Conclusion

Google’s code review culture is built on "Rejecting Perfectionism" and "Balancing Speed and Quality."

• If it’s better than the current state, Approve it.
• Respond to reviews within one business day.
• Maintain Respect and treat reviews as an opportunity for mentorship.

By adopting these practices, you can eliminate the frustration of stalled development and build a culture where everyone grows the codebase together.