Hi everyone, my name is Karthika Krishnan, and I’m a Computer Programming student. This week I worked on Lab 1, which focused on reviewing and testing code in the open source community.
How I Did My Code Review:
I reviewed a classmate’s project called Repository-Context-Packager. To start, I forked and cloned the repo, installed it using npm install and npm link, and tried the commands listed in the README. I tested things like:
repo-packager . (current directory)
repo-packager . --include "*.js" (filtering files)
repo-packager . -o out.txt (output to file)
I also experimented with edge cases such as empty folders and filenames with spaces.
For communication, I mostly used GitHub Issues (async) to file problems with details, expected vs actual results, and suggestions.
Reviewing Someone Else’s Repo:
The tool worked, but I noticed some missing details and inconsistencies in the documentation. I opened multiple issues, including:
Clarify installation by mentioning Node.js version requirements
Standardize usage examples (repo-packager vs. tool-name)
Add real examples of --help and --version output
Provide a sample output file in a folder
Add at least one basic test or update README to say “tests not implemented yet”
These issues were small but specific, and I think they’ll help improve the project for new users.
Fixing Issues:
I updated my README to include clearer setup steps, adjusted some button labels in the UI, and added a short note about the output directory.
What I Learned:
Even if the code works, documentation clarity is just as important.
Testing and reviewing early helps catch things I would have missed.
Filing smaller, focused issues is much more effective than one big general issue.
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