How to Prepare for Code Reviews (Like a Pro)

If you're new to code reviews — or just feel like they never go quite right — you're not alone.

The truth is, many developers treat code reviews as a final boss instead of what they really are: an opportunity to improve the code and grow as an engineer.

Here’s the mindset shift:
You should prepare for code reviews like you’d prepare for a demo or a job interview. Because when you do, you’ll level up faster and make your teammates’ lives way easier.

Let’s talk about how to do that.

✅ 1. Be Your Own First Reviewer

Here’s a common git workflow:

• Write code

• Test code

• Open PR and assign reviewer

• Fix things based on their feedback

Let’s make one simple upgrade:
Open a Draft PR before you assign a reviewer.

On GitHub, that’s easy — just mark it as a draft.
On other platforms, prefix your PR title with WIP:.

Why this works:

• It gives you a visual overview of everything you’ve touched.

• You’ll catch “oops” code you forgot to delete.

• You can add comments for tricky sections before someone else does.

You’re not just pushing code — you’re presenting a solution. Treat it like that.

🧪 2. Test Before You Click "Ready for Review"

I can’t count how many times a “tiny change” broke a service I was working on. Especially with microservices — one misplaced config and boom, service crash.

Before your reviewer ever sees your PR:

• Run your tests

• Spin up the service if you need to

• If there’s no CI/CD? Build the Docker image yourself

If it’s slow or annoying, blame your tooling. But do it anyway.
You’ll build confidence and avoid sending your teammate on a bug hunt.

🧹 3. Clean Up Linting, Typing & Standards

Most teams enforce basic hygiene via CI — linting, type checks, tests.

Before you mark your PR as ready:

• Run your linter locally (pre-commit is your friend)

• Run mypy or your type checker

• Make sure all those ✅s are green

Typing fixes especially can be sneaky. One small change can ripple out and mess up a few layers of your app. Rerun your tests after typing changes — trust me.

💡 Final Thoughts

Preparing for a code review isn’t about being perfect. It’s about respecting your reviewer’s time and giving them space to focus on what matters — your implementation.

When you show up prepared:

• You get faster approvals

• You earn your team’s trust

• You build confidence in your own code

And when there's a disagreement?
It's about the design, not a bunch of broken tests or missing types.

💬 How Do You Prepare for Code Reviews?

Got your own rituals, tools, or horror stories?
Hit reply or drop a comment — I’d love to hear how you handle it.

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