The Power of Small: Why Small Pull Requests Triumph in Software Development
In software engineering, the size of pull requests can significantly impact the efficiency and quality of code reviews and overall project progress. Swarmia’s article delves into why more minor pull requests are more effective and offers practical tips for implementing them in software development projects.
Critical Reasons for Preferring Small Pull Requests
- Faster Code Reviews: Smaller pull requests are reviewed more quickly, as engineers tend to postpone or forget large pull requests. They are easier to understand and less likely to be left incomplete.
- Better Code Reviews: Large pull requests often lead to review fatigue, where reviewers skim through the code, leading to superficial reviews. More minor requests allow for more thorough and effective reviews.
- Improved Code Quality: Small pull requests facilitate faster feedback cycles, leading to better design decisions and higher-quality code.
- Protection of Work Flow: They make it easier to return to work after interruptions and require less context to be kept in mind, aiding in maintaining a steady workflow.
- Faster Feature Development: Breaking down work into smaller tasks speeds development and provides a sense of accomplishment, maintaining motivation.
- Enhanced Team Productivity: Small pull requests reduce the likelihood of project delays due to critical path blockages and are easier to hand over to other team members if needed.
- Improved Collaboration: They facilitate easier collaboration among team members, leading to increased learning, job satisfaction, and higher-quality solutions.
- Reduced Risk: Smaller pull requests help manage the scope of work more effectively, reducing the risk of spending too much time on unimportant tasks or failing to ship anything.
Tips for Creating Smaller Pull Requests
- Pre-plan Tasks: List all the steps required before starting coding.
- Separate Refactorings from Feature Work: Handle large refactorings in different pull requests.
- Use Feature Flags: They allow merging code to master before the entire feature is ready.
- Prioritize Code Review: Create a team agreement to review code promptly.
- Use Stacked Pull Requests: This allows continuation of work even when waiting for reviews.
Adopting the practice of creating more minor pull requests can significantly enhance the software development process. It improves code quality, speeds up development, fosters better collaboration, and reduces risks associated with significant, unwieldy code changes.
For a more detailed exploration of the benefits of small pull requests and practical strategies for implementing them, read the full article on Swarmia: Why Small Pull Requests are Better.