Re: [Xen-devel] [PATCH v2 5/6] Add guide on Communication Best Practice

From: Jan Beulich <jbeulich@suse.com>
To: George Dunlap <george.dunlap@citrix.com>
Cc: Lars Kurth <lars.kurth@xenproject.org>,
	Lars Kurth <lars.kurth@citrix.com>,
	xen-api@lists.xenproject.org, minios-devel@lists.xenproject.org,
	committers@xenproject.org, mirageos-devel@lists.xenproject.org,
	xen-devel@lists.xenproject.org,
	win-pv-devel@lists.xenproject.org
Subject: Re: [Xen-devel] [PATCH v2 5/6] Add guide on Communication Best Practice
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2019 09:29:35 +0200	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <e9ed8408-cd85-6ee9-44a4-2c2dda396f66@suse.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <5b1bad1b-f381-869d-95a8-036a236a2b31@citrix.com>

On 07.10.2019 18:13, George Dunlap wrote:
> On 9/27/19 10:14 AM, Jan Beulich wrote:
>> On 26.09.2019 21:39, Lars Kurth wrote:
>>> +### Verbose vs. terse
>>> +Due to the time it takes to review and compose code reviewer, reviewers often adopt a
>>> +terse style. It is not unusual to see review comments such as
>>> +> typo
>>> +> s/resions/regions/
>>> +> coding style
>>> +> coding style: brackets not needed
>>> +etc.
>>> +
>>> +Terse code review style has its place and can be productive for both the reviewer and
>>> +the author. However, overuse can come across as unfriendly, lacking empathy and
>>> +can thus create a negative impression with the author of a patch. This is in particular
>>> +true, when you do not know the author or the author is a newcomer. Terse
>>> +communication styles can also be perceived as rude in some cultures.
>>
>> And another remark here: Not being terse in situations like the ones
>> enumerated as examples above is a double waste of the reviewer's time:
> 
> FWIW I don't think this document prohibits terse replies.  It points out
> that they can come across as unfriendly, and they can be perceived as
> rude in some cultures; both of which are true.  It then *recommends*
> that reviewers compensate for it in a review opening (i.e., once per
> patch / series) which expresses appreciation; which is both helpful and
> relatively low cost.
> 
> The point of the opening is to set the tone.  If you start out with
> something positive, and ends with "thanks", then a long series of terse
> comments is more likely to be read as simply being efficient.  If the
> entire review consists of nothing but criticism or terse comments, it's
> more likely to be read as annoyance on the part of the reviewer.
> 
>> They shouldn't even need to make such comments, especially not many
>> times for a single patch (see your mention of "overuse").  I realize
>> we still have no automated mechanism to check style aspects, but
>> anybody can easily look over their patches before submitting them.
>> And for an occasional issue I think a terse reply is quite reasonable
>> to have.
> 
> This sort of sounds like you are *intending* to express annoyance?

Implicitly by being terse, yes. I've been trying to avoid expressing
such explicitly, but I have to admit there are (luckily only few)
cases where I find it pretty hard to stay away.

Jan

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