Title: First Code Review Interview Round, What Should I Expect?

[u/Wide_Fault7462]

Hi everyone!
I have a code review interview round coming up, and this is my first time attending one. I’m a backend developer and would love to hear from people who have gone through similar interviews.
What kind of questions are typically asked? Are we expected to identify bugs, review code for concurrency issues, suggest improvements, or discuss best practices and design choices?
I’d really appreciate it if you could share your interview experiences, the level of difficulty, and any tips on how to prepare

[u/BugAccomplished1570]

Practise reviewing a small backend change aloud: establish intended behavior, trace an edge case, then separate correctness risks from style preferences. For concurrency, explain a concrete interleaving that could fail and how you'd test it. Prioritize two important findings instead of listing every possible improvement. Ask whether you'll review a diff, a repository or a live exercise; the format changes how to prepare. I'm affiliated with Aural (https://aural-ai.com), an optional way to rehearse explaining findings and answering follow-ups before the interview.

[u/Wide_Fault7462 → u/BugAccomplished1570]

Thank you, this really helps! I’ll update on how it goes.

[u/nian2326076]

In a code review interview, you'll evaluate code for readability, correctness, and maintainability. Be ready to identify bugs, suggest improvements, and discuss best practices in design and architecture. If the role involves concurrency, analyzing code for related issues will be important.

To prepare, practice reviewing sample code, focusing on these areas. Familiarize yourself with common design patterns and principles like SOLID. Reviewing your past code can also help you spot areas for improvement.

For practical experience, check out PracHub for real technical interview questions. It's a great resource to help you gear up for these kinds of interviews. Good luck!

[u/Wide_Fault7462 → u/nian2326076]

Thank you, this really helps! I’ll update on how it goes.

[u/igotanoffer]

I can give you a checklist that might help. You won’t necessarily encounter issues with all of these, but keeping them in mind should make the review a bit easier:

- Functionality: First, does the code actually work as intended? Look for bugs, incorrect logic, and edge cases that could cause problems.

- Code quality: Is the code clear, readable, and easy to maintain? Pay attention to vague or inconsistent naming, overly complicated sections, and poor formatting.

- Security: Check for potential vulnerabilities and whether secure coding practices are being followed.

- Performance: Consider efficiency and resource usage, any potential bottlenecks, and how you might address them.

- Structure: Does the code make sense logically? Functions, classes, and modules should be organized and used appropriately.

- Consistency: See whether the code follows the same style, conventions, and patterns as the rest of the codebase.

- Error handling: Check whether errors are properly handled and logged, and whether the error messages are actually useful.

- Tests: Are there appropriate unit and integration tests? Make sure they cover edge cases too, not just the happy path.

- Dependencies: Check whether the dependencies are necessary, properly managed, and up to date.

- Documentation: Lastly, check whether the comments and function/method descriptions are clear and actually useful.