Code Reviews, AI, and Modern Engineering 🔍 — with Greg Foster

This podcast episode explores the progression of code changes in software development over the past 40 years, highlighting the shift towards faster and smaller code changes. It discusses the significance of code reviews and collaboration in the development workflow, as well as the debate between monorepos and polyrepos. The advantages and disadvantages of synchronous and asynchronous code reviews are also explored. The conversation delves into the importance of code reviews, factors that contribute to their effectiveness, and the question of whether all changes should be reviewed by someone other than the author. The increasing use of AI-assisted code generation tools and their effects on the development process are discussed, as well as the downstream effects of AI in software development. The potential changes that AI will bring to the software development cycle and the open-source model are examined. Lastly, Graphite, a small startup focused on building advanced dev tools, is introduced, along with their commitment to dogfooding and creating a meaningful product experience.