Code review quality is usually a culture signal

I’ve started thinking that review quality is less about catching bugs and more about whether a team actually wants shared understanding. A review that only says “looks good” usually tells me more about the process than the code.

On the teams I’ve worked with, the best reviews were often the ones that slowed things down a little and forced someone to explain the intent. Curious if other people see that too, or if I’m just being too sentimental about the craft.

“Looks good” reviews always feel like a hallway nod, not a shared space. The best teams I’ve been on used review comments to make intent visible, like asking for a short note on why a choice was made so the next person doesn’t have to reverse-engineer it later.