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How to use DeputyDev?

Getting Started​

  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
  • Initial Setup

Reading DeputyDev's comments​

DeputyDev provides detailed comments on your code, highlighting areas that need attention, suggesting improvements, and identifying potential issues. Here's how to effectively read and use these comments:

  • Understand the Context: DeputyDev's comments are context-aware, meaning they take into account the broader codebase and business logic. Pay attention to the context provided in the comments to fully understand the recommendations.

  • Actionable Insights: Each comment includes actionable insights, such as suggestions for code optimisation, security improvements, and adherence to best practices. Implement these suggestions to enhance your code quality.

  • Follow-Up: If a comment is unclear or you need more information, use the `#deputydev` feature to ask DeputyDev for clarification or further details.

Making the most of DeputyDev:​

To fully leverage the capabilities of DeputyDev and ensure optimal code review and development processes, it's crucial to adhere to a few best practices.

  1. Jira & Confluence Integration:

    • DeputyDev seamlessly integrates with Jira and Confluence, allowing you to link user stories, business requirements, and documentation directly within your code reviews.

    • Ensure that each pull request includes the relevant Jira ID in the title and description. This linkage helps DeputyDev provide more context-aware insights by associating code changes with specific tasks and user stories.

    • If you use Confluence to document business logic, requirements, and coding standards, DeputyDev has the ability to access this documentation to verify that code changes align with business objectives and organisational standards.

  2. Clear and Precise User Stories:

    • Ensure that user stories are detailed and specific. Incomplete or vague descriptions can hinder the efficiency and accuracy of code reviews.

    • Tip: Include all relevant details and acceptance criteria in your user stories to provide comprehensive context for the review process.

  3. Exhaustive and Precise Titles and Descriptions:

    • Provide detailed and accurate titles and descriptions for your pull requests. This ensures that the tool has all the necessary information to understand the changes and their purpose.

    • Tip: Clearly outline what the PR does, why the changes were made, and any potential impacts or dependencies.

  4. Frequent and Smaller PRs:

    • Make pull requests small and focused. Smaller PRs are easier to review, test, and merge, reducing the risk of conflicts and errors.

    • Tip: Aim to create PRs that address a single issue or feature rather than bundling multiple changes together.

  5. Promptly Address Feedback:

    • Act on the feedback provided by DeputyDev and human reviewers promptly. Timely responses help maintain the flow of development and ensure issues are resolved quickly.

  6. Engage in Collaborative Reviews:

    • Use DeputyDev's insights as a starting point to facilitate discussions and improve code quality.

Making context-aware queries:​

DeputyDev enables interactive conversations regarding the codebase, changes it suggests, and the pull request itself. This feature enables you to gain deeper insights and clarifications directly from DeputyDev, enhancing the overall code review process.

To initiate a query, simply use the #deputydev tag followed by your question or statement. You may also use the short form version #dd for the same functionality. It can be used in a variety of cases:

  • Understanding Code Changes: "#deputydev - Summarise the key changes made in this pull request."

  • Explaining Logic: "#deputydev - Explain the logic behind the new authentication method."

  • Identifying Code Reuse: "#deputydev - Are there existing functions that perform similar tasks to the new method added in this PR?"

  • Ensuring Compliance: "#deputydev - Does this code adhere to our security guidelines?"

  • Optimising Performance: "#deputydev - What are the performance implications of this new algorithm?"

  • Understanding Business Logic: "#deputydev - How does this change align with our business logic?"

  • Reviewing Documentation: "#deputydev - Is the documentation up to date with the recent code changes?"

  • Addressing Vulnerabilities: "#deputydev - Are there any security vulnerabilities introduced by this PR?"

You can also use this feature to leave feedback in the form of `#like`, `#dislike`, or `#suggestion`. This will help DeputyDev improve and enhance it's responses.

  • If you like the comment, respond with a #like followed by any specifics (if applicable).

  • If you don't like the comment, respond with a #dislike followed by any specifics (if applicable).

  • If you're neutral and simply want to leave a suggestion, respond with a #suggestion followed by the suggestion.