general-development

General Development Skills

This skill provides best practices for core software development workflows including code reviews, testing, and continuous integration/deployment.

Code Review Practices

Purpose

Maintain code quality and knowledge sharing through effective peer reviews.

Guidelines

1. Review Process

   • Review PRs within 24 hours when possible
   • Check for logic errors, edge cases, and code clarity
   • Verify tests are included for new functionality
   • Ensure documentation is updated when needed

2. Providing Feedback

   • Use constructive language and specific suggestions
   • Highlight what was done well, not just issues
   • Ask clarifying questions rather than making assumptions
   • Request changes only for critical issues; suggest improvements for non-blocking issues

3. Checklist

   • Code follows project style guide and conventions
   • Changes are properly tested
   • Documentation is complete
   • No hardcoded credentials or sensitive data
   • Performance implications considered
   • Dependencies are necessary and up-to-date

Example

When reviewing a feature branch, check that:

• All tests pass
• Code coverage doesn't decrease
• No console.log statements remain
• Type safety is maintained

Testing Strategies

Purpose

Ensure application reliability and prevent regressions through comprehensive testing.

Testing Levels

1. Unit Tests

   • Test individual functions and components in isolation
   • Use mocking for external dependencies
   • Aim for high coverage of business logic
   • Keep tests focused and readable

2. Integration Tests

   • Test component interactions and data flows
   • Verify API endpoints with realistic data
   • Test database operations and queries
   • Check error handling across components

3. End-to-End Tests

   • Test critical user journeys
   • Use browser automation for UI testing
   • Verify full workflow from input to output
   • Keep E2E tests lean and focused

Best Practices

• Write tests alongside code during development
• Use descriptive test names that explain what is being tested
• Keep tests DRY while maintaining clarity
• Run tests locally before pushing
• Maintain test data fixtures

CI/CD Integration

Purpose

Automate code quality checks and deployment processes for faster, safer releases.

Pipeline Stages

1. Build Stage

   • Compile/transpile code
   • Generate artifacts
   • Fail fast on compilation errors

2. Test Stage

   • Run unit and integration tests
   • Perform linting and code quality checks
   • Generate coverage reports
   • Fail on coverage thresholds

3. Security Stage

   • Scan dependencies for vulnerabilities
   • Check for secrets in code
   • Perform static analysis

4. Deploy Stage

   • Run E2E tests against staging
   • Deploy to staging environment
   • Run smoke tests
   • Deploy to production (with approvals if needed)

Recommended Tools

• GitHub Actions for CI/CD orchestration
• ESLint for code linting
• Vitest/Jest for testing
• SonarQube for code quality metrics
• Dependabot for dependency updates

Example Workflow

- Trigger: Push to main or PR opened
- Build: Install dependencies, compile code
- Lint: Run ESLint, check formatting
- Test: Run unit and integration tests
- Security: Scan dependencies
- Deploy: Deploy to staging/production (with approvals)