Role of chat on Code Review

Question

I was briefly talking to @TryPyPy in chat about the use of chat on Code Review and he agreed to take it to Meta.

It might offer some advantages (faster feedback/iterations, easier to communicate) and disadvantages (not visible for long, doesn't work for non-real-time, doesn't leave tracks on CR).

He also that it might also tie in with the discussions on use of external Pastebin/Code Review tools. Would those be more probable to be used in chat?

What role do you think chat should play and how should it be used, if at all?

Answer 1

Why don't you visit The 2nd Monitor and find out for yourself?

Alongside idle chit-chat, it is indeed an effective method of helping each other with code reviews. Granted, they are small (most of it has to be done on the main site), but they usually involve extended conversations that wouldn't be ideal for post comments. If a particular question requires further brief improvements that would clutter up the question, one can simply link to a chatroom and allow anyone to participate and/or view the content.

It also serves a meta purpose (learning the rules of the site). If someone, old or new, doesn't quite understand something that's already documented, then they can ask on chat. In addition, it can be used some moderation issues, such as asking if something should be migrated to another site. Some of these things may not always warrant a separate Meta post, although Meta may still be necessary in order to reach a wider audience.

Answer 2

Most of the chat rooms are beneficial to new members(like me) to clearly get deeper explanation and helps of review's done by people. Moreover, it's very useful to make people aware that I need a review, and they work on it right away. Chat is also very useful to learn new things. Usually, they have deep tech talks, and we can learn new things by observing the chat. In addition, many people could meet experienced programmers around, and can gain tips on their expertise.

Moreover, some tiny questions are filtered from the Q&A area using chat, because people would simply go to chat, and ask someone to help them out.

Also, code-reviews can be more effective, when people discuss together. Also when people have a bit of a doubt during a review, there are other friends who can help them out.

Unfortunately, some people who are blocked from asking questions use that as an alternative way to get help, but they can be banned from chat if they refuse to stop using it that way.

So, in my opinion, the chat feature serves a major part.