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

1. 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

1. 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

1. Integration Tests

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

1. 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

1. Test Stage

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

1. Security Stage

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

1. 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)