It isn't disputed that code reviews are great for your
software quality; however, nobody has ever claimed they
were fun.
Crucible's simple three pane interface helps you get through
more reviews in less time, especially when revisiting an
ongoing review. If you prefer to maximise real estate you
can always switch to full screen more (Shift-F).
Commenting
Simply click on a line of source to leave an inline comment.
You can also comment on a source file or an entire review.
Other reviewers get notified (by email or RSS) and can easily
reply to your comment. Comments are auto-saved as you type
to prevent the vagaries of web browsers from stealing your
best feedback.
Unread comments
As you move around a review, Crucible keeps track of which
comments you've seen and marks them as read. When you see
a comment that you want to come back to, check the 'leave
as unread' box so you don't forget it.
Unlike email, new comments are not always at the bottom
of a code review thread. That's why its especially useful
to filter and highlight just the new comments when you come
back to a review that's already under way.
Keyboard control
Reviews with more than a few files used to cause repetitive
strain injury of the scroll finger. Not anymore! Crucible
has keyboard shortcuts for almost everything, so you can
wade through lots of content as fast as possible.
Update notifications
Crucible lets you do reviews in your own time rather than
forcing you to a meeting or interupting you to peer over
someone's shoulder.
However, when you are working concurrently it is really
important you know as soon as a review has changed so you
avoid giving duplicate feedback or commenting on code that
has already changed.
Filtering
Reviews that are long running or have lots of contents
can be hard to wrangle. Crucible helps you focus by letting
you filter review contents by comments, file type, state,
and even by changes since you last completed reviewing.
