Code Reviews for Visual Studio

Plug Collaborator into your IDE so you don't have to leave home to conduct complete reviews.

Watch our recent webinar: Going Beyond the Pull Request Workflow for Better Code Reviews

 

Robust Code Review with Collaborator

Many teams spend most of their time in an Integrated Development Environment like Visual Studio. Collaborator integrates seamlessly so that you don't need to sacrifice quality for convenience. Collaborator's Visual Studio integration enables teams to:

  • Mark defects in your code and make comments to teammates in real time
  • Configure reviews, add participants, and include remote system links. In the example on the right, those include JIRA, GitHub, and TFS.
  • Upload TFS Changesets, TFS Shelvesets, and changed files directly to the Collaborator server through Visual Studio
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Marking Defects in the Diff Viewer

Inside of Visual Studio, reviewers can clearly see differences between files in the Diff Viewer. In order to mark a defect, or something that needs to be addressed before the review is completed, just right click on the relevant lines and click "Add a Defect". Just like in Collaborator, reviewers can then select Defect Type and Severity.

In order to add comments, the process is the same and conversations can continue in a left-hand pane. All of the Diff functionality is embedded within Visual Studio. Once the defect is fix by the author, then the bug icon turns green and the review can be closed out.

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Review Templates in Visual Studio

Collaborator Review Templates enable teams to set clear expectations for reviews. Templates include elements like custom fields and checklists, participant requirements, and configurable workflows. Reviewers can see all of these elements within Visual Studio, making adding structure to your process seamless.

On the right, you can see the default workflow stages of a review. This makes it simple to the status of a review without needing to get into the weeds. Your team can assign participant groups to templates with Template Subscription. You can also set permissions this way. It is easy to add custom fields to templates so that your team can collect additonal information on each review. Inside Visual Studio, you can also view code review reports that show metrics and information on your process, like defect density, time spent on a review, and lines of code reviewed.

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Frequently Asked Questions

My team is currently using the code review functionality in Visual Studio. Why would we need Collaborator for reviews?

For some teams, basic code review functionality in Visual Studio is enough. If the project you are working on is low stakes, it can be a convenient approach. Still, it does dramatically limit your team's code review process. Through its Visual Studio integration, Collaborator enables teams to customize their review process with custom fields, workflows, checklists, and participant rules. You don't need to leave your IDE to conduct high quality reviews. Mark defects and capture metrics on your process, like defect type and severity, inspection rate, and lines of code reviewed. Since Collaborator also supports document review, your team can review requirements, design docs, and documentation alongside your code reviews. If you need to review multiple artifact types and drive process improvement, it is easy to integrate Collaborator with Visual Studio and ensure that quality is prioritized early.

My developers don't like leaving Visual Studio; will they have to leave Visual Studio to use Collaborator?

Not at all! Your developers can stay in Visual Studio the entire time. The Visual Studio plugin brings the full functionality of Collaborator right into the IDE, from uploading code, to commenting on reviews.

Does the Visual Studio plugin consume a license?

A license will only be consumed when you open a review. Just listing reviews will not consume a license.

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Collaborator is the peer review tool for software teams that care about code quality and collaboration.

Here's what your 30-day trial could look like:

  • Invite other team members to join and get started reviewing source code, requirements, design docs, user stories, and more.
  • Connect with your other development tools so that code reviews are a seamless part of your process.
  • Have a question? We will be available through chat to help your team get the most out of your trial.
  • Set up custom templates, checklists, and groups to ensure that your reviews focus on what's important to your team.
  • View reports on your review process to see what types of defects your team is finding and how effective your reviews are.

Collaborator supports multiple SCMs at once: TFS, Git, Perforce, Subversion, Rational Team Concert, Synergy, ClearCase, AccuRev, CVS, and PTC Integrity.