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)