Review Checklist
📘 Purpose
This checklist is intended to help review the learner’s implementation for:
- Code quality
- Testing practices
- Validation implementation
- Logging standards
- Exception handling
- Debugging ability
- Engineering mindset
The checklist should be used during:
- Weekly review discussions
- Pull request reviews
- Assignment evaluations
- Self-review before submission
📋 General Code Quality Checklist
Naming Conventions
| Check | Status |
| Meaningful class names used | ☐ |
| Meaningful method names used | ☐ |
| Meaningful variable names used | ☐ |
| Constants properly named | ☐ |
| No misleading names used | ☐ |
Code Structure
| Check | Status |
| Methods are small and focused | ☐ |
| Classes follow single responsibility principle | ☐ |
| Proper package structure maintained | ☐ |
| Duplicate code avoided | ☐ |
| Code formatting is consistent | ☐ |
Readability
| Check | Status |
| Code is easy to understand | ☐ |
| Complex logic is explained clearly | ☐ |
| Unnecessary comments avoided | ☐ |
| Proper indentation maintained | ☐ |
| Magic numbers avoided | ☐ |
🧪 Unit Testing Checklist
Test Coverage
| Check | Status |
| Unit tests written for service methods | ☐ |
| Positive test cases covered | ☐ |
| Negative test cases covered | ☐ |
| Boundary cases covered | ☐ |
| Exception scenarios tested | ☐ |
Test Design
| Check | Status |
| Test names are descriptive | ☐ |
| Tests are independent | ☐ |
| Assertions are meaningful | ☐ |
| One behavior tested per test method | ☐ |
| Tests are readable and maintainable | ☐ |
JUnit Usage
| Check | Status |
@Test annotation used correctly | ☐ |
| Assertions used properly | ☐ |
assertThrows() used for exception testing | ☐ |
| Test setup organized properly | ☐ |
| No unnecessary complexity in tests | ☐ |
🎭 Mockito & Mocking Checklist
| Check | Status |
| Dependencies mocked correctly | ☐ |
| Repository layer isolated in tests | ☐ |
| Mock behavior configured correctly | ☐ |
| No unnecessary real dependencies used | ☐ |
| Mock verification used appropriately | ☐ |
✅ Validation Checklist
DTO Validation
| Check | Status |
@NotBlank used correctly | ☐ |
@Email used correctly | ☐ |
@Min and @Max used where required | ☐ |
| Validation annotations meaningful | ☐ |
| Invalid inputs handled properly | ☐ |
Controller Validation
| Check | Status |
@Valid used correctly | ☐ |
| Invalid requests rejected properly | ☐ |
| Validation errors return proper HTTP status | ☐ |
| Validation messages are understandable | ☐ |
🚨 Exception Handling Checklist
| Check | Status |
| Global exception handling implemented | ☐ |
@ControllerAdvice used correctly | ☐ |
| Exceptions handled consistently | ☐ |
| Proper HTTP status codes returned | ☐ |
| Sensitive details not exposed in responses | ☐ |
🪵 Logging Checklist
Logging Quality
| Check | Status |
| SLF4J used for logging | ☐ |
| Meaningful log messages used | ☐ |
| Proper log levels used | ☐ |
| Errors logged properly | ☐ |
| Business events logged appropriately | ☐ |
Logging Best Practices
| Check | Status |
System.out.println() avoided | ☐ |
| Sensitive information not logged | ☐ |
| Excessive logging avoided | ☐ |
| Logs help troubleshooting | ☐ |
| Exception stack traces logged where needed | ☐ |
🐞 Debugging & Troubleshooting Checklist
| Check | Status |
| Learner can read stack traces | ☐ |
| Runtime issues analyzed logically | ☐ |
| Root cause explained properly | ☐ |
| Debugger tools used effectively | ☐ |
| Issues fixed systematically | ☐ |
🏗 Backend Engineering Mindset Checklist
| Check | Status |
| Edge cases considered | ☐ |
| Invalid input scenarios handled | ☐ |
| Code written with maintainability in mind | ☐ |
| Error handling considered during development | ☐ |
| Application reliability improved | ☐ |
📦 API Review Checklist
| Check | Status |
| REST endpoints behave correctly | ☐ |
| HTTP methods used appropriately | ☐ |
| Proper status codes returned | ☐ |
| Error responses structured consistently | ☐ |
| Validation integrated properly | ☐ |
| Check | Status |
| No unnecessary object creation | ☐ |
| No redundant operations | ☐ |
| Logging does not impact readability | ☐ |
| Code behaves reliably under invalid inputs | ☐ |
| Exception handling improves stability | ☐ |
🧠 Reflection Questions for Learner
The learner should be able to answer:
- Why is automated testing important?
- What makes a good unit test?
- Why should APIs validate requests?
- Why is logging important in production systems?
- How do stack traces help debugging?
- Why should developers think about edge cases?
📋 Mentor Feedback Section
Strengths
```text id=”fw6mx2”
Areas for Improvement
```text id=”plj4qv”
Recommended Practice Areas
```text id=”pkq5tf”
🏁 Review Outcome
| Result | Status |
| Exercises Completed | ☐ |
| Assignment Submitted | ☐ |
| Unit Tests Working | ☐ |
| Validation Implemented | ☐ |
| Logging Added Properly | ☐ |
| Debugging Concepts Understood | ☐ |
| Ready for Next Week | ☐ |
💡 Mentor Notes
The review process should:
- Encourage learning
- Build confidence
- Improve engineering discipline
- Develop problem-solving skills
Code reviews should focus on:
- Clarity
- Maintainability
- Reliability
- Testing mindset
The objective is continuous improvement rather than perfection.
© 2026 Aditya Pratap Bhuyan Licensed under GPL-3.0 Maintained for backend engineering mentorship and learning.