The speed at which code changes are integrated into the software codebase, also referred to as code review velocity, is a prevalent industry metric for improved throughput and developer satisfaction. While prior studies have explored factors influencing review velocity, the role of the review assignment process, particularly the `group review request', is unclear. In group review requests, available on platforms like Phabricator, GitHub, and Bitbucket, a code change is assigned to a reviewer group, allowing any member to review it, unlike individual review assignments to specific reviewers. Drawing parallels with shared task queues in Management Sciences, this study examines the effects of group versus individual review requests on velocity and quality. We investigate approximately 66,000 revisions in the Mozilla Firefox project, combining statistical modeling with practitioner views from a focus group discussion. Our study associates group reviews with improved review quality, characterized by fewer regressions, while having a negligible association with review velocity. Additional perceived benefits include balanced work distribution and training opportunities for new reviewers.

翻译：代码变更被集成至软件代码库的速度（亦称为代码评审速率）是衡量开发吞吐量与开发者满意度的常用行业指标。尽管已有研究探讨了影响评审速率的因素，但评审指派过程的作用——尤其是“群体评审请求”——尚不明确。在 Phabricator、GitHub 和 Bitbucket 等平台提供的群体评审请求中，代码变更被指派给一个评审者群体，允许其中任意成员进行评审，这与指派给特定评审者的个体评审任务不同。借鉴管理科学中共享任务队列的类比，本研究考察了群体与个体评审请求对评审速率和质量的影响。我们分析了 Mozilla Firefox 项目中约 66,000 个代码修订版本，结合统计建模与焦点小组讨论中获得的实践者观点。研究发现，群体评审与更高的评审质量相关（表现为更少的回归缺陷），但与评审速率的关联可忽略不计。其他感知优势包括更均衡的工作分配以及为新评审者提供的培训机会。