There is no denying that peer to peer feedback decreases the amount of bugs, shares knowledge across the team, and creates a sense of shared ownership of every feature. This is why we’ve been working hard to make Bitbucket Server’s pull requests (a.k.a lightweight code reviews) a quick and painless part of your day. Today we’re introducing iterative reviews in Bitbucket Server 4.11, allowing your team to discuss changes to code in the context of a single pull request.

See what’s changed since your last review

Let’s be honest, everyone knows pull requests are valuable but sometimes they can become a bit of a drag. We’ve all been there – tagged as a reviewer on a monster pull request that updates every time you refill your coffee. So much time is wasted looking for the newest changes. You ask yourself questions like, “Did I already review this piece?”, or “Have the comments left by so and so been addressed?” Thanks to iterative review you now have the answers.

When a pull request is updated Bitbucket Server will show you exactly what has changed since you last reviewed it. No more hunting through files for edits or re-reviewing code you’ve already seen. Upon returning to an updated review, Bitbucket will automatically display the ‘number of since your last review’ in the request scope. This will allow you to comment only on those newly added commits.

Pro tip: If you’re not ready to approve a pull request, click the “Needs Work” status indicator. When you come back, Bitbucket Server will show you only the changes made since then. Still not happy? Add comments on the new unreviewed changes diff and the author will be notified of your feedback just like before.

Merge your request with confidence

On the we’ve also been the author of those monster pull requests. You know, the ones containing code with the potential to bring down your entire product. You’ve done your best to ensure there are minimal bugs and green builds, but without your team giving the thumbs up, merging can be stressful.

This is why pull requests are great…that is until you start to incorporate changes and your team must re-review. Questions like, “Did everyone see my fix for that big issue?”, or “Is my pull request ready to merge?” run through your head. Relieve some stress and have peace of mind knowing that the team has reviewed all of your changes thanks to iterative review.

Iterative reviews are a pull request game changer. As a reviewer, regain time back to code by avoiding playing the “Have I Already Reviewed This?” game. And, as an author, merge your changes with confidence knowing every modification has been reviewed. Upgrade your team’s pull request workflow and download Bitbucket Server 4.11 today!

But wait… there’s more! Besides iterative review, Bitbucket Server 4.11 is chock-full of other goodies including:

Adaptive throttling of SCM hosting operations: A new throttling approach for SCM hosting operations that adapts to the stress the machine is under.

VPAT Documentation: Bitbucket Server has been reviewed in accordance to Section 508 accessibility standards.

Postgres 9.6 Support

+ bugs resolved: That’s right, 30+ bugs resolved!

Read more in our release notes.

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