What Is Code Ownership?

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2023-01-24 22:00:05

Code ownership is a model in which a developer or team of developers are responsible for a specific piece of code within a software project. These developers are called code owners. The exact responsibilities of a code owner largely depend on the code ownership model (strong, weak, or collective), but overall, code owners are responsible for maintaining the code’s structure and quality.

Code ownership helps organize and manage responsibilities, making sure that everyone in the team has a clear understanding of who is responsible for maintaining the quality and functionality of a particular piece of code. This could be anything: from testing, maintenance of the source code, or fixing bugs. Put simply, a developer or team of developers (code owners) that are responsible for a piece of code (in a codebase) must make sure that the code is well-designed, bug-free, and of high-quality.

Code owners are also expected to respond to bug reports, requests for new features, and approving pull-requests. They are also usually the people to reach out to for any questions or issues related to the code they own. This process is known as code review.