What is the purpose of a code review?

The primary purpose of a code review is to find mistakes in source code. During a code review, developers evaluate each other’s code for errors, potential bugs, adherence to coding standards, and overall code quality. This process helps ensure that the software is reliable and maintainable before it progresses further in the development cycle. By identifying issues early, code reviews can improve the efficiency of the coding process and enhance the overall quality of the software product.

The other choices represent different aspects of the software development lifecycle. Defining project requirements involves gathering and specifying what the software needs to accomplish, while adding new features pertains to the ongoing development phase where enhancements are made to existing systems. Testing the finished software is a separate phase that focuses on validating functionality and performance after the software is developed. Each of these activities is important, but they do not capture the specific focus and utility of code reviews.