Stage 4 · Lesson 5 of 7
Spotting unrequested changes
Tools often do more than you asked: rename variables, reformat whole files, add abstractions, sneak in an extra feature, delete comments or tests, or leave helper functions nothing calls. Each extra change makes the harder to review, can cause conflicts, and may change behaviour you did not agree to.
Look for files outside the task, formatting-only noise and new code with no caller. When you see it, reject those parts, or ask the tool to redo the change limited to the named files. Stating what is out of scope in your spec prevents most of it.
Common trapaccepting a helpful-looking mixed into a bug fix, so when something breaks later nobody can tell which change caused it.
A question to check yourself, an AI practice session and 1 cheat sheet entry come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it
Resources for this stage
Start with
- GuideFreeGoogle Engineering Practices
Google · Intermediate
Google's free code review guide: what reviewers look for and how to write review comments