Stop Apologizing for Big PRs (theendofcoding.com)

A recent article argues against the long-standing practice of apologizing for large pull requests (PRs) in software development, especially in the context of AI's growing role in coding. The traditional rule of creating small, focused PRs was based on reviewer attention constraints, which are no longer applicable due to AI's significant acceleration in code production. The authors suggest that large prototype PRs should be viewed as effective work blueprints, where the ideal strategy is to decompose them backward into smaller, reviewable sub-PRs after the prototype is confirmed to be functional. This shift to a backward-building approach not only maintains the reviewability of code changes but enhances the quality of live code by allowing for independent evaluation of each sub-PR. Tracing this workflow increases transparency and collaboration among teams while minimizing the bias and inconsistency that can arise from traditional forward decomposition. The article emphasizes that while AI simplifies the process of creating and reviewing code, it reinforces the critical role of human reviewers in assessing product intent and broader architectural considerations, thus evolving the coding discipline to leverage new capabilities afforded by AI tools.