I have not been happy with LGTM type of code reviews in recent years. Creating this checklist as a reviewer to make my review count. So I made myself a little checklist that's been helping me be a better reviewer. Thought I'd share it here:

• [ ] Read the description and verify it links to the task/ticket for deeper details

• [ ] Verify all test cases have passed (wait for green checkmarks on Github Actions or third-party workflows to complete)

• [ ] Review the series of commit messages in the PR for context and changes but many times with increase in number of commits they are less helpful

• [ ] Examine the core feature implementation or main logic changes where the magic happens

• [ ] Search for and review dependent functions which could get affected

• [ ] Verify test cases are added/edited for modified code

• [ ] Check for DRY principle adherence and necessary code comments for future maintainability

• [ ] Confirm code follows agreed naming conventions and code patterns

• [ ] Review error handling and null check implementations

Also, many of these steps only require a very quick focused glance. I'm not suggesting spending hours on each PR. The main priorities are: Validating the feature/value add, Ensuring DRY principles are followed, Checking for security risks and Check for any performance or use alternate libraries, methods or algo for optimization.