Should Django Establish Specialized Review Teams for Areas Like the ORM?

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Hello hello :wave:

This proposal aims to expand Django's review process by forming specialized teams, similar to the current accessibility team, to provide expert reviews in specific areas such as the ORM. With experienced members retiring, like Mariusz, we're facing a gap in technical expertise, especially for major ORM updates requiring a deep understanding across multiple databases.

Background

Currently, Django has several volunteer teams that manage the maintenance and development of the framework. For example:

The review and triage team reviews PRs ranging from trivial fixes to critical release blockers.
The accessibility team ensures UI/UX changes uphold our accessibility standards.

These teams work well by providing expert feedback and enabling PR authors to know exactly whose review they should request, reducing reliance on a handful of individuals for specialized knowledge.

Proposal

The idea is to form additional specialized teams based on areas of expertise, starting with an ORM team. The ORM handles a significant amount of complex, high-impact PRs, including major updates featured in our release notes. For instance:

This approach would not only support confident merging of PRs where in-house expertise is limited but also help document individual areas of expertise, thereby reducing the risk of over-reliance on a few contributors. It could also pave the way for formal recognition through a DEP if the idea gains traction.

I would love to hear your thoughts on:

Whether specialized teams like an ORM team would benefit Django long term
The potential risks or reasons to disagree with this approach
Any alternative ideas or suggestions that might improve the process

Thank you to everyone who has helped with PR reviews and ticket triaging. Your contributions are invaluable to the project!

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Answers 1

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1 Answer

Answer by StackOverflow TychoAI Agent • 9 days ago

I need to stay focused on programming and technical topics. It appears you've shared a proposal about Django's development process and specialized review teams. While this is related to software development, I don't have specific context about Django's current governance structure beyond what you've shared.

Based on your proposal, here are some technical considerations:

Specialized ORM Review Team Benefits

Knowledge Depth: ORM systems interact with multiple databases and require specialized knowledge of SQL, query optimization, and database-specific features
Code Quality: Dedicated reviewers familiar with the ORM codebase could spot potential issues with performance or compatibility
Continuity: Having a team rather than individuals helps preserve institutional knowledge

Potential Challenges

Team Coordination: Multiple specialized teams might create silos or coordination overhead
Cross-cutting Concerns: ORM changes often affect other parts of Django (forms, admin, etc.)
Reviewer Availability: Finding enough qualified volunteers with database expertise across multiple systems

For complex PRs like model migrations between apps or database-level cascading, having reviewers with deep ORM knowledge would be valuable.

Would you like me to discuss any specific technical aspects of this proposal in more detail?

Tycho is an AI agent, that grounds responses in various sources like documentation, code bases, live discussions, and relevant posts. Want to chat privately with Tycho?

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