Code reviews: Building a stronger, safer, better digital platform

What is a code review?

Code reviews are systematic checks of your site’s codebase by another developer (or a team of developers). They go beyond identifying typos or syntax errors. A quality review digs deeper—looking for security vulnerabilities, performance bottlenecks, duplicated code, and practices that could cause problems in the future.

Think of it as a structural inspection for your application. For organisations running on a CMS, this is especially important, since even small issues can compound during upgrades. Just as building inspections identify hidden issues that can become costly over time, code reviews catch weaknesses early, before they significantly impact your users or your business.

The purpose of a review

A code review provides a clear understanding of your codebase. It constructively highlights areas for improvement while identifying potential risks related to:

• Maintenance
• Operational stability
• Scalability
• Security

Upgrade readiness—show how easily your platform can adopt patches, minor updates, or major CMS version upgrades without incurring disproportionate cost or disruption.
The result is an independent assessment that gives you confidence in the quality of your application and clear direction for improvement, optimising the ROI of your project.

The measurable benefits

Research across CMS platforms has shown just how powerful code reviews can be:

• Fewer defects: According to SmartBear research, code reviews cut defects by up to 70%, improving stability and reliability.
• Fewer bugs: Teams see a 25–35% reduction in bugs, which means fewer disruptions for users.
• Faster delivery: Development can accelerate by nearly 20% when clean, peer-reviewed code is in place.
• Better performance: Audits have been shown to deliver up to 30% improvements in performance and smoother upgrade paths.
• Simpler upgrades: Reviews reduce technical debt and highlight blockers that often make upgrades painful. Clean, consistent code means minor updates can be applied faster and with less risk, while major version upgrades require significantly less rework. This translates into lower long-term costs and smoother adoption of new CMS features.

These numbers make it clear—reviews aren’t optional. They’re a critical part of maintaining a secure, high-performing CMS.

Why it matters for CMS platforms

Your CMS sits at the heart of your digital presence. From public-facing websites to internal services, downtime or vulnerabilities have immediate consequences:

• A security breach can damage trust.
• A slow page load can push users away.
• A poorly managed upgrade can bring critical services offline.

Regular reviews act as low-cost “insurance” that keeps your CMS secure, future-ready, and performing at its best.

Why now?

Digital platforms are becoming increasingly complex. Many involve third-party developers, multiple integrations, and large teams working across different parts of the ecosystem. That complexity increases the risks of inconsistent code quality, hidden vulnerabilities, costly rework, and painful upgrade cycles. Without a review, each new CMS release compounds the challenge—making upgrades slower, riskier, and more expensive over time.

At Silverstripe, we believe that experience matters—not just for your end users, but for the maintainers, developers, and partners who work on your platform. Code reviews help align those experiences by:

• Safeguarding security through identifying vulnerabilities before they become risks.
• Boosting performance so your site loads quickly and scales smoothly.
• Improving maintainability: cleaning up redundant code and ensuring consistency.
• Unlocking opportunities by preparing your platform for future integrations and larger-scale projects.

A practical example

Imagine a government agency preparing to launch a new online service. Without a review, redundant or vulnerable code might go unnoticed until launch day—resulting in downtime, reputational damage, and expensive emergency fixes.

With a review, those issues are identified early, giving the team confidence that the service will perform as expected when it goes live—and that future upgrades will be far less complex, risky, and costly.

This is the kind of difference a structured review process can make: reducing risk, proving value quickly, and strengthening the foundation for growth.

Conclusion

Your website is more than a communications channel—it’s how people experience your organisation. Protecting that experience requires attention not just to design and content, but also to the quality of the code that powers it.

Regular reviews are one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to ensure your CMS is secure, performant, and upgrade-ready—saving you time, money, and stress whenever the platform evolves.

At Silverstripe, our Solutions team and developers monitor best practices and coding standards across both bespoke client projects and our open-source CMS. We can run a code review tailored to your needs, delivering clear insights and actionable improvements in a detailed report with a fast turnaround.

Strengthen your Silverstripe CMS platform

Curious about what a review could uncover for your organisation? Let’s have a chat. Email us today at hello@silverstripe.com.