Kirsa Valtonen
Lead Instructor
Spent eight years doing code review at medium-sized tech companies before moving into education. Started at maxonflux in 2020 after realizing I enjoyed teaching review skills more than actually doing reviews all day.
Building Better Code Through Better Review
Established 2019 in Canberra
We started maxonflux because too many developers were learning to write code without ever learning to read it critically. Code review isn't just a checkbox in your workflow. It's how teams actually grow.
Our Beginning
Why We Focus on Code Review Education
Back in 2019, I was teaching programming fundamentals at ANU and noticed something odd. Students could write functioning code, but when asked to explain what their classmate's code did, they struggled. Not because the code was bad. They just hadn't developed the reading skills yet.
Most boot camps and courses teach you to write. But professional development is actually more about reading, understanding, and discussing code written by others. That gap between education and real work bothered me enough to do something about it.
So we built programs specifically around code review skills. How to read unfamiliar codebases. How to give feedback that actually helps. How to receive criticism without getting defensive. The stuff that makes or breaks actual development teams.
What Guides Our Teaching
These aren't corporate values we printed on posters. They're principles we've developed through six years of teaching code review.
Reading First
You can't review what you can't read properly. We spend serious time on code comprehension before moving to critique skills. Most people skip this part and wonder why reviews feel shallow.
Honest Communication
Code review breaks down when people aren't direct. We teach how to point out problems clearly while keeping discussions productive. No corporate-speak or vague suggestions.
Practical Process
Theory is great but teams need workflows that actually work. Our programs focus on repeatable review processes you can implement immediately, not abstract best practices.
1
Start With Real Code
We don't use sanitized examples. From week one, you're reading actual production code with all its quirks and inconsistencies. That's what you'll face in real jobs, so that's what we practice with.
2
Practice Giving Feedback
Knowing what's wrong and communicating it effectively are completely different skills. We run structured review exercises where you learn to write feedback that actually helps the other person improve.
3
Handle Disagreements
Code review gets messy when people disagree about approaches. We create scenarios where you have to defend your position or accept someone else's feedback. Because that conflict resolution skill matters more than most technical knowledge.
4
Build Review Habits
One-off reviews don't build skills. We structure programs around consistent review practice over months, not weeks. That's how you develop the pattern recognition that makes reviews faster and more effective.
Who's Teaching This Stuff
We're developers who've spent years doing code review in actual teams. Now we teach others how to do it without the painful trial-and-error phase we went through.
Elara Munro
Program Director
Joined in 2021 after working as a tech lead where half my job was mediating code review conflicts. Turns out teaching people how to discuss code productively is way more satisfying than refereeing arguments.
Ready to Improve Your Code Review Skills?
Our next intake starts in September 2025. Programs run for six months with weekly practical sessions. If you're serious about becoming a better reviewer, let's talk about whether our approach fits what you need.
Get in Touch