Have you ever felt overwhelmed by a large and complex software codebase?
Joining an existing team with a large, unfamiliar codebase can be daunting, especially when thereโs little documentation and poor test coverage.
I was recently tasked with adding a new feature to a project and it took me an unusually long time to complete. I wasnโt struggling because of my knowledge of the framework used or programming language, but because I didnโt fully understand how the project was designed or its various user workflows. It was my first time seeing this codebase and the tight delivery deadline only added to the pressure.
To get past this, I began searching how to quickly understand large, complex codebases. Here are a few key insights Iโve gathered. I call this ๐ง๐ผ๐ฝ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต
๐ญ. ๐จ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐โ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ:โจThis may sound obvious, but sometime even experienced developers lack a basic understanding of what the system's main purpose is. Focus on understanding the business concepts before diving into the technology. Ask questions like: Who is using the software? What are their main objectives? ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ:โจStart with the high-level architecture before getting into the details of the each implementation. Understand the different layers, such as the web tier, business tier, and database tier, as well as front-end and back-end. You donโt need to know every technical detail, just enough to get a general understanding of the systemโs structure. This can help to create a map of how different piece of technology work together.
๐ฏ. ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ:โจBegin with the specific code or component youโre working on. Understand whatโs its purpose? What functionality does it provide? If available, unit tests can be helpful in understanding how a component works. In well-structured projects, good naming conventions for variables and methods often provide hints about many code flows.
Itโs important to remember that this process isnโt immediate - understanding a codebase is iterative. The more you dig into these concepts and understand user journey flows, the easier it gets.
Donโt hesitate to ask for help if you are stuck. Happy coding!๐
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