Can you guys share how will you understand large open source code base the efficient way ?
For me, I first run the project locally and browse code and create mind map for each function to know who calls who and understand the flow and logging each parameters to know exactly what data its going to process.
How about you guys ? maybe you have much more efficient ways of doing please share on comments :)
Top comments (3)
It depends on your goals, but understanding the whole codebase seems tough no matter how you shake it. Knowing parts of it in context seems more achievable depending on what you need out of the process.
But either way — Reading tests helps a lot in the environments I work in. They are a quick way to see what past programmers intended of the code.
I look at the docs for the big picture, then at the tests to see precise usage, then I set a breakpoint at the entry point and step through the code, like a visitor through a zoo of objects