Diving into the deep code waters

Tools and techniques for exploring an unknown (large) codebase

Based on Medium blog-post:
https://medium.com/@dvirsegal/diving-into-the-deep-code-waters-574b95c8c3cb

Transcript

1. Diving into the deep code waters 1
2. Don’t panic, relax, it takes time 2
3. High level 3
4. Documentation 4
5. Be Stupid 5
6. Unfamiliar tech stack 6
7. Baby Steps 7
8. Baby Steps Introduce small changes and see what breaks 7
9. Baby Steps Introduce small changes and see what breaks Add comments to explain what you think the code does 7
10. Baby Steps 8
11. Baby Steps Using a refactoring tool (Resharper ) apply changes to variable names to make them readable 8
12. Baby Steps Using a refactoring tool (Resharper ) apply changes to variable names to make them readable Reduce code clutter by deleting commented out code, meaningless comments… 8
13. Baby Steps 9
14. Baby Steps Get rid of magic numbers and apply code conventions 9
15. Baby Steps Get rid of magic numbers and apply code conventions Add tests where possible 9
16. Baby Steps 10
17. Baby Steps Defects 10
18. Reap the rewards of your work 11
19. Remind your future self 12
20. Remind your future self Regularly clean the code 12
21. Remind your future self Regularly clean the code Always test new functionalities 12
22. Remind your future self Regularly clean the code Always test new functionalities Allow time for refactoring 12
23. Dive even deeper 13
24. Follow me 14