Ask HN: How do you navigate a new codebase?
Let's say you want to contribute to a large open source codebase like rails, or openssl. How do you go about learning the ins and outs, are there any tricks?
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9784008
In short, top-voted strategies include:
- Try to find out "hotspots" in code using some scripting (e.g. https://github.com/gilesbowkett/rewind). According to user tessierashpool on the last thread:
> we tend to view files in a list, but in reality, some files are very central, some files are out on the periphery and only interact with a few other files
So, finding out where most things happen in the project is a good way to get up to speed.
- "Deep-diving": starting from a high-level point (say, the moment you type ssh-keygen on your terminal), go down the subroutine rabbit hole. You're likely to cover a lot of ground this way.
But really, read the previous discussion, many many great strategies shared - many of which I already used before reading that discussion and some I've incorporated since.