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First Job Tips: Overcoming the Anxiety of a Large Codebase

Ellen Macpherson on February 05, 2020

When I started my first role in software development, it didn't take me long to realise that you can do all the study in the world, but it will nev...
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Anthony Rolfe

Thanks for this article! I'm a contractor at IBM and they've put me on this development team that is taking a 20 year old Java application and extending it to their intranet...the 1+ Million lines of code have been a "joy" to figure out and get used to but I love learning more and more about it each day. Your article will definitely help!

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Ellen Macpherson

Thanks for reading, Anthony. Glad the article was useful.

Oh boy do I know how that feels. I also work for a huge organisation and the codebase I work in is massive. Luckily not 20 years old though! Good luck figuring it all out. It's great that you're enjoying the process of it all.

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MurrayVarey

Great article! This is something that a lot of people (including myself) struggle with when they start working on a real codebase.

Just fix it!

Definitely. In my opinion, the best way to learn about a codebase is to solve a real problem. Preferably with guidance from someone who knows their way around.

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Ellen Macpherson

Thanks for reading! And I totally agree with you. Nothing helped me more than fixing my first bug while pairing with my team lead.

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neoan

Great article! I made a live experiment trying to show people how I go about it on YouTube. Maybe it's interesting for the reader

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Ellen Macpherson

Brilliant! The more resources the better. Thanks for sharing!