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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by mtmail on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @07:54PM (#19437448)
Some of these old discussions might help. Ignore the answers pointing to documention. I once had to dive into a medium size Java web application without documentation and it took me half a day to even find out where data was stored (in a H2 database) nevermind trying to install it or finding out what changed between the repository and what I found on the live server. Ultimately told the client it will be cheaper for them to find another contractor. Best of luck.

Ask HN: How to understand the large codebase of an open-source project? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16299125

Ask HN: Studying large code bases https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9060832

Ask HN: How to dive into large codebase? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12142807

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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by c3c on Wednesday March 20, 2019 @11:32AM (#19443190)
I can't believe there are no effective tools for that. Everything looks to be very low-level...
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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by in15minutes on Wednesday March 20, 2019 @11:25AM (#19443108)
Extremely useful, thank you.
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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by zunzun on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @08:00PM (#19437490)
doxygen turned the classes into hyperlinked web pages for a ginormous complex enterprise code base we worked on, it made understanding the code structure and class organization trivially easy - and we could email code structure links to each other for collaboration! For this purpose I rate doxygen as at least 11 or 12 out of a possible maximum of 10.
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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by c3c on Wednesday March 20, 2019 @11:34AM (#19443214)
Does it create call diagrams by any chance?
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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by zunzun on Wednesday March 20, 2019 @01:24PM (#19444473)
All method references are hyperlinked, so that you can click through and trace calls.
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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by solomatov on Wednesday March 20, 2019 @12:10AM (#19438900)
I would use Intellij. The most important features are:

* Find usages (Alt+F7)

* Navigate by hierarchy (Ctrl+U/Ctrl+Alt+B)

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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by Adamantcheese on Wednesday March 20, 2019 @12:25AM (#19438984)
I would have to agree. Find usages along with figuring out where/what variables are or used for will get you a long way. You can also go from the entry point and follow execution order, to the extent that you can.
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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by in15minutes on Wednesday March 20, 2019 @11:27AM (#19443143)
Is it akin to "open definition" on methods? Does it summarize the call graph for you or just jumps you the calls?
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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by _shadi on Wednesday March 20, 2019 @04:04AM (#19439938)
in addition to what was already suggested I use a notebook and a pen to keep track of interesting classes and write notes about them, like sort of an index, and I draw few flow charts.
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Re:Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base? by tmm84 on Friday March 22, 2019 @12:11AM (#19459541)
I used to be this way. I found that working in an editor using asciidoc/markdown is way easier for me. Copy/paste is faster than pen/paper. Also, I can write down notes and snippets of code to make life easier when I am trying to show someone what is going on in the source. Another advantage is I edit things to reflect the current state of the source and not get messed up by older notes/writings.
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