Why wouldn't you reach for a decompiler first?

I guess perhaps you are working with some very obfuscated code, still if you are black box profiling code it might make sense to crack open that box as much as possible. Unless what you are working with is DRM-level "performs like cow dung in a blender" horrifically inefficient, I can't imagine it is obfuscated that badly.

At any rate, hopefully you are paid well for it, reverse engineering is difficult, to say the least.

They have the source code but they need someone to sign off, etc, etc (I am an external contractor) and meanwhile I started by doing what I could and now am nearly finished. Decompiling the old app would be hard because it is a VB application.

Holey moley, that's just plain cruel.

Haha, wtf :D.