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Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base?

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Re: Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base?

#11

Post by zunzun » Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 5:24 PM UTC

c3c wrote: post #10

zunzun wrote: post #3

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.

Does it create call diagrams by any chance?

All method references are hyperlinked, so that you can click through and trace calls.

Re: Ask HN: What tools do you use to understand big code-base?

#12

Post by tmm84 » Fri, Mar 22, 2019, 4:11 AM UTC

_shadi wrote: post #6

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.

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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