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Show HN: Codeflow – Understand a codebase quicker with PowerPoint-like tutorials

usecodeflow.com

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Re: Show HN: Codeflow – Understand a codebase quicker with PowerPoint-like tutorials

#31
post #29

Nice. I did something very similar. See https://storytime.dev/

Hi, I only checked it out on my phone for a minute so please don't take my comments too serious.

I think I like the idea and you have some slick visuals on there. Unfortunately not really usable on small screens, but that's a comment issue with anything code related. In any case it might be helpful to see it embedded as widgets in documentation to explain code segments which explain how to use a library or framework as an alternative to annotating the code snippets and having explanations in copy below.

While playing around with it my initial issue was that I wasn't sure if it was going to "play" automatically or if I could control when I was ready to skip to the next step / explanation. The auto play really didn't work for me in the sense that it was either to quick or unexpected. I would prefer to control the pace myself, especially if it's about reading code where I might want to stop and ponder. I think I would like to simply click a next button, perhaps shown as an arrow next to the current "box". A back/previous button next to the restart button wouldn't be nice as well. Hopefully that wouldn't complicate the UI to much.

The next issue was related to my small viewport: I missed the pop-ups because it (at least on Chrome for Android) did not automatically scroll to the next one. I would consider that would be very helpful for longer code segments.

Hope this helps. Good luck and good job in any case.

Re: Show HN: Codeflow – Understand a codebase quicker with PowerPoint-like tutorials

#32
post #6
post #4

I would like a tool that does something similar to this but on a more ad-hoc basis. i.e. to track my own explorations and understanding for fixing a given problem in a code base. I'll also admit that I had a hard time understanding exactly how it worked. It wasn't completely clear for each 'slide' what code was being referred to, I think the highlighting of the code being explained needs to be much more defined or th…

> I would like a tool that does something similar to this but on a more ad-hoc basis. i.e. to track my own explorations and understanding for fixing a given problem in a code base. Is this more along the lines of what you were thinking? https://app.haxor.sh/replay/bc8262ca-9d5b-493a-af48-3d59e366... This is my own project, Haxor, which is essentially screencasting for your getting-started experience.

This project looks great? +1

Re: Show HN: Codeflow – Understand a codebase quicker with PowerPoint-like tutorials

#35
Hey, nice project, and congrats on launch. But have you considered renaming the project? especially with other projects with same/similar naming?

https://www.getcodeflow.com/

http://codeflow.co/

Disclaimer: I am the founder of http://codeflow.co. We have been around since 2014 and have got the name copyrighted around 2016.

Re: Show HN: Codeflow – Understand a codebase quicker with PowerPoint-like tutorials

#36

Hey, nice project, and congrats on launch. But have you considered renaming the project? especially with other projects with same/similar naming? https://www.getcodeflow.com/ http://codeflow.co/ Disclaimer: I am the founder of http://codeflow.co . We have been around since 2014 and have got the name copyrighted around 2016.

Do you mean registered trademark? I don’t think copyright would apply to a short name.

Re: Show HN: Codeflow – Understand a codebase quicker with PowerPoint-like tutorials

#37
> No more inconsistent documentation scattered throghout your codebase. Create tutorials that highlight the right way to do things and are accessible to all.

FYI “throughout” is misspelled. This looks really promising. I’m excited to give it a try at my workplace.

Re: Show HN: Codeflow – Understand a codebase quicker with PowerPoint-like tutorials

#38

> No more inconsistent documentation scattered throghout your codebase. Create tutorials that highlight the right way to do things and are accessible to all. FYI “throughout” is misspelled. This looks really promising. I’m excited to give it a try at my workplace.

Spelling is hard haha. Thanks for the feedback and let me know if you have any specific feature requests :)

Re: Show HN: Codeflow – Understand a codebase quicker with PowerPoint-like tutorials

#40

the best way to ramp up on a codebase is to simply follow the critical path and draw an execution diagram of the entire critical path. tools like these are gimmicks.

My experience with large codebases is it is hard to follow a critical path, especially with multiple things running in parallel. This leads to lots of back and forth between the new engineer and the rest of his team, taking up time for both parties -- which is why we created Codeflow.

However, if there is a better way to follow the critical path/best practices that you do follow to do so, I'd be glad to hear them!

Looking forward to any insights you may have, and thanks for the feedback

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