Comments on: 5 Tips to Understand Legacy Code

By: Jonathan Boccara

Jonathan Boccara — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:30:00 +0000

In reply to Adam Sawicki. Yep, saw your 6th tip and everyone should go read it!

By: Jonathan Boccara

Jonathan Boccara — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 16:30:00 +0000

In reply to Nico Bako. Great, thanks for sharing Nico!

By: Adam Sawicki

Adam Sawicki — Sat, 20 Jan 2018 14:46:00 +0000

I like that a lot and I agree with you! I posted a “response” on my blog:
http://asawicki.info/news_1672_6th_tip_to_understand_legacy_code.html

By: Nico Bako

Nico Bako — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 22:06:00 +0000

I work with a very large (over 10 000 lines) 3D-modeling software written in C++ by a person who was trained in Fortran and C. Needless to say, the code is as un-expressive as it gets. To make matters worse, I am the sole developer in charge of maintaining it.

I found that analyzing the call stacks was really helpful. Once I could identify 5 (or so) main functions of the app (ones that would be called at predictable times) then I could start adding my code within these functions.

For example, I found these functions: the function that is called when you start the app; the function that is called when you load a file; the function that is called every time the user clicks on the screen. With knowledge of where these functions are and when they are called I can start to interact with the codebase effectively. I insert my code within the codebase based on how often and when I need my code to be called.

By: Sebastien Dicaire

Sebastien Dicaire — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 15:00:00 +0000

In reply to Jonathan Boccara. I'm in the same boat as Romain. I know this would require more of your time but perhaps you could do both like a newspaper website. They have the video and a text summary below.

By: Jonathan Boccara

Jonathan Boccara — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 11:19:00 +0000

In reply to Romain CHARBIT.

Hi Romain,
Thanks for your feedback and comments.
The video channel is getting mixed feedbacks indeed. Some people prefer reading written text as you can navigate it more easily like you said, and some appreciate the videos.
I’m far from being an expert in making videos and I realize I must often make wrong calls. I am now trying to select topics that get across more easily in the video format. In particular involving animations or live coding. I count of the fact that the quality of the videos should increase over time, and we’ll see in a couple of months if the value brought by the videos to you guys makes it a good format or not, to decide if we should carry on with it.
For instance, next week’s video will be about learning a Boost library: Boost Phoenix. I have chosen the video format for this so that you can follow the code unfolding. If you have a chance to watch it please let me know if you enjoyed the video format or if you would have preferred a text as usual. I’m very interested in your feedback 
Anyway, the written articles are not going anywhere. A lot more are coming!
Thanks again for sharing your opinion, I wish I got even more feedback like yours.
Jonathan

By: Romain CHARBIT

Romain CHARBIT — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 08:30:00 +0000

Hi,
I really like your site and blog posts, I’ve been assiduously following them for several month now.
Just one comment though, which only reflects my usage of your posts, and not the content itself which is really great. I do not like at all the video format.
I think it does not add enough to justify its usage, and prevents me from skimming it. What I like with written blog posts is that, I can skim through it, go directly to code examples, trying to understand if the content will suit me or not. If it does, I can read it more carefully, go back and forth, skip some parts etc…

Anyway, I am sure the video format suits better to some others, and in the end, it is up to you to do whatever you like 😀
Keep up with the series, it is fantastic and very pedagogical!
Thanks.