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I've worked in a lot of legacy code bases. Here's my approach: * Skim around to get a general idea of what components are involved. * Try to understand that one module/class that keeps getting used a lot or is really important. * I mentally trace through that code, as if I'm a debugger. * Most importantly, I write down my discoveries/understanding as I go to help me retain this idea. * Re-skim with my new understanding and/or reorganize the code to be more concise or simpler. Depending on how ambitious you are, you might try to keep these changes. But with legacy code, it typically breaks as a result.

Every code base takes time to digest all the information. Sure the information passed your eyes, but is it committed to memory?




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