I want to understand an existing project for improve myself more but i am not su

Question

I want to understand an existing project for improve myself more but i am not sure that project is overwhelming for me or not. I am not sure i am capable to understand it. I even think that i will be failed. When i look at projects, at a glance it makes me feel scary to see thousand line of codes .

I don't even know where to start read codes.Do i have to follow by debugging or another else? Can you please guide me about this situation ? I am totally get confused for start.

Edit : Few thing for specify about my question.

I know C# language and I have learned some WEB technologies like ASP.NET MVC 2 and Web Forms but sure still there will be many thing which i still don't know. I call myself as beginner but it is just because lack of professional experience in this area. But my OOP understanding is enough good. I am thinking to improve myself on WEB so i am looking for WEB projects like blog engines which is simpler than others for starting.

Explanation / Answer

Best is to start off by fixing bugs. Start with small bugs. Fixing the first bug is a big milestone. Because when you do that, you already know how to edit version controlled code, build it, understand the desired functionality and test it. You also know the conventions used, libraries available, idiom/riffs used, debugging techniques, coding style/conventions of the project, overall code organization, the bug tracking system used etc.

Do not be overwhelmed by the size of the project. Start small. Start with easy bugs. Ideally your mentor should assign something simple enough to get you familiar with your development environment. Then move on to small features, in modules that you are already familiar with. Then you can move on to more complex bugs or move to adjacent modules. In time you will be able to think in bigger chunks of the project and the size will suddenly seem smaller.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse I
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.