Tools For Understanding Code?

ewhac writes "Having just recently taken a new job, I find myself confronted with an enormous pile of existing, unfamiliar code written for a (somewhat) unfamiliar platform — and an implicit expectation that I'll grok it all Real Soon Now. Simply firing up an editor and reading through it has proven unequal to the task. I'm familiar with cscope, but it doesn't really seem to analyze program structure; it's just a very fancy 'grep' package with a rudimentary understanding of C syntax. A new-ish tool called ncc looks promising, as it appears to be based on an actual C/C++ parser, but the UI is clunky, and there doesn't appear to be any facility for integrating/communicating with an editor. What sorts of tools do you use for effectively analyzing and understanding a large code base?"

Comments

The best tool

[teknopurge]

A college degree in something CS/related will help you.

Regards,

Re:Stepping Through

[trolltalk.com]

If there's no documentation, you're better off to just throw it all out.

If it wasn't adequately documented, commented, etc., it was written by people who don't understand the need for proper planning, specs, etc., and its just going to be one ungodly time sink.

Really, just toss the entire pile of shit. And start looking for another job, because you'll only end up hating yourself and feeling unclean.