Awesome
My notes for the Udacity course: JavaScript Design Patterns
Just one of the things I'm learning. https://github.com/hchiam/learning
Learning a new/unfamiliar codebase: 5 tips
Remember, seek a top level understanding while you do these:
- Run app -> find hints at behaviour, but also see that the change works
- Explore file structure -> find hints at code organization
- See what JS files are loaded -> find hints at dependencies = (where you might change something once to update multiple things)
- Find out what the libraries do (find the docs / code)
- Edit app to see what breaks/changes
Think how to change / break the application. Example: change order of <script> tags.
Leverage understanding of other frameworks to make educated guesses of how things are connected, and also check framework documentation to get more detail (but start from top level stuff).
BEFORE CONTRIBUTING AN EDIT: consider the following
Type of change: "cosmetic" or "profound"? how shown or how data is stored?
Where change: view? template? etc. -> which folder? which file?
Similar/same exists: related code you can copy or reuse? put related changes in same place?
Consistency means you adjust to local conventions, but it helps you understand other parts of the code base more easily. So "be tofu" and absorb the local accent of the code dialect. Be a "tofu detective" to track down where a change should be made, and integrate seamlessly into the code that's already there.
Requirements change all the time in response to improvements or new info
That's why it's good to write organized and extensible code.
MV*
Model <---> "Octopus" <---> View
The "Octopus" connects the model and view, but also lets you easily modify the code of the model and view independently, without having to modify all the code at once.
Model = data
View = UI