Return to Question

Possible Duplicate:
What is the most effective way to add functionality to unfamiliar, structurally unsound code?

Till now, all I have worked on is with Java projects that I build from scratch (mostly course projects and some hobby stuff). But now, I have come across a huge code base of about 46000 lines spread across around 200 classes. Additionally there are around 10 dependent libraries.

The problem is not only that I have never worked with someone else's code before, but I have not worked with such a huge code-base before too.

I am asked to completely understand the code-base and suggest improvements to the existing design. Now, I am kind of stuck. I start with some part of the code and then by the time I reach some other part of the code, I have lost the working details of the previous part.

I could really use your suggestions and experiences to deal with this issue. How do I proceed/document the details of the classes to understand the code better?

Edit: This is a university level research project. Students have developed it over couple of years and the bad part: The students who wrote this have already graduated. The existing documentation (only in the form of Javadocs, not UML stuff) is a lot but not helpful in terms of understanding the application design.

Possible Duplicate:
What is the most effective way to add functionality to unfamiliar, structurally unsound code?

Till now, all I have worked on is with Java projects that I build from scratch (mostly course projects and some hobby stuff). But now, I have come across a huge code base of about 46000 lines spread across around 200 classes. Additionally there are around 10 dependent libraries.

The problem is not only that I have never worked with someone else's code before, but I have not worked with such a huge code-base before too.

I am asked to completely understand the code-base and suggest improvements to the existing design. Now, I am kind of stuck. I start with some part of the code and then by the time I reach some other part of the code, I have lost the working details of the previous part.

I could really use your suggestions and experiences to deal with this issue. How do I proceed/document the details of the classes to understand the code better?

Edit: This is a university level research project. Students have developed it over couple of years and the bad part: The students who wrote this have already graduated. The existing documentation (only in the form of Javadocs, not UML stuff) is a lot but not helpful in terms of understanding the application design.

Till now, all I have worked on is with Java projects that I build from scratch (mostly course projects and some hobby stuff). But now, I have come across a huge code base of about 46000 lines spread across around 200 classes. Additionally there are around 10 dependent libraries.

The problem is not only that I have never worked with someone else's code before, but I have not worked with such a huge code-base before too.

I am asked to completely understand the code-base and suggest improvements to the existing design. Now, I am kind of stuck. I start with some part of the code and then by the time I reach some other part of the code, I have lost the working details of the previous part.

I could really use your suggestions and experiences to deal with this issue. How do I proceed/document the details of the classes to understand the code better?

Edit: This is a university level research project. Students have developed it over couple of years and the bad part: The students who wrote this have already graduated. The existing documentation (only in the form of Javadocs, not UML stuff) is a lot but not helpful in terms of understanding the application design.

Possible Duplicate:
What is the most effective way to add functionality to unfamiliar, structurally unsound code?

Till now, all I have worked on is with Java projects that I build from scratch (mostly course projects and some hobby stuff). But now, I have come across a huge code base of about 46000 lines spread across around 200 classes. Additionally there are around 10 dependent libraries.

The problem is not only that I have never worked with someone else's code before, but I have not worked with such a huge code-base before too.

I am asked to completely understand the code-base and suggest improvements to the existing design. Now, I am kind of stuck. I start with some part of the code and then by the time I reach some other part of the code, I have lost the working details of the previous part.

I could really use your suggestions and experiences to deal with this issue. How do I proceed/document the details of the classes to understand the code better?

Edit: This is a university level research project. Students have developed it over couple of years and the bad part: The students who wrote this have already graduated. The existing documentation (only in the form of Javadocs, not UML stuff) is a lot but not helpful in terms of understanding the application design.

Till now, all I have worked on is with Java projects that I build from scratch (mostly course projects and some hobby stuff). But now, I have come across a huge code base of about 46000 lines spread across around 200 classes. Additionally there are around 10 dependent libraries.

The problem is not only that I have never worked with someone else's code before, but I have not worked with such a huge code-base before too.

I am asked to completely understand the code-base and suggest improvements to the existing design. Now, I am kind of stuck. I start with some part of the code and then by the time I reach some other part of the code, I have lost the working details of the previous part.

I could really use your suggestions and experiences to deal with this issue. How do I proceed/document the details of the classes to understand the code better?

Till now, all I have worked on is with Java projects that I build from scratch (mostly course projects and some hobby stuff). But now, I have come across a huge code base of about 46000 lines spread across around 200 classes. Additionally there are around 10 dependent libraries.

The problem is not only that I have never worked with someone else's code before, but I have not worked with such a huge code-base before too.

I am asked to completely understand the code-base and suggest improvements to the existing design. Now, I am kind of stuck. I start with some part of the code and then by the time I reach some other part of the code, I have lost the working details of the previous part.

I could really use your suggestions and experiences to deal with this issue. How do I proceed/document the details of the classes to understand the code better?

Edit: This is a university level research project. Students have developed it over couple of years and the bad part: The students who wrote this have already graduated. The existing documentation (only in the form of Javadocs, not UML stuff) is a lot but not helpful in terms of understanding the application design.