Ask HN: As a new hire how to deal with legacy codebase and introduce standards

by ipi on 7/30/2020, 5:33:17 AM with 2 comments
Recently accepted an offer to join a small size company as a mid developer. From the internal scoop and the interview I already know the code base is not great. There is a lot of technical debt, legacy tooling, poor coding practices and a lot of junk. I don't want to give up and just write more cruft or throw tantrums and pester everyone to re-write stuff.

If you are in my position, How would you approach ? What are the methodologies you follow to get yourself comfortable to start contributing to the existing codebase ? How do you gain existing team's confidence so as to persuade them to make some changes instead of sounding bossy ?

I faced similar situation in previous position and find it really difficult to get started. Any pointers are welcome!

  • by brudgers on 7/30/2020, 2:43:59 PM

    How do you gain existing team's confidence so as to persuade them to make some changes instead of sounding bossy?

    A new hire lacks the contextual knowledge to hold an informed opinion about the way things ought to be done. The phrase "introduce standards" is insulting to the existing team.

  • by junaid1460 on 7/30/2020, 6:36:37 AM

    Approach things slowly. With your every PR send small improvements, make sure people do review your code. Also brief it during stand-ups