editione1.0.1
Updated August 7, 2023Your integrated development environment (IDE) is one of the most important tools you will use when reading code. Your IDE gives you a set of tools to analyze and manipulate your codebase, so choosing a good IDE will help you navigate the code efficiently.
When reading code, youβll want an IDE that lets you jump to a function definition. This feature is crucial for learning and studying a new codebase, and most modern development environments should support this functionality. This allows you to jump through the codebase to see where a function is defined, which is useful whenever you come across a function call youβre not familiar with.
This feature gives you the ability to step through the codebase and follow the execution path, which helps you build a mental model of the code and what itβs doing. Itβs a great way to explore unfamiliar code and can help you get up to speed quickly.
When you jump to a function, take note of the file name and directory structure where the function lives. You can learn a lot about the structure of an application just by observing how things are organized.
Most IDEs that allow you to jump to function definitions should also give you the ability to move in the opposite direction as well. When youβre looking at a function, you might want to know all the places where itβs used within the codebase, which is helpful if youβre trying to track down a bug or refactor a piece of code. The ability to see all places where a function is called is equally as powerful for learning and understanding a codebase.
If your IDE doesnβt offer these basic features, consider switching to one that does. Once you get in the habit of navigating around the codebase by jumping from function to function, youβll wonder how you ever lived without it.
Development tools arenβt perfect, and sometimes our IDEs wonβt be aware of the entire structure of the codebase. Perhaps you have some code that is called dynamically or your language supports metaprogramming, both of which can be difficult for IDEs to understand. In some cases, you may need to use other tools like grep or git grep instead, which give you the ability to search your codebase for specific patterns such as variables, functions, class names, or constants.
For example, you may come across a function called findNearbyLocations() while reading some code. In order to find all locations where that function is called, you can run the following command from your projects root directory:
$ grep -r findNearbyLocations *