Approaching Large Code Bases

[atrium]

Hi all. I've been programming a while, and have been looking at trying to join an open source project. I've downloaded the source for several projects (Gimp, Thunar) and am not really sure where you even start trying to get a grasp on the code.

Can anyone offer any help on where/how to approach large code bases?

[GNU-Fan]

Hi,

Can anyone offer any help on where/how to approach large code bases?

why start out big?
There are many small free and open software projects which are developed with the same tools like the very big ones (there use some kind of SVN and mailing lists for communication, that is.)

The advantage is -- and this is my experience -- that the atmosphere is more friendly and the developers are patiently when you ask questions. This is not to say members of large project are all snobbish, but they just don't have much time to deal with starter's questions. The maintainers of small projects usually aren't under so much pressure and are glad if they realize somebody else cares about their project.

[atrium]

why start out big?

That's a good point. I'll look around for something smaller. Do you have any ideas?

[GNU-Fan]

That's a good point. I'll look around for something smaller. Do you have any ideas?

This should of course solely depend on your interest. Aren't there any apprehensible programs you use everyday (and gladly so) which you think are lacking one feature or another? Write something up and offer it on the mailing list. For nearly every project, documentation is sparse, so usually the maintainers get especially excited if you can help here.