Most open source projects are rightly proud of their communities, long histories (both measured in time and version control), passionate debates and occasional trolling. Newcomers to these communities often face an uphill battle, though. Not just in understanding decision making processes and community standards, but in coming to terms with often complex, contradictory, and poorly documented code bases. This talk will introduce you to the concepts and tools you need to be an expert code, culture, and community archaeologist and quickly become productive and knowledgeable in an unknown or legacy code base.

1. Software Archaeology
For Beginners
Code, Community and Culture

2. who
engineer and operations chap
open source chap
funny accent
(photo by Jennie Rainsford)

3. other matters
author
http://www.jamesturnbull.net
hack-n-slash developer
https://github.com/jamtur01
pontification
http://www.kartar.net

4. The LogStash Book
www.logstashbook.com

5. The Docker Book
www.dockerbook.com

6. Who are you?

7. Why?

8. Three themes
A bit of culture
Some things about community
Quite a lot about code,
documentation and tests

9. But I thought this
talk was just
technical?
Or ...
Why do I give a crap about
culture and community?

10. Culture

11. What's culture?
Why is culture important?

12. Read & Listen
Patience is a virtue

13. Community

14. Communication
Use the mechanisms the project use
Ask questions
Over-share
Be polite, be upbeat

15. Collaboration
Earn trust through little steps

16. But it's broken!

17. You catch more
flies with honey

18. Code,
Documentation
and Tests

19. What is Software
Archaeology?
The fine art of software
dumpster diving

20. Documentation
Visualization
Testing & Truth
Design & Style
Performance

21. Read all the
documentation

22. Run all the
documentation

23. (Re-)Write
documentation

24. Is there a design?

26. Draw pictures
and write down
the story

28. Build a
development
environment
And yes document it.

29. Run the tests

30. Fix the broken
tests

31. You fixed the
tests?

32. What do the tests
cover?

33. #g ts -oe
o et cvr
PS
AS
cvrg:97 o saeet
oeae .% f ttmns
o
k
gtu.o/ocoddce 044
ihbcmdtlu/okr .4s

35. Wow do we suck

36. Write new tests

37. Tests as
documentation

38. Run Metrics

40. Metrics reveal
Code smells
Troubled subsystems
All good places to start coding

41. Style & Linting

43. #g to vt.
o ol e
cmad.o57 agsfrpit vr % o wogt
omnsg:6: r
o rnf eb d f rn
egn/tem_etg:6:agepceOtu frp
niesrasts.o18 r xetdupt o
egn/tem_etg:2:psil fratn dr
niesrasts.o28 osbe omtig ie
gahrvraf/usts.o39 agcag.idf
rpdie/usaf_etg:8: r hneKn
gahrvraf/usts.o49 agcag.idf
rpdie/usaf_etg:2: r hneKn
gahrvrdvaprdvcstg:5 src fed
rpdie/empe/eiee.o3: tut il

44. Profiling

45. #g to prfaiaipo
o ol po p p.rf
Wloet prf Frhl,tp 'ep.
ecm o po! o ep ye hl'
(po)tp0
prf o1
Ttl 22 smls
oa: 55 ape
28 1.% 1.%
9
18
18
35 1.%rniempces
4
37 utm.aacs1
28 1.% 2.%
6
06
24
22 8.%mi.idop
14 41 anFnLos
21 99 3.%
5
.% 24
41 1.%sabok
5
79 cnlc
18 70 3.%
7
.% 94
31 1.%hs_net
5
39 ahisr
...

46. Performance
problems are
often tied to
code smells

47. So what have we
learnt?

48. Understand all of
culture,
community and
code

49. Little things can
have big impacts

50. Leave things
better than you
found them.

51. Questions?

52. references
Dig - Copyright University of California Santa Cruz 2009
Culture - Copyright Charles Ebereonwu
Community - Copyright Storm Crypt
Flies and Honey - Copyright Kent Wang
Happy Kids - Copyright Lighttruth
A Picture is worth a thousand words - Copyright Jessica Hemrick