Parachute into Brownfield Development

What is?

• Not legacy but not a brand new app
• PCL for example
• Possibly gone stale
• You have access to the code you are able to change it
• Not in obsolete technology
• RBRS would not get BF

Where to start

• Documentation
• Rarely up to date
• Meetings
• Gives you the feel of the team
• Look at the code
• Our natural instinct
• Solve a defect
• Start with a bug fix
• might help to find your way around
• really hard
• Knowledge transfer
• peer programming so get social and guidance
• semi-productive right from the start
• Analyse build process
• Might not always exist
• Shows you the release/code structure
• PCL has a build script, but I can't get it to work
• You learn the 3rd party reliabilities
• Ask, why are you there.
• What happened so bad that I'm here

First steps

• Automate the build / deploy
• Should I jump into the code now?
• Probably not
• Check on the Version Control System
• Is it being used, is it good, can it be improved, how's the structure
• CI
• Make sure it Compiles
• Make sure it Executes
• Then orchestrate Release Management
• You want something you can instantly see
• Only need a Bare minimum box
• Code
• Pair program is the best start
• Path trace
• New feature creation
• Probably just going to end up thrashing
• Style
• Don't worry about changing standards
• Standards are for consistency
• worry about code flexibility
• SRP, SoC, Coupling, Cohesion, Contracts
• Automated testing
• Was it TDD?
• How do they run? Are they good?
• Are they real unit tests
• Take into account your release schedule before you start ripping apart the code
• Goals
• Be nimble, be quick, be agile

Social aspects

• Dev team
• Tech team
• Testing/QA
• BAs
• Management
• Clients! >:(
• You can't force it down someones throat. They have to buy in.

Book

• Brownfield Application Development in .NET

Notes

• Remember the ramp up time
• If your BAs know how brittle a piece of code is, you have a huge problem
• If you are using DI then you have already broken your dependencies
• Windsor on Unity
• Enforce policies through culture
• Sell people on the why
• Working on code includes Unit Tests and Integration Tests
• It's going to take you the same amount of time regardless of fixed budget / fixed time
• Keep people apprised of where you are and if you're on time