New Team, New Codebase? Practical Tips for a Seamless Onboarding Journey

Joining a new team? Here are some practical tips on how you can quickly build a basic understanding of a new system & codebase, make your onboarding smoother, and build a great first impression among your new teammates!

Business Context

Understand “why” this system was built, what problem it solves, and the different use cases & workflows. Talk to your product manager to grasp the business context around this.

Databases

Deep dive into the database schema of this system. This will enable you to understand the entities and sub-entities of this system, the relationships between different pieces of data, and the rules governing data interactions. Once you understand the what & how of the data storage, it’s easy to understand how the data flows through the system.

Map the Service Ecosystem

This service doesn’t exist in isolation; it’s part of a vibrant ecosystem, interacting with other services to create a seamless user experience. Understanding these interactions with other services and dependencies is crucial to help you see the bigger picture.

Over to you, share your insights and strategies for navigating new systems in the comments below.