I've started a handbook called "The People's Guide to Contracting". It's a work in progress, so you can check here from time to time if you want to see it grow. Here's what I've written so far:

 

People’s Guide to Contracting 

In the words of John Zinn Wherever you go, there you are!

 
Dealing with existing code problems - There are two situations you’ll experience when you’re brought in as a contractor. One is new development. The other is working with existing code. The software development lifecycle (SDLC) applies in both cases. Here are a few tips.
  1. Be prepared from the start - You’ll be interviewed for the job. There’s usually a period of time to ramp up before the job starts, but not always.
    1. The O’Reilly Bookshelf - has most books available on software development online for a small subscription fee, available as a trial.  Your local software user group can sometimes get you a free subscription. O’Reilly gives away lots of books through user groups.
    2. Books in printed form are good and easy on the eyes, but dated sometimes.
    3. Online forums - are useful tools to post and reply to topics you have questions about. Usually have rapid responses.
      1. Stack Overflow
      2. Codetown.us
      3. Various Usenet News Groups on specific topics
    4. User groups - good to bounce ideas in person
    5.  
  2. Invest in the appropriate tools and equipment. You’re called in as a contractor because you have the skill set the customer lacks. That includes knowledge about the subject, technology, and you as an independent contractor must provide your own equipment and software tools. There’s no time to waste on slow computers and out of date tools. Get the best you can afford and keep it up to date. Be sure you and the customer have the same configuration. 
  3. Listen carefully to every aspect of the project - Keep good notes. Google Docs is a useful tool that lets you outline and categorize your notes. It’s reliable and can be secure. You can also easily download everything quickly for use when you are offline.
  4. Analysis - Unified Modeling Language (UML) is an industry wide standard and your best friend. Start with Use Cases and support them with Interaction Diagrams, Sequence Diagrams, and the rest of the UML tools. Modify these diagrams every time something new arises. Fowler’s UML Distilled is good.
  5. Code dissection - This is why I started this handbook. I call my approach “The ABC’s of Code Dissection”. 
    1. Get code mentors to walk you through existing code. There’s nothing better. But, keep your eyes open for false assumptions.
    2. Use pseudocode to model existing code. Numbers and letters work well for modeling. For example, use variable names like A, B, C... and values like 1, 2, 3... to speed up transcribing the model. Use your computer to capture the model if possible to avoid having to copy notes.
    3. Print out the codebase and pin it up on the wall. It’s easier to deal with it in printed form. Use colors and diagrams to support your analysis. You’ll find yourself doing the same thing project after project. 
    4. Break the code up into sections. For example, user interface, database and server might be the top level sections. You’ll encounter overlap in the code, so create sections that capture where the code is and what it affects.
    5. Software architecture pattern recognition - You’ll begin to see patterns in the architecture. Isolate these patterns and you’ll have the power to reuse or change them. Gamma’s “Design Patterns” is good.
      1. Patterns allow for “pluggability” which is the ability to swap components easily. For example, say you discover your database doesn’t support a feature you need like stored procedures. Swapping the database can be a simple task if patterns were used in the SDLC.
      2. Code injection is the Spring Framework’s approach. It’s accomplished using patterns in the form of code components. Isolate repeated code to create objects, modules, whatever your programming language allows. Every bit of code you draw out into isolated units will speed up the SDLC and make the program run faster.
    6. Data modeling - you must often create your own data. Do a model of the project workflow. My example is “I am a beam of light”, which enters the eye. The light hits the retina, etc. Separate out verbs and nouns, making a glossary. You’ll wind up with a Data Dictionary with names and attributes, quantities and constraints. You can create your own data from the dictionary.
    7. Testing - automate with unit and integration tests. Write tests to verify code before you write the code. Every change you make to existing code must not break the codebase. You can inject your test framework or have a separate test codebase. It’s easier to have a switch that turns testing on and off.
    8. Tools (draft):
      1. database - TOAD
      2. profilers - Clover
      3. requirement repository - ReqPro, Doors
      4. UML - Visio, TextEdit and Textpad 
      5. stay tuned...
    9. Always question the given scenario. Be brave and write snippets to prototype alternatives to run with test data.
    10. Make code components if you find changes overly involved to implement. For example, if you need to add a column to a database table and it involved dozens of independent changes to the underlying codebase, consider extracting the HQL (or whatever) and injecting reusable components.
  6. Workflow - your daily workflow should include
    1. Log - keep a record of time, tasks and comments every day. The Log is your tool to keep your mind uncluttered. It allows you to think about other things while retaining details you couldn’t possibly remember later.
    2. Backups - use a code repository every time you change anything in the code with a README file or details explaining clearly what you’ve done and discovered.
    3. Daily standups - in one form or another you should talk with your team or lead every workday. Communication keeps details of work in the open and exposes hints and tips that make work more efficient. Beck’s “Extreme Programming” is good.



Surround your work with healthy breaks and pleasure, rest and moderation. Stay tuned. This is a work in progress.

Views: 38

Happy 10th year, JCertif!

Notes

Welcome to Codetown!

Codetown is a social network. It's got blogs, forums, groups, personal pages and more! You might think of Codetown as a funky camper van with lots of compartments for your stuff and a great multimedia system, too! Best of all, Codetown has room for all of your friends.

When you create a profile for yourself you get a personal page automatically. That's where you can be creative and do your own thing. People who want to get to know you will click on your name or picture and…
Continue

Created by Michael Levin Dec 18, 2008 at 6:56pm. Last updated by Michael Levin May 4, 2018.

Looking for Jobs or Staff?

Check out the Codetown Jobs group.

 

Enjoy the site? Support Codetown with your donation.



InfoQ Reading List

Temporal and OpenAI Launch AI Agent Durability with Public Preview Integration

Temporal has unveiled a public preview integration with the OpenAI Agents SDK, introducing durable execution capabilities to AI agent workflows built using OpenAI's framework.

By Craig Risi

Green IT: How to Reduce IT’s Environmental Footprint

Green IT focuses on reducing IT’s environmental footprint, by rethinking how you build, deploy, and power IT systems. At QCon London, Ludi Akue presented how her team did a lifecycle assessment, set a 10% emissions reduction goal, simplified architecture, and optimized frontends, to align with climate goals.

By Ben Linders

Presentation: Myth Busters: Is Rust a Slam Dunk?

Ramya Krishnamoorthy shares a detailed case study on rewriting Momento's high-performance data platform from Kotlin to Rust. She covers the technical challenges, including garbage collection bottlenecks and multithreaded contention, and the business trade-offs involved in adopting a new language to achieve predictable low tail latencies and maximize cost efficiency for their serverless services.

By Ramya Krishnamoorthy

.NET 10 RC 1: Introduces Persistent State in Blazor, Enhanced Validation, and Production-Ready Tools

Last week, Microsoft announced the release of .NET 10 RC 1, the first of two release candidates ahead of the final version. As stated by the .NET team, this build comes with a go-live license, allowing developers to use it in production environments with official support. It is available alongside Visual Studio 2026 Insiders and is supported in Visual Studio Code through the C# Dev Kit.

By Almir Vuk

Open Practices for Architecture and AI Adoption

Andrea Magnorsky presented on Byte-Sized Architecture at Cloud Native Summit 2025, as a format for building shared understanding through small, recurrent workshops. Ahilan Ponnusamy and Andreas Grabner discussed the Technology Operating Model for AI adoption. Both approaches drew on the Open Practice Library for human-centred collaboration and driving architectural evolution.

By Rafiq Gemmail

© 2025   Created by Michael Levin.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service