= Basic coding tips: Getting to grips with Orxonox code =

Often you'll find yourself in a situation where you have to work on a large code 
project you've never been involved with before. In such a situation, it is important 
to work systematically. This page tries to give hints and present software tools that
are useful in doing so.

== Navigating code with Eclipse ==
Using an integrated development environment such as Eclipse can make your life a lot
easier by providing tools to jump around in a project. A few important shortcuts are 
presented below:
  - '''Ctrl-LeftClick''' on anything: takes you to where it was defined.
  - '''Ctrl-Hover''': More advanced version of Ctrl-LeftClick, lets you choose to go to 
    implementation, declaration or super-declaration (not the same as super sayans :D)
  - '''Alt-Left''': go back to where you came from after doing '''Ctrl-LeftClick''' on something
  - '''Ctrl-H''': (Choose the 'File Search' tab): Search for text across the project
  - '''Ctrl-Spacebar''': Completion of functions, arguments etc

== Getting help: Documentation and authorship == 
It makes a lot of sense to find out what documentation there is and who wrote the code
you're concerned with. In terms of who wrote some code, look at the beginning of the file
to see who the author is. Alternatively, try
{{{  
  svn blame filename 
}}}
This outputs (rather verbosely) who wrote what line in the given file. [wiki:about#Contact Contact them] if 
anything is unclear. The documentation of Orxonox is built by doing the following in the
build folder:
{{{
  make doc
}}}
as soon as this is done, open
{{{ 
  build/doc/api/html/index.html
}}}
In a web browser to get to the main page of the documentation. From there, you can enter
the name of what you're looking for in the search bar on the top right.

== General important tips ==
Some or all of the following are simply good practice for any project:
  - '''Keep a log''' of your activities and progress. This does not have to be very formal and
    can be in the SVN commit messages, on a wiki page or anything you like. The more verbose, 
    the better. Trust me (I'm an engineer :D).
  - '''Document all the changes''' you do in '''SVN'''. Try to commit after every big change or addition
    you do to code and clearly write what has changed. Browsing code differences is as boring
    as it sounds.
  - '''Write the documentation while you write the code'''. If you implement a feature, create a wiki
    page on how it works conceptually, what files are involved in its implementation and 
  - If you work with a lot of different files, it can be useful (especially at the beginning of 
    your work) to also keep a list of relevant files and a few comments on what is where.