IMO, the two easy things: - read other similar projects and understand how / why they work - fix problems that you see. If there are packages you're using fr

IMO, the two easy things: - read other similar projects and understand how / why they work - fix problems that you see. If there are packages you're using from other systems that's often a very easy place to start with the first one... follow through all that code and see how it's organized. With the second one, I'll say that it's really easy to put up with crappy workflows just because it is what you're used to. You have to not be willing to put up with the things you don't like in order to fix things. Use source control. Don't write functions that are 300 lines long. Think about the times that you have problems in your code and don't let those happen in the future.