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> Yet, even a very competent C++ dev is going to have a ton of trouble figuring out the Chromium code base. I don't think this is true, or at least it wasn't c

> Yet, even a very competent C++ dev is going to have a ton of trouble figuring out the Chromium code base. I don't think this is true, or at least it wasn't circa 2018 when I was writing C++ professionally and semi-competently. I sometimes had to read, understand and change parts of the Chromium code base since I was working on a component which integrated CEF. Over time I began to think of Chromium as a good reference for how to maintain a well-organized C++ code base. It's remarkably plain and understandable, greppable even. Eventually I was able to contribute a patch or two back to CEF. The hardest thing by far with respect to making those contributions wasn't understanding the C++, it was understanding how to work the build system for development tasks.

TheHegemon 2y ago
Also agree that the example code base is not the best example to use. The Chromium code base is a joy to read and I would routinely spend hours just reading it to understand deeper topics relating to the JS runtime. Compared to my company's much smaller code base that would take hours just to understand the most simplest things because it was written so terribly.
ragnese 2y ago
That's true, and fair point for the example not being the best one. It was several years ago that I was poking at the Chromium code base to investigate something. I don't honestly remember much about the code itself, but I do remember struggling with the build system like you said. And that's probably why I just remember the whole endeavor as being difficult. Though, the build system being so complicated is not totally irrelevant to my point... Understanding how to actually build and use the code has some overlap with the idea of understanding the code or project as a whole.