This solves the "setting up the codebase" question but doesn't quite solve the "learning your codebase" issue. Especially if we're talking about a codebase with

This solves the "setting up the codebase" question but doesn't quite solve the "learning your codebase" issue. Especially if we're talking about a codebase with any sort of custom frameworks or heavy modifications of existing frameworks. If I can't get a "Here's a real problem we have, solve it however you want" thing, then this is the second best answer. You're absolutely right.