I have recently started work at a company using their proprietary CMS. Unfortuna
ID: 641889 • Letter: I
Question
I have recently started work at a company using their proprietary CMS. Unfortunately, there is virtually no documentation for the application, and the source comments are also quite sparse.
Normally, given a particular task - I work down through the choices below, going to the next step if I can't find a solution
1: Consult the documentation (n/a) on how to do task X (i.e. create a page)
2: Read the source code - output variables - generally halt search after digging 4 or 5 steps into class/method chain
3: Ask the existing development team how they might achieve X in their application
4: Read the (uncommented) source again - go "rabbit hunting" - pursue each chain to completion
5: Make tea
On the one hand, my employer is looking for technical capability. On the other, they are looking for speed of execution. They are averse to me asking the other developer for assistance (despite the lack of documentation), yet seem surprised when I've then had to spend an hour (or two) rabbit hunting through their application for the origin of variable or method X. Bear in mind that I've been employed as an intermediate developer.
So, I wanted to get an outside perspective, is my process of elimination unreasonable? I can't imagine anyone writing a Zend Framework app without the documentation (and sometimes they struggle despite that...) - so working on some proprietary app with none is proving somewhat tricky.
Explanation / Answer
Explain to them that the lack of documentation is slowing you down and see if you can setup a block of time with the other developer for him/her to teach you the CMS system. If they really do not want you bothering the other developer, at least let them be aware that it is slowing you down because you are having to figure out an unknown system on your own (a nice time to bring up something like that is when they say "hi how's it going" - answer with some variation of "slow because there is no documentation on how to use your CMS system and I'm having to figure it out myself")
Other then that, I've often found the best way to figure something out is to pick a task and get started on it. It will be slow at first, but as you work through it you often learn about the rest of the application.