u/RoxstarBuddy

I have always wondered how experienced developers are able to understand a completely new codebase so efficiently after joining a company or project.

For example, imagine being assigned a new task in a very large project with thousands of files, multiple modules, APls, databases, and complicated business logic. As a student, it sometimes feels overwhelming even to know where to start.

I want to understand both the "old-school" methods programmers used before Al tools became common and the modern workflows developers use today with Al assistants like Copilot, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude, etc.

I would also appreciate practical advice, workflows, tools, or personal experiences from real projects.

What are some of the ways one can revise skills to not forget them after not practicing those for a while?

I have knowledge about python, its standard library, various frameworks like streamlit, numpy, pandas, tensorflow, pytorch, etc, but due to

Do experienced developers mainly rely on the problem-solving approach they developed over time? For example, once you understand how to learn from documentation, use help functions, search properly, and debug issues, do you feel confident enough to start building even if you do not remember every detail? Like, if you know what kind of tool is generally used for each part of a project, you just begin coding and then use docs, Al, or examples whenever you get stuck.

In my case, I am currently a student, and over the last few months or years, I have worked on many projects with different tech stacks. Sometimes I use one set of tools in one project, finish it, and then move on to something completely different. Later, when I want to build a new idea, I often feel overwhelmed about which tools to choose, whether I still remember enough, and what will happen if I start and get stuck somewhere in the middle

And how do you guys level up in those skills which you haven't practiced for a while and now your work demands it but with a little/more advanced knowledge of that.