Chapter 15. Document your air, food, and water
Think about all of the things you need to know when you’re new to a team. There are a lot of things, right?
- Where’s the source code repository?
- Which tools need to be installed on your developer environment?
- What’re the steps to build the product?
- Is there a pattern for how the code is laid out in the repository?
- How are tasks tracked?
- What’s the task branch pattern in the repository?
- Where’s the continuous integration server?
- Are there any specific development methodologies that should be followed?
This is, from a peer mentoring perspective, the “air, food, and water” for the group.
It’s the stuff you need to know in order to basically get around. Many times, the answers to these questions aren’t documented anywhere. It’s “tribal knowledge.”
People “know” what needs to be done, and if you don’t know, you ask the group. That sort of approach might work well in a small group that doesn’t change a lot, but what about in a larger group?
Does everyone know? Or is there a slightly different understanding of how things work from person to person? And what about new team members?