[jondubois]

The more you change projects, the faster you are able to ramp up to new code bases. It takes me 1 or 2 week to understand the code base well enough so that I can start contributing - This is pretty standard for many contractors like me. Adapting to unfamiliar code bases is a skill on its own.

You don't need to master the whole code base in order to make high quality contributions but you need to be aware of what you don't know and focus your efforts on the parts that you understand really well while learning more about the parts that you don't understand. You can learn as you go throughout for the first 3 months.

If you're already familiar with the framework that the company is using, that's already a big step. Peer review can help as well.

Most good companies have similar coding styles and follow similar practices but they might have different requirements when it comes to testing, security, scalability, Agile/Scrum, etc...

[Balgair]

> for many contractors like me

Ooooooh! Yeah, I should have caught that earlier. 6 months now makes a lot more sense.