I feel your pain. At my current job I am in exactly the same situation. No source control, no seperate development environments, and lots of very crufty, very old, very non-self documenting code. I'm currently 1 of 2 programmers, after the previous crew of 5-6 was let go last year. I inherited code that used libraries rather than modules, lots of if/else constructs, use of no templates or a poorly designed & documented home-grown template system, and worst of all, hard coded paths to said libraries. It is certainly a challenge, but then I like challenges since they keep me from being bored. :-)
- Move slowly - Start as soon as you feel your thoughts will get traction with your fellow developers. You can't change the world in a day, week, or month. I'm lucky in that I am at a small shop & can effect change more quickly. But remember that you are ONE person among many, and you have the least seniority & reputation being The New Guy. Start with one thing first. I would suggest source control. Anything is better than nothing, so CVS will probably work nicely.
- Be tactful in your critiques. As many have said, programmers tend to have big egos & if you say "this code just plain sucks!" you are going to get nowhere fast. Constructive criticism is the key here. Give them the good, and then the bad. Always be sure to give praise where appropriate. You will get better results if you build your collegues up before you tear them back down.
Good luck in your new job. Sounds like you have plenty of challenges and work ahead of you. :-)
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