As developers, we spend a lot of time learning to write code, while spending little to no time learning to read code. Meanwhile, we often spend more time reading code than actually writing it. Shouldn’t we be spending at least the same amount of time and effort improving this skill? Deliberate practice can help us get better at reading code. Learning how to better read and understand code, can in turn teach us what makes code readable. This might even help us to write code that is easier to read.
In this workshop we will practice our code reading skills by reading an unfamiliar piece of code, using structured exercises. Participants will practice reading code, and take away knowledge about how they can continue to improve this important skill.
Links
- Code Reading Club blog post by Felienne Hermans
- Code Reading Club website
- Code Reading Club on GitHub
- Code Reading Club resources on GitHub
- Code Annotation Tool
- PDF Maker Tool
- The Programmer’s Brain by Felienne Hermans
- “How to teach programming (and other things)?” by Felienne Hermans
- Benefits of joining a Code Reading Club
- Reading code (talk)
Presentations
| Date | Event | Location | Media |
| Aug 22, 2024 | SoCraTes | Soltau, Germany | slides |
| Jul 25, 2024 | Software Cornwall | online | slides |
| May 30, 2024 | DDD Europe | Amsterdam, the Netherlands | slides |
| Sept 5, 2023 | JavaZone | Oslo, Norway | slides – workshop page |
| June 1, 2023 | Socrates UK | Swindon, UK | training day page – slides |
| Mar 14, 2023 | JUG SWITZERLAND | Zürich, Switserland | event page slides – links – Miro board |