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Does anyone practise code reading and comprehension? If so, are you able to share your idea?

I try to find how to read code faster with retention and comprehension. It is much like speed reading, but I am reading code.

Here is my journey so far:
Stage 1:
When reading code, I literally each word in line as comment. I though it will help me to understand better. It did, but the retention was not strong enough.

Stage 2:
After reading each line, I will close my eyes for 1-2 seconds and do a reflection what I just read. Better understanding, but comprehension still not good.

Stage 3:
After reading each line, I use my own words to describe what it does and write down as comment. I found that I have better comprehension

Stage 4:
Constantly, remind myself to describe with my own words. this speeds up the reading and understanding.

To be honest, I am still trying.

Comments
  • 2
    My best practices advice I would give you I learned from outside computer science is to never symbol speak. Learn what each individual abbreviation, symbol, and short handing means and say it out even if it's only in your head. This will increase your understanding and allow you to better convey ideas in conversation. Other than that, keep up the practice. If it were easy everyone would do it.
  • 1
    @not-dan, well I cannot find any blog mention code reading and comprehension.
  • 2
    @kenpeter yeah now that you mention it I haven't really seen anything with tips or advice. I think it's just a skill we pick up but fail to appreciate. You seem to have the right tools. Just keep at it. Pull code apart. Comb through kernels. Inspect website elements. Force yourself to look at it as much as possible. It will come with time.
  • 1
    Using a good IDE that makes it easy to jump through code is really helpful. I love ctrl-click in IntelliJ and wish Visual Studio had it out of the box (yes there's ReSharper..)
  • 1
    or f12 without addon
  • 0
    Stage 5: I am able to progress to stage 5. It is about strong feedbacks. When I coding, I was hesitate to write code that break. Instead now, I want it to be break. I provided me better feedback and much faster turn around time. When coding, I am constantly seeking feedbacks from code, other persons, etc. It has been an effective ways. It helped to solve difficult problem quickly. Any one experiences the same thing or you have feedback for me?
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