Strange Loop

Improving code reading skills together

Code Reading Club is an experiment hatched at Strangeloop a few years ago. At its core, the idea that the paradigm we use to teach programming is incomplete. One of the most overlooked areas is the ability to read code, both phonetic & analytical. “This leads to the fact that programmers in general are poorly equipped to read code, even their own code, but especially code written by others.” Felienne Hermans Research indicates professionals spend 60% of their time understanding rather than writing code; yet we have a culture of “learn by copying” and “do by writing”. Maybe we'd be better off if we spent more time thinking & comprehending. So… we developed exercises for deliberate practice of code reading and started running clubs. We discovered that learning to read code together has many rewards and unexpected benefits. We want to share our grand experiment with the programming community. Clubs work best with a range of experience in the room. Whether beginner or expert, you fit in!

Katja Mordaunt

Tech-for-better developer & Elm advocate

Katja is a developer specialising in the design and implementation of digital services that aim to improve the reach of small charities and community organisations. She works iteratively with clients and users to get as close as possible to what people need. She is an advocate of Elm because it empowers her mission to make code reading accessible & code writing empathetic. She values a culture of collaboration, community, open source, transparency, integrity, generally sharing stuff and giving everyone a voice and a chance of meaningful participation. In her spare time, she runs Code Reading Club & makes hit and miss fermented veg. In a past life she produced independent films and is a believer that sharing stories makes the world a better place.

Felienne Hermans

Programming for all!

Felienne is associate professor at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science at Leiden University, where she heads the PERL research group, focused on programming education. She also works at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam one day a week, where she teaches prospective computer science teachers. Felienne is the creator of the Hedy programming language, and was one of the founders of the Joy of Coding conference. Since 2016, she has been a host at SE radio, one of the most popular software engineering podcasts on the web. Felienne is the author of “The Programmer's Brain” a book that helps programmers understand how their brains work and how to use it more effectively. In 2021, Felienne was awarded the Dutch Prize for ICT research. Felienne is a member the board of I&I, the Dutch association of high-school computer science teachers, and of TC39, the committee that designs JavaScript. Felienne blogs at felienne.com