The Programmer's Brain
Felienne Hermans,
InfoQ,
Apr 22, 2022
Felienne Hermans wonders why her Saturday students are being frustrated by computer programming and concludes that they need to learn code. Her discussion of how they do this offers a good dose of cognitive load theory. Now I am no fan of cognitive load theory but I am a fan of reading code, and I view it very differently, and specifically, as a matter of pattern recognition. The difference, it seems to me, is a bit like the difference between focusing on the syntax and focusing on function. Now we don't need to go deep into this discussion here; what the article made me think of is what we 'see' when we read things - whether words in English, functions in computer code, clues in a criminal investigation. "You look, Doctor Watson, but you do not see."
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