September 2021
Intermediate to advanced
256 pages
8h 1m
English
Overview
Your brain responds in a predictable way when it encounters new or difficult tasks. This unique book teaches you concrete techniques rooted in cognitive science that will improve the way you learn and think about code.
In The Programmer’s Brain: What every programmer needs to know about cognition you will learn:
Learn how to optimize your brain’s natural cognitive processes to read code more easily, write code faster, and pick up new languages in much less time. This book will help you through the confusion you feel when faced with strange and complex code, and explain a codebase in ways that can make a new team member productive in days!
About the Technology
Take advantage of your brain’s natural processes to be a better programmer. Techniques based in cognitive science make it possible to learn new languages faster, improve productivity, reduce the need for code rewrites, and more. This unique book will help you achieve these gains.
About the Book
The Programmer’s Brain unlocks the way we think about code. It offers scientifically sound techniques that can radically improve the way you master new technology, comprehend code, and memorize syntax. You’ll learn how to benefit from productive struggle and turn confusion into a learning tool. Along the way, you’ll discover how to create study resources as you become an expert at teaching yourself and bringing new colleagues up to speed.
What's Inside
About the Reader
For programmers who have experience working in more than one language.
About the Author
Dr. Felienne Hermans is an associate professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands. She has spent the last decade researching programming, how to learn and how to teach it.
Quotes
'Ah, that makes sense now!’ and ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of that!' have been the background rhythm when reading this book. Thinking about thinking is addictive!
- Jon Skeet, Google
Helps you understand how your brain works and how you can use it more effectively to read, write, and collaborate on code.
- Ben McNamara, DataGeek
Teaches you science-based habits to reduce your mental workload and hack your way to becoming a rockstar programmer!
- Daniela Zapata Riesco, M1 Finance
If you’ve ever wondered what working smarter instead of harder is supposed to look like, you should read this book. I am already seeing improvements in my day-to-day work.
- Zhijun Liu, Mediaocean
A great book with deep insights into the bridge between programming and the human mind.
- Mike Taylor, CGI
In The Programmer’s Brain: What every programmer needs to know about cognition you will learn:
- Fast and effective ways to master new programming languages
- Speed reading skills to quickly comprehend new code
- Techniques to unravel the meaning of complex code
- Ways to learn new syntax and keep it memorized
- Writing code that is easy for others to read
- Picking the right names for your variables
- Making your codebase more understandable to newcomers
- Onboarding new developers to your team
Learn how to optimize your brain’s natural cognitive processes to read code more easily, write code faster, and pick up new languages in much less time. This book will help you through the confusion you feel when faced with strange and complex code, and explain a codebase in ways that can make a new team member productive in days!
About the Technology
Take advantage of your brain’s natural processes to be a better programmer. Techniques based in cognitive science make it possible to learn new languages faster, improve productivity, reduce the need for code rewrites, and more. This unique book will help you achieve these gains.
About the Book
The Programmer’s Brain unlocks the way we think about code. It offers scientifically sound techniques that can radically improve the way you master new technology, comprehend code, and memorize syntax. You’ll learn how to benefit from productive struggle and turn confusion into a learning tool. Along the way, you’ll discover how to create study resources as you become an expert at teaching yourself and bringing new colleagues up to speed.
What's Inside
- Understand how your brain sees code
- Speed reading skills to learn code quickly
- Techniques to unravel complex code
- Tips for making codebases understandable
About the Reader
For programmers who have experience working in more than one language.
About the Author
Dr. Felienne Hermans is an associate professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands. She has spent the last decade researching programming, how to learn and how to teach it.
Quotes
'Ah, that makes sense now!’ and ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of that!' have been the background rhythm when reading this book. Thinking about thinking is addictive!
- Jon Skeet, Google
Helps you understand how your brain works and how you can use it more effectively to read, write, and collaborate on code.
- Ben McNamara, DataGeek
Teaches you science-based habits to reduce your mental workload and hack your way to becoming a rockstar programmer!
- Daniela Zapata Riesco, M1 Finance
If you’ve ever wondered what working smarter instead of harder is supposed to look like, you should read this book. I am already seeing improvements in my day-to-day work.
- Zhijun Liu, Mediaocean
A great book with deep insights into the bridge between programming and the human mind.
- Mike Taylor, CGI
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access
More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly
O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.