The Programmer's Brain: What every programmer needs to know about cognition

"I am in awe of this book, it is a very good read and has tons of interesting lessons for any engineer." - Tim van Deurzen

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:

- 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
Understanding the cognitive functions that govern the way your brain thinks about coding will help you work smarter, not harder. You'll improve your productivity, reduce your need for constant rewrites, and say goodbye to spending late nights struggling with new languages.

about the book
The Programmer's Brain explores the way your brain works when it's thinking about code. In it, you'll master practical ways to apply these cognitive principles to your daily programming life. You'll improve your code comprehension by turning confusion into a learning tool, and pick up awesome techniques for reading code and quickly memorizing syntax. This practical guide includes tips for creating your own flashcards and study resources that can be applied to any new language you want to master. By the time you're done, you'll not only be better at teaching yourself—you'll be an expert at bringing new colleagues and junior programmers up to speed.

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 learning and teaching programming. Felienne is an award-winning educator, the creator of the Hedy programming language for novice programmers, and a host of Software Engineering Radio—one of the world's largest programming podcasts.