How Your Brain Processes Code

A Google Software Design TechTalk, presented by Felienne Hermans, 2024-03-19 ABSTRACT: Often when we talk about libraries, frameworks and modules, we talk about their technical aspects, like the language they are created in. However, programming languages and code bases can also be viewed through a cognitive lens. In this talk, Felienne Hermans, author of the Programmer’s Brain, will discuss how your brain sees code, and what the impact of that is for reading code and for learning new languages. Examining code from a cognitive perspective, rather than a technical perspective, can help you gain a better perspective on how people interact with code and how you learn. About the Speaker: Felienne Hermans Felienne is a professor of Computer Science Education at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She also works as a high-school CS teacher one day a week at Lyceum Kralingen in the Codasium program. Felienne is the creator of the Hedy programming language, a gradual and multi-lingual programming language designed for teaching. She is the author of “The Programmer’s Brain“, a book that helps programmers understand how their brain works and how to use it more effectively. In 2021, Felienne was awarded the Dutch Prize for ICT research. She also has a weekly column on BNR, a Dutch radio station.