#084 - Lessons learned from The Programmer's Brain

This week we talk with AJ Kerrigan (Twitter / LinkedIn) about Felienne Hermans' The Programmer's Brain, an important book we recommend every developer should read (at least once).Structure:After quickly discussing the gist of the book, we dive into some of the concepts it teaches:- Chunkability: for faster reading and comprehension of code.- Germane load: the work required to encode thoughts to long-term memory, and the value of "worked examples".- Semantic wave: needing to oscillate (as a teacher) between abstract and concrete as you learn.- Cognitive dimensions of codebases and tradeoffs in code you write and tools you use.- Practicing code reading (Code Reading Clubs): entry points and use of a debugger. Useful links:- PyBites #082 on type hints - A Case Study in Refactoring Python- CodeTour- Annotated Underscore.js Source Code- Inception Layers and Interruptability- Many More Much Smaller Steps- Code Reading Club- Writing Excuses- Pybites platform (check out the forums!)- And a special shoutout to the Teaching Python podcast as well.- Book AJ is reading: An Unintended Voyage (complete Pybites podcast reading list)