» Code Reading (workshop) «

Marit van Dijk


Abstract

As developers, we spend a lot of time learning to write code, while spending little to no time learning to read code. Meanwhile, we often spend more time reading code than actually writing it. Shouldn’t we be spending at least the same amount of time and effort improving this skill? Deliberate practice can help us get better at reading code. Learning how to better read and understand code, can in turn teach us what makes code readable. This might even help us to write code that is easier to read.

In this workshop we will practice our code reading skills by reading an unfamiliar piece of code, using structured exercises. Participants will practice reading code, and take away knowledge about how they can continue to improve this important skill.

Bio

Marit van Dijk is a software developer with 20 years of experience in different roles and companies. She is a Java Champion and works as a Developer Advocate at JetBrains. She loves building awesome software with amazing people and making developers lives better.

She enjoys learning new things as well as sharing knowledge on programming, software development, testing & test automation, and more. She has contributed to open-source projects like Cucumber and several other projects.

Marit speaks at international conferences, in webinars, and on podcasts, occasionally writes blog posts, and contributed to the book “97 Things Every Java Programmer Should Know” (O’Reilly Media).