“If you want to learn how to code or get better at coding, just start a side project!”
“There are so many tutorials out there, just start coding.”
“You need to figure it out yourself!”


Maybe you’ve heard these or similar statements, and maybe they felt discouraging. Bite-sized tutorials in artificial environments, doing a lot of typing, and figuring out things on your own via trial and error are still the most widespread teaching techniques for learning to code or getting better at coding.


There is, however, an alternative approach. Even full-time developers spend 60% of their time reading code and scientific research suggests that learning Java is not so different from learning French. So what if instead of typing away we would focus on reading actual code and using the same techniques as for natural languages to learn and get a deeper understanding of a programming language?


Let’s jointly examine an unknown piece of code and use different techniques to get an understanding of the how and what. In this highly collaborative session we will explore some of the following questions:


What elements does a programming language consist of?
How can we differentiate the elements and get a better understanding of what code does?
How can we use visualization techniques to understand the data flow?
What can we do when we approach a piece of unfamiliar code?


This session is for all people who always wanted to understand a bit better what code does and how it works, no matter if they worked with or adjacent to coding before or not.

Speaker profile:   Samuel Nitsche is a curiosity-driven software developer who programs, learns and collaborates in the software trade since the early 2000s. His primary interest is in code quality, code reading, modern database development, and automated testing, topics he writes regularly about on different platforms (e.g. his blog https://developer-sam.de, Simple-Talk, and several Oracle-related print magazines). He is an Oracle ACE alumni, a Symposium 42 member, a MASH (Mentor and Speaker Hub, http://mashprogram.wordpress.com) core member and has been one of the main contributors and maintainers of utPLSQL (http://utplsql.org). As a workshop facilitator, speaker, and keynote speaker he loves to share his experience in an entertaining way - gladly collaborating with plush animals and using lightsabers - at meetups and conferences.

MoT Munich - Code Reading Club Session - Beginner (Quality Minds)