Notes on The Programmer’s Brain, by Felienne Hermans
- Storage Strength (SS) & Retrieval Strength (RS)
- SS: how well something is store in Long-Term Memory (LTM)
- RS: how easy it is to remember something
- it is the act of trying to remember (w/o additional study) that improves RS
- this is why flashcards work so well
- LTM is stored (and to a degree, filtered through) schemata
- I bet this is what makes a “memory palace” / the Method of Loci so effective
- elaborate new information (actively think about, relate to existing knowledge) to strengthen RS
- Working Memory (WM) vs Short-Term Memory (STM) vs LTM
- WM: like a processor—STM applied to a problem
- STM: like Random Access Memory (RAM)
- LTM: like Solid State Drive (SSD) or Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
- moving from shallow to deeper understanding of a codebase
- find a focal point (e.g., main.js)
- expand knowledge from focal point
- understand a concept from a set of related entities
- understand concepts across multiple entities
- frameworks that, for example, auto-wire up dependency injection, can cause a lock of Plan Knowledge even though you understand the code (Text Knowledge)
- language abilities, WM capacity, and reasoning skills have a greater impact on a programmer’s end result than numeracy (the ability to understand, reason with, and apply simple numerical concepts)
- this is also true for your learning rate
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