# Reading and Running Code
URL:: https://brilliant.org/practice/reading-and-running-code-2/?p=7
Author:: brilliant.org
## Highlights
> *Code comments* are an important tool for reading other people's code, and for helping other people read your own code. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gaw4jx1fx2vc5q9b3k2jqt05))
> This code could be reasonably described in English in any of the following ways:
> • “Go forward, then turn left. Repeat that two more times. Then go forward one more time.”
> • “Go east 200 steps, then go north 200 steps, then go west 200 steps, then go south 200 steps.”
> • “Draw a square.”
> Depending on the situation, any of these descriptions might be "good," and any of them might be "bad." Thinking about code is like thinking about other forms of human communication: you have to be sensitive to the way that the author understands her code, the way the author intends her readers to understand her code, and the way that you, the reader, want to understand the code. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gaw4hxq312276nkh41vbsyvv))
---
Title: Reading and Running Code
Author: brilliant.org
Tags: readwise, articles
date: 2024-01-30
---
# Reading and Running Code
URL:: https://brilliant.org/practice/reading-and-running-code-2/?p=7
Author:: brilliant.org
## AI-Generated Summary
Depending on the situation, any of these descriptions might be "good," and any of them might be "bad.
## Highlights
> *Code comments* are an important tool for reading other people's code, and for helping other people read your own code. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gaw4jx1fx2vc5q9b3k2jqt05))
> This code could be reasonably described in English in any of the following ways:
> • “Go forward, then turn left. Repeat that two more times. Then go forward one more time.”
> • “Go east 200 steps, then go north 200 steps, then go west 200 steps, then go south 200 steps.”
> • “Draw a square.”
> Depending on the situation, any of these descriptions might be "good," and any of them might be "bad." Thinking about code is like thinking about other forms of human communication: you have to be sensitive to the way that the author understands her code, the way the author intends her readers to understand her code, and the way that you, the reader, want to understand the code. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gaw4hxq312276nkh41vbsyvv))