{"id":335045,"date":"2021-02-22T07:56:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T15:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/?p=335045"},"modified":"2021-12-31T08:12:42","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T16:12:42","slug":"to-the-brain-reading-computer-code-is-not-the-same-as-reading-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/to-the-brain-reading-computer-code-is-not-the-same-as-reading-language\/","title":{"rendered":"To the brain, reading computer code is not the same as reading language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the things I do when teaching beginning front-end development is ask students to describe what it’s like to read HTML. I give them pretty basic markup for a long-form article, and ask them to read it twice: first in the code, then on the front end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The #1 common response I hear? It’s like learning a new language.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course it is, I tell them. It’s in the name: Hypertext Markup Language<\/em>. So, I advise them to start treating the materials in the course like they’re learning French, Spanish, or any other language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I wake up this morning and see this MIT study<\/a> that reading computer code is not<\/em> the same as reading language, even though they share similarities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

In spite of those similarities, MIT neuroscientists have found that reading computer code does not activate the regions of the brain that are involved in language processing. Instead, it activates a distributed network called the multiple demand network, which is also recruited for complex cognitive tasks such as solving math problems or crossword puzzles.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Duh<\/em>, you might say. But wait, reading code actually appears to activate additional parts of the multiple demand network that make the task more or a near-match to mathematical reasoning than the exact same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MIT team found that reading computer code appears to activate both the left and right sides of the multiple demand network […]. This finding goes against the hypothesis that math and coding rely on the same brain mechanisms.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

So, back to my HTML reading assignment. Is it better to teach code as a language for recognizing symbols that communicate to the browser what to do, or as a math skill that’s based on solving problems?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer is 🤷‍♂️.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most interesting thing about the study to me is not how to teach<\/em> code, but rather how I work with it. Chris always says a front-end developer is aware<\/a>, and the fact that reading code taps on a region of the brain that’s responsible for handling multi-tasking and holding lots of information only supports that. It also explains why I personally get annoyed when I’m pulled away from my code or distracted from it\u2014it’s like my brain has to drop all the plates it was balancing to pay attention to something else, then pick up and reassemble all the pieces before I can jump back in to what I was doing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the things I do when teaching beginning front-end development is ask students to describe what it’s like to read HTML. I give them pretty basic markup for a long-form article, and ask them to read it twice: first in the code, then on the front end. The #1 common response I hear? It’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2508,"featured_media":272495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"sig_custom_text":"","sig_image_type":"featured-image","sig_custom_image":0,"sig_is_disabled":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"c2c_always_allow_admin_comments":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[4],"tags":[870],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/brain-gears.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":339781,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/is-css-a-programming-language\/","url_meta":{"origin":335045,"position":0},"title":"Is CSS a Programming Language?","date":"May 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a real distaste for this question. It might seem like a fun question to dig into on the surface, but the way it enters public discourse rarely seems to be in good faith. There are ulterior motives at play involving respect, protective emotions, and desires to break or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/functional-css.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":346318,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/html-is-not-a-programming-language\/","url_meta":{"origin":335045,"position":1},"title":"HTML is Not a Programming Language?","date":"August 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"HTML is not a programming language. I've heard that sentence so many times and it\u2019s tiring. Normally, it is followed by something like, It doesn't have logic, or, It is not Turing complete,.so\u2026 obviously it is not a programming language. 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I get frustrated by all the posturing and gatekeeping - \u201cYou\u2019re not a real developer unless you use x framework\u201d, \u201cCSS isn\u2019t a real programming language\u201d.I think this kind of rhetoric often puts new developers off, and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Link"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/green-circles.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":174918,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/sprinkling-php-server-side-techniques-help-front-end-tasks\/","url_meta":{"origin":335045,"position":3},"title":"A Sprinkling of PHP: Server-Side Techniques to Help with Front End Tasks","date":"July 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The following is a guest post by Zachary Brady. Zachary is about to take us on a beginner's journey using PHP to do some things that us front end developers sometimes need to do. To me, this kind of thing doesn't make us back end developers, but more resourceful front\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":169448,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/reading-position-indicator\/","url_meta":{"origin":335045,"position":4},"title":"Reading Position Indicator","date":"May 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Lately I've seen quite a few websites that have some kind of an indicator to display the current reading position (how much you have \"read\", depending on how far you have scrolled down an article). Generally, such indicators are used on blog posts or long form articles and help readers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2933,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/web-nerd-terminology-explained\/","url_meta":{"origin":335045,"position":5},"title":"Web Nerd Terminology (Explained)","date":"June 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"As happens with any weird niche societal group, us web nerds have developed some language of our own. Some of this language is perfectly acceptable English, but still sounds weird to an outsider. 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