It'due south true: programmers recall differently than everyone else.

Not to say that programmers are necessarily smarter, more than logical, or more rational than everyone else, equally is usually said. But scientists have recently started studying the brains of programmers and have come to some interesting conclusions.

Simply equally artistry tin can shape your mind in diverse means, estimator programming also affects your brain and how you think---perhaps in ways you may not have expected.

1. Coding Shapes Your Mental Models

Does it affair which programming linguistic communication you learn first? Yes!

This seems a chip unfair, doesn't it? After all, about of usa get our outset taste of programming in schoolhouse, and we don't become to choose which language gets thrust upon usa. I started with C. Those older than me likely started with FORTRAN, COBOL, or Bones. Every bit for y'all newer folks? You likely started on Java or Python.

No doubt nearly it: the pattern of a programming linguistic communication shapes how y'all think. Edsger Dijkstra, ane of history's almost influential calculator scientists, knew this when he said:

"The tools we use accept a profound (and stray) influence on our thinking habits, and, therefore, on our thinking abilities."

He and so went on to say:

"The utilize of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, exist regarded as a crime."

And:

"It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: equally potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration."

Ouch.

In i sense, all programming languages are every bit capable in that they're all Turing-complete. But in another sense, mastery of one language tin can atomic number 82 to ruin in another language. Coffee programmers and Python programmers are ii dissimilar beasts who approach coding in 2 completely unlike means.

In other words, the paradigms and idioms of your first programming language influence and even dictate how you lot think about data structures, algorithms, etc.

And so much so, in fact, that information technology's actually possible to take anonymized code and decide who wrote it based solely on how the job was approached and how the code was written. The more difficult the task, the easier it is to "de-anonymize."

Run into this paper on lawmaking stylometry [No Longer Bachelor] and this lawmaking stylometry lecture transcript:

"Programmers can obfuscate their variable or function names, but not the structures they subconsciously prefer to use or their favorite increase operators."

In English, nosotros have a proverb that sums this up in an easy-to-empathise way: "When all yous have is a hammer, everything looks similar a nail." Likewise, one time you learn how to program in a certain way, information technology's tempting to retrieve well-nigh all problems in that way.

Then when choosing a programming language, exist smart and exist careful!

ii. Programming Helps Strengthen Encephalon Health

People often say that the brain is like a musculus and that you lot need to practice it if y'all desire to stay sharp. Is that actually true? And if so, does programming count as mental exercise, enough that it impacts brain health?

A 1991 meta-study looked at "the effects of computer programming on cognitive outcomes" and plant that students with computer programming experience scored xvi percentile points higher on cognitive ability tests than students without.

A bigger written report in 1999 found and confirmed that "intellectually engaging activities serve to buffer individuals against [cognitive] decline," but too noted that it's possible that cognitive reject could pb to less participation in intellectually engaging activities.

An even bigger report in 2009 arrived at a similar decision, suggesting that "people who engage in brain-stimulating activities in later years tin can reduce their adventure [and even delay the onset of] Alzheimer'due south and other types of dementia." Brain-stimulating activities included reading, writing, puzzles, lath and card games, and playing music.

Lastly, a study published in 2013 plant that but sure kinds of mental engagement actually lend to sharper brains, namely loftier-demand cognitive activities that involve learning and intellectual difficulty.

programming on a Mac

More than research needs to be done, of form, but it's hard to retrieve of any cognitive activity that's more demanding and learning-centric than programming.

Furthermore, while none of these studies show that intellectually-engaging activities make you lot smarter or more capable, they do bear witness that loftier-demand cognitive tasks at to the lowest degree extend your electric current brain wellness and significantly prevent neural deterioration.

We've previously argued that it's never besides belatedly to start learning how to lawmaking, and these studies merely serve to reinforce our position. Programming is good for your mental health!

three. Coding Isn't All Math and Logic

According to a 2014 study [PDF] that used fMRI scans to find brain activity while programmers tried to piece of work through and comprehend code snippets, v distinct areas of the brain are involved in agreement source lawmaking:

  • BA 6: Middle frontal gyrus (Attending, linguistic communication, working memory)
  • BA 21: Centre temporal gyrus (Semantic memory retrieval)
  • BA 40: Inferior parietal lobule (Working memory)
  • BA 44: Junior frontal gyrus (Working retentiveness)
  • BA 47: Inferior frontal gyrus (Linguistic communication, working memory)

This means that working through source code mainly uses parts of the brain that are normally associated with language processing, retention, and attending.

code on a Mac screen

What's notably missing are regions of the brain normally associated with math and calculations, which barely registered---even when comprehending code snippets that involved loops, conditionals, arithmetic, and other algorithmic operations.

Of course, this study is somewhat incomplete, and the researchers acknowledge equally much:

  • The snippets in the experiment were under 20 lines of code and fourth dimension-limited, meaning they weren't difficult plenty to truly challenge subjects.
  • The evidence doesn't suggest that programming languages are like strange languages, only that they involve similar regions of the brain.
  • The subjects didn't write any of their ain code, which would likely involve different areas of the encephalon than trying to empathise existing lawmaking.

Only here's what we tin can walk away with:

We know that programmers regularly review source code, whether lawmaking that'southward self-written or belongs to somebody else. Nosotros likewise know that programmers often spend more time fixing and refactoring lawmaking than writing new code from scratch.

So this study isn't meaningless. Programming isn't but a "left-brained activity," and one might even debate that correct-brained programmers have an edge in this sense.

Learning How to Be a Better Programmer

Programming skills don't come easy, but they will come if y'all go along up the practice. Check out our tips for mastering any programming language, our article on the benefits of a programming journal, and our favorite lessons for self-taught coders. If you want to take the plunge with a specific programming language, tackling a project is a good idea. Check out how to learn C programming with this beginner project.

Finally, I recommend watching these TED Talks for programmers, which include all kinds of tips, thoughts, inspirations, motivations, and histories that may aid you out.

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Joel Lee (1493 Articles Published)

Joel Lee was formerly the Editor in Chief of MakeUseOf from 2018 to 2021. He has a B.S. in Computer Science and over ix years of professional writing and editing experience.

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