Almost every coding course teaches you how to write code. Very few teach you how to read it. And reading code is what actually makes you a better programmer. Here is what helped me: 1. Read a piece of code at first glance and see what stands out Maybe that’s a function or a symbol or a messy block of code. While scrolling through a piece of code, if you need to stop and read it twice, there’s something to refactor. Something needs to be better explained. 2. Read with empathy No code is perfect.