[dedosk]

> I printed out the source code for the network stack and sat > down with a red pen.

Does anyone still do this to get to know new code base?

[ironmagma]

I love doing this. There is something freeing about having a physical copy of the code. For one, it is less daunting because you have a tactile sense of how much there is left to read and digest. But also, you can be more free to take notes in the margin in a way that doesn’t pollute and make the code even more arduous to read (as typing comments in the code would).

It would be great to see Github implement a printer friendly view on codebases for this purpose.

[cesarb]

I have done this once before too, with a particularly hairy multi-page function from a legacy system. Spreading all the pages over a large meeting room desk allows you to view the whole code at once, instead of being constrained by the physical size of a computer monitor. And there's something hard to describe about being able to physically manipulate the code (rearranging the sheets of paper, scribbling over the code with a pencil, etc). I hope VR one day allows for that kind of experience without wasting lots of paper.

[lloeki]

Probably you would be interested in https://dynamicland.org/ or Bret Victor fame.

[cookie_monsta]

FWIW, many proof readers and editors still prefer to work in hard copy, and there are still some writers out there working on drafts longhand or on old school typewriters.

Aside from the mentioned advantages about annotations, I find that working with hard copy produces a different mindset, almost as if your brain recognises that this is still a draft and everything is subject to reconsideration. Counter-intuitively, words on a screen seem more "set in concrete".

It also seems that the brain works differently when sat in front of a humming monitor as opposed to literally anywhere else in the world which is where you can edit hard copy.

Being that "a fresh set of eyes" is often so valuable in both writing and programming, anything that can get you a fresh perspective is potentially valuable, particularly with such a low buy-in.

[iSnow]

Did this once to make sense of an especially hairy class structure I inherited. Would actually do this again, 4K displays notwithstanding.

[reaperducer]

One of my displays is a 4K portrait monitor. It's the single most productivity-enhancing piece of gear I have, especially for web sites.

That said, sometimes printed code is still better.

[jedimastert]

I've done it before, although not recently.