My code works, so why can't anyone else understand it?
You solved the problem. It runs. You call this done. But someone else — maybe you, in six months, half asleep — has to open this file and know what it does without asking you. That person is not in your head right now. You wrote for yourself only. This is not a skill you lack. You already think clearly enough to make the logic work. The missing piece is smaller and more honest: you have not yet chosen to serve a reader who is not you. Stop asking 'does it work.' Start asking 'can a stranger follow this fast, with no help from me.' That question changes what you write, line by line.
You are writing for the machine, not the person after you. That is the whole gap. The machine already understands you — it ran your code. Write your next function for a tired stranger at 2am. Name things plainly. Cut cleverness. That is the entire skill.
What changes unlock by starting
- You catch confusing code before someone else has to ask you about it.
- You write names and structure that explain themselves, without extra documentation.
- You build the habit of writing for a reader by default, not as an afterthought.
- You finish work faster over time, because less of your future gets spent explaining your past.