# A Case for Reading More Open-Source Code

DevFeed: [A Case for Reading More Open-Source Code](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/open-source-challenge-open-your-source-more-21696.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://rhettinger.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/open-your-source-more/>)

Author: rhettinger

Published: 2011-01-28T13:15:59Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Raymond Hettinger](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/raymond-hettinger.md>)

Topics: [Open Source](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/open-source.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>), [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>), [Python](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/python.md>), [pip](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/pip.md>)

Tags: [code](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code.md>), [contributors](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/contributors.md>), [docs](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/docs.md>), [documentation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/documentation.md>), [open-source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-source.md>), [python](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/python.md>)

## AI overview

The article argues that developers should read more open-source code because it can reveal how software works, supplement documentation, support learning, and help answer questions that documentation does not address. It attributes the decline in source-code reading partly to large repositories and installers that hide human-readable code.

## Source excerpt

We all agree, open source is a good thing. It is posited that many eyeballs make all bugs shallow. With crowd sourcing, your users become contributors. And even seasoned programmers benefit from time spent reading code. Further, code can serve as an adjunct to documentation. If you really want to know what software is doing, [...]