Reading code becomes beneficial at the moment your biggest concern is no longer "does the application work?" but "how does the application work?" I ceased to be

Reading code becomes beneficial at the moment your biggest concern is no longer "does the application work?" but "how does the application work?" I ceased to be a beginner when I became confidant that I could make something work. My concerns ceased to be "can I make this work?" and became "is there a better way to make this work?" Confidence to answer the former question is gained through writing code. Understanding to answer the latter question is gained through reading code.