Before revision: As introduced by Mark C. Marino ("Critical Code Studies," Electronic Book Review URL critical code studies was initially a method by which scholars "can read and explicate code the way we might explicate a work of literature," but the concept also draws upon Espen Aarseth's conception of a cybertext as a "mechanical device for the production and consumption of verbal signs" (Cybertext, 21), arguing that in order to understand a digital artifact we must also understand the constraints and capabilities of the authoring tools used by the creator of the artifact, as well as the memory storage and interface required for the user to experience the digital artifact.
After revision: As introduced by Mark C. Marino ("Critical Code Studies," Electronic Book Review ), critical code studies was initially a method by which scholars "can read and explicate code the way we might explicate a work of literature," but the concept also draws upon Espen Aarseth's conception of a cybertext as a "mechanical device for the production and consumption of verbal signs" (Cybertext, 21), arguing that in order to understand a digital artifact we must also understand the constraints and capabilities of the authoring tools used by the creator of the artifact, as well as the memory storage and interface required for the user to experience the digital artifact.