I've kept an eye on this thread trying to think of how I think of code.

This is the best explanation I have -- I don't think in/visualize code at all.

I think of the individual parts that make up what I am trying to build.

This starts in the broadest sense (application requirements) to the more in depth needs (specifically what function ideas (what is going in, what is coming out) and in what order they will need to be in).

By the time I finish this architecture layout in my head, actually coding everything becomes very straightforward.