The short answer: Syntax Error. -- I spend a lot of time working with different languages and frameworks. Though my day job is PHP, I've got an itch to make a mobile game.

Since they're not actually written in PHP, I've got to switch to a new language. ObjectiveC for iPhone, Android-Java, or any number of cross platform languages to pick up a third party framework.

On top of that - there's the issues of structure and stuff.

For learning a new language, there's no way to skim.

HOWEVER for something like an A* pathfinding algorythm (an artificial intelligence method of finding the most efficient path from A to Anywhere) - you can get the "Gist" by skimming a paper. I understand what A* is and how it does it ... but if I want to replicate it I still have to go over it line-by-line if I want to get it right though.

So, I think the short answer is "NO" coders can't skim stuff and get the job done right.