Practice will help make the former more readable.

It helps, for me, that I have more of a math background (academically) than CS (dual majors, but strongly preferred the math coursework).

For me, I see three ways to write, as an example, a summation:

  n
  Σ g(i)
  i=1

  vs.

  seq(1,n).map(g).sum() // or something similar

  vs.

  for(i = 1; i < n; i++)
    sum = g(i)

In my mind, the first is what I see, and is what shows up on paper. The second is what I want to write (and will in any language that lets me). The third is what I often have to write when a language requires that I be more explicit (like C).