Over at Lambda the Ultimate, the regulars are giving some tips on reading academic CS papers:
For a long time I tended to skip the formal stuff too readily. It can even be clearer than the prose, if it’s using a formalism you’re familiar with, anyway. I think the contradiction of formal systems is that they have a higher barrier to entry, but once you know the language they’re easier to understand because there are fewer opportunities for ambiguity.
Ken Dyck 