I think code is data. In this case data to describe how to manage other data.
If you can represent your program with data, you likely should.
What is code
11–20 of 42 posts
Re: What is code
#12This is one of my favourite articles. It's the first one I link to someone interested in coding or becoming a developer.
Even as a competent programmer, it's worth having a flick through as Paul Ford's presentation of code as a whole is so engaging and informative.
Re: What is code
#13Re: What is code
#14Originally, "code" referred to machine language. "Programming" meant designing the computation, and "coding" referred to translating it to machine language. "Automatic coding" was the term for translating a high level program to machine code, and it covered compiling and interpretation. You can read all about it in Grace Hopper's 1955 paper Automatic Coding for Digital Computers . http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/univac/…
This is a beautiful distinction (one that I'm aware of), but which appears to have been lost today.
Consequently, these terms are now used interchangeably, leading many people to conflate these two processes.
However, this distinction is indicative of how getting a computer to do something has two components:
1. Figuring out what needs doing, and
2. Expressing this in a form that the computer can carry out.
Thank you for the Grace Hopper quotes!
Re: What is code
#15I don't think this really achieves what it sets out to do, unless it was meant to be aimed at already very tech-literate people who just don't program yet. It fails my usual test for laypersons' explanations: would my mum understand it?
My mum is a smart but non-techie person. I think this article, jumping off from its irrelevant take on business needs, through a (in my opinion) backwards diversion that fails to actually explain how computers process and display text, only then to touch on algorithms before racing off talking about conferences and how programmers feel about things, doesn't come close in all that to a solid laypersons' explanation. Soon it's asking you to evalute chunks of code when, if you are reading this article as someone who wants to know "what is code?", you don't even know what a loop is yet.
This seems more like "What is tech culture?" for people who are already a part of tech culture. I think people like it for its animations and interactive elements, but when you strip those away there's very little actual content there.
Re: What is code
#16Re: What is code
#17To answer the question (without having read the article): Code is communication.
Code is used to communicate your intent to
- a machine
- others working on the same problem or application
- your future self
Re: What is code
#18I don't think this really achieves what it sets out to do, unless it was meant to be aimed at already very tech-literate people who just don't program yet. It fails my usual test for laypersons' explanations: would my mum understand it? My mum is a smart but non-techie person. I think this article, jumping off from its irrelevant take on business needs, through a (in my opinion) backwards diversion that fails to actu…
Considering this is Bloomberg the intended audience is likely business people. The "irrelevant take on business needs" is far from irrelevant in this context. On the contrary, it's describing the type of person this article is aimed at.
Re: What is code
#19I don't think this really achieves what it sets out to do, unless it was meant to be aimed at already very tech-literate people who just don't program yet. It fails my usual test for laypersons' explanations: would my mum understand it? My mum is a smart but non-techie person. I think this article, jumping off from its irrelevant take on business needs, through a (in my opinion) backwards diversion that fails to actu…
Considering this is Bloomberg the intended audience is likely business people. The "irrelevant take on business needs" is far from irrelevant in this context. On the contrary, it's describing the type of person this article is aimed at.
Good point. I've only seen it shared in very techie circles.
Re: What is code
#20The 'scrum master' guy in the first chapter is the sort of terrible communicator who gives technical people a bad name. He either can't or won't express himself in terms familiar to his audience, instead throwing out a stream of terms that he knows mean nothing in a bid to appear sophisticated.