If you are a developer, you have probably been asked by many non-developer friends and family members what your job is like. For example:
“So, what do you do all day?”
“Do you just type in random words?”
“How do you decide what to type?”
“Do you just make stuff up as you go?”
“What is code?”
In this blog post, I want to answer the last question. The definition of code will be explained in simple terms, so that the reader can understand it.
First of all, when we talk about writing code, we are not referring to a specific programming language. There are many different languages that one can write in, but they all have similar features. For example, some programming languages use curly braces { } to indicate blocks of code while others use indentation. Some programming languages use semicolons ; as statements while others don’t need them at all! They may look different on the surface but underneath they work the same way.”””
x = []
for i in test_data.split(‘
Code is an umbrella term encompassing all the different ways that humans communicate with computers. It’s the lingua franca between humans and machines, and it’s also probably my favorite subject. But code can be confusing as a concept, because it means so many different things to different people.
In this article I’ll explain what code really is, and why you don’t need to be a programmer to understand it.
What Is Code?
The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data.
It’s a concept that is both simple and revolutionary: If you can collect more data than your competitors, you can find better solutions to important problems.
For example Google can better predict what we are searching for than any other company in the world, because they have access to more search data than anyone else.
Data has become the modern day equivalent of oil, and the companies that have it, control the world.
What Is Code?
This article is part of Code, a series about how we create software. You can read the rest of the series here.
I think most non-programmers don’t really get what we are doing, because they don’t know what code is. So in this article, I’m going to explain what it is using simple analogies that I hope you will find useful.
Code is a set of rules that computers use to convert information into pictures, sounds and actions.
If you’ve ever heard someone say that computers “think” in ones and zeros, or that they are “binary,” it’s because the computer converts information to these ones and zeros so it can understand and perform tasks. In fact, all computers have a binary language built into them at the lowest level (the hardware), which means all programs and programming languages eventually get translated into binary before the computer can read them.
How do you tell a computer what to do? You write it a program. A program is basically just a list of instructions written in a language the computer understands. The instructions might be as simple as moving some text around on the screen or playing a sound when a person clicks on something, or as complex as how to fly an airplane, control traffic lights at an
What is code?
Code is the language that computers speak. It’s what tells the computer what to do. You can think of it like a recipe; it tells the computer how to put together its basic ingredients (information, logic, and flow control) in order to make something useful.
You’re probably reading this on your computer or phone, and you’re using a browser program to display this text and other stuff on the screen. You can think of your web browser as a translator between you and the internet: it gets information from websites and gives it to you in a format that’s easy for you to read.
Code is a set of rules or laws to be followed by computers in order to work. The code is necessary for the computer to recognize the information we want it to do.
Code can be defined as a text that is written in the programming language and wants to be executed by computers. The code can also be defined as a set of instructions that are made by humans and read by computers so that they perform the tasks we want them to do.
Some examples of code: HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
If you’re a member of most any type of community—school, local sports team, neighborhood, church, wherever—chances are that sooner or later someone will ask you to volunteer to work on some project. Maybe they need help coaching a tee-ball team; maybe they’re looking for someone to organize a community service event; maybe they need help designing and maintaining a website.
In my experience, the best way to handle these requests is to tell them you’ll do it if they feel strongly that you’re the right person for the job. Then say nothing. If they don’t get back to you in a week or two, follow up and ask them about it. If it’s something you really want to do, it’s fine at this point to be more forceful, but I find that most times either the project has disappeared on its own (or been taken over by someone else), or else people have decided that maybe you’re not actually the best person after all.
If your organization is getting into any sort of trouble whatsoever, then of course it’s imperative that you step up and offer your help. But if not? There are much better ways to spend your time than volunteering for jobs other people think up for you.