6 ms·
What is code
- mynegation 8y agoNeeds (2015)
- ulises314 8y agoBaby don't hurt me...
- shabbyrobe 8y agoThis song popped straight into my head too! Before the humourless downvote-brigade gets you, here is the song for those unfamiliar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5G1FmU-ldg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5G1FmU-ldg
- kzzzznot 8y agoI think this is the better version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwVh8pmOot4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwVh8pmOot4
- mlthoughts2018 8y agodon’t hurt me .. XOR
- dushyantk 8y ago...no more
- pi-squared 8y agoCame searching for this comment.
- adynatos 8y agobaby don't ret me
- napsterbr 8y agoNo Moore
- sethammons 8y agoAmusing and whimsical. So.much.content. I enjoyed the end though. I spent about 17 minutes scrolling through, reading different parts and got to the end. It called me out for reading nearly 2k works per minute to finish in that time. haha.
- samschooler 8y agoPrevious discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9698870 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9698870 Also article about its reception: https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7740986 https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7740986
- apaprocki 8y agoObligatory source code: https://github.com/BloombergMedia/whatiscode https://github.com/BloombergMedia/whatiscode (I have a merged PR in there... do you? :))
- mrob 8y ago>Some things that aren’t yet computers—dental floss, flashlights—will fall eventually. My flashlight (bought before 2015) includes a microcontroller. I think most flashlights do now.
- kazinator 8y agoOriginally, "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/HopperAutoCodingPaper_1955.pdf http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/univac/HopperAutoCodingPaper_19... Though a woman, she talks the masculinized talk: "The analysis is the responsibility of the mathematician or engineer, the methods or systems man." [...] "The job of the programmer is that of adapting the problem definition to the abilities and idiosyncracies of the particular computer. He will be vitally concerned with input and output and with the flow of operations through the computer. He must have a thorough knowledge of the computer components and their relative speeds and virtues." [...] "It is then the job of the coder to reduce the flow charts to the de- tailed list of computer instructions. At this point, an exact and comprehensive knowledge of the computer, its code, coding tricks, details of sentinels and of pulse code are required."
- disqard 8y agoThis 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!
- eXpl0it3r 8y agoThe distinction is lost because in many cases it doesn't hold relevance anymore. You don't need to write flow-charts, state or class diagrams before you start writing code. Todays tooling allows for more iterative approaches and also leaves room for making syntax errors without having to wait hours and days to get "compiler" errors. But I agree it's still interesting to know of the distinction and know that both can require slightly different skillsets. So when you have someone that is very good at planing and has the experience to layout complex systems in advance, you can assign them an architect title, while someone who knows a programming language inside and outside, you might be better off keeping them in the "driving" seat.
- foxhop 8y agoI 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.
- tomglynch 8y agoThis 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.
- monadgonad 8y agoI 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.
- ChrisSD 8y agoConsidering 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.
- monadgonad 8y agoGood point. I've only seen it shared in very techie circles.
- bluesnowmonkey 8y agoIt succeeds in the goal of helping programmers understand how they are perceived by business people, and how to be effective in a business environment.
- deathbytray 8y agoI feel like he accomplishes this in the first section of the writing. I agree with you, my favorite part is the fictional(?) narrative in the beginning. I almost wish this article was less about "what is coding" and rather a deeper exploration of how developers and software projects are perceived by traditional business people.
- enedil 8y agoRepost: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9698870 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9698870
- BjoernKW 8y agoTo 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
- taneq 8y agoThe '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.
- iticu 8y agoI actually hated that guy. Who would decide to rewrite an entire CMS in node.js?!
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- Niksko 8y agoSo you listened to the Tomorrow podcast rerun as well? I think I skimmed this when it first came out, but after two years working at a consulting firm where our clients are borderline tech illiterate, this seems like a pretty decent primer to me. It's not that our clients are idiots (mostly), it's just that they are lacking 20 years or context. This does a great job at filling in some of the gaps.
- amelius 8y agoVery nice explanation. Now I'm hoping they will do an article on quantum entanglement in similar vein :)
- noway421 8y agoI wish they would tell the story further, including how the man in taupe blazer would deliver the project and whether it would be a success or not, and what would happen past delivery.
- eveahe 8y agoA favorite article of mine! Paul Ford has continued to write good explainers for Bloomberg Businessweek (most recently on the Github acquisition: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-06/github-is-microsoft-s-7-5-billion-undo-button https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-06/github-is...) but I've been waiting for him to write something long form again...