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It is an abstract form that outputs something seperate and new. In that sense it is like a recipe or a knitting pattern. The artifact created by execution is
by 7952 7y ago
It is an abstract form that outputs something seperate and new. In that sense it is like a recipe or a knitting pattern. The artifact created by execution is distinct from the code. The code itself is valued by that output rather than its own intrinsic qualities. And this ability to generate something seemingly novel is what makes coding cool and useful. You can write a bunch of code and get something that has emergent properties.
The things you mentioned are usually just data. They are the artifact. They are not generating anything distinct. There is only the data.
- kragen 7y agoEverything you said above is true of URLs, JPEGs, and Word documents (which are XML), too, except for the things that aren't true of HTML, namely, "this ability to generate something seemingly novel", and "You can write a bunch of code and get something that has emergent properties." (To some extent that's true of JPEG, but not HTML.) It is not true that URLs, JPEGs, and Word documents "are usually just data. They are the artifact. They are not generating anything distinct," although I concede that it's true of CSV files.
- username90 7y agoDo people write jpegs and word documents by hand in a text editor?
- kragen 7y agoYour question reminds me of when I first learned it was possible to write programs without line numbers. It took me a while to believe it. I suppose you don't think programs in Scratch, Flash, or Labview, or output from a compiler, are programs?