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I have never heard or read anyone, beside physicists, say codes for software code. It doesn't even make sense. Where have you seen that used?

by bmitc 4y ago

inejge 4y ago
I have never heard or read anyone, beside physicists, say codes for software code. It doesn't even make sense. Why not? "A code" is a software package which solves some kind of problem computationally. Plural, codes. I'm sure it's been in use almost as long as the programmable computers. Here's[1] a link to an article from 1968 which uses the term in the singular ("The MENE Neutron Transport Code".) [1] https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4819611-mene-neutron-transport-code https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4819611-mene-neutron-transport-c...
- bmitc 4y ago
  There are plenty of words in English that have the same singular and plural form.
- mikebenfield 4y ago
  That article appears to be written by a non-native English speaker. I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to a software package as "a code."
  - inejge 4y ago
    I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to a software package as "a code." Then you probably haven't been around physicists, or read enough physics-related material. A non-scholarly reference which can't be easily checked online is George Dyson's "Project Orion," where Freeman Dyson (author's father) is quoted as mentioning this or that "code" as significant for the design of various Orion parts. (That should be a native enough English speaker.) The time-frame is late 1950s to early 1960s.
    - mikebenfield 4y ago
      Actually I have been around physicists. In my experience they use “codes” for any amount of code. If A wrote some software, B might say “I’d like to use your codes.” That reference you give doesn’t appear to be available online but I’ll take your word for it.
rsfern 4y ago
It’s used fairly often in the US national lab community (Not just among physicists). I think the point is that the physicists were among the very early adopters of computing systems. I’m not sure about the history of the term “code” used this way, but it might literally predate compiled software since Ulam and von Neumann invented the Monte Carlo method in 1948 during the Manhattan Project. Personally I think it just sounds outdated now, but it’s pretty common to hear people call their software “a hydrodynamics code” or “a molecular dynamics code”
- sseagull 4y ago
  Now I do wonder about the history of the term. The tendency is to call computational science software “codes”, but I’ve never heard a scientist call, ie a web browser, a code. There’s a different connotation. Like how theres a different connotation between a program, an application, and and app. The are largely synonymous, but have slightly different uses.
mike_hearn 4y ago
I've seen it a lot outside of physics. Obviously, what word they use for it is arbitrary but it's indicative of an actual problem - they're all totally cut off from the software engineering / CS community. Lots of them think programming is like learning to juggle or ride a bike or something, a skill that anyone just learns and then they're done. Then, obviously, they make major mistakes that invalidate their conclusions and nobody notices or cares because it's all student code, all the time.
auxym 4y ago
It's pretty widely used in "traditional" engineering, at least in mechanical/civil/nuclear/aerospace. My impression is that it's probably a holdover from the good old days FORTRAN-IV. See for example Code_Aster (as in, "a code"), which is one of the largest projects for open source FEA (and it mostly rooted in academia).
rfrey 4y ago
All mechanical engineers. All of them. Even that guy, who corrects himself when you're in the room - as soon as you're gone, they're back to the codes.

I have never heard or read anyone, beside physicists, say codes for software code. It doesn't even make sense. Where have you seen that used?

by bmitc 4y ago

I have never heard or read anyone, beside physicists, say codes for software code. It doesn't even make sense. Where have you seen that used?

inejge 4y ago

I have never heard or read anyone, beside physicists, say codes for software code. It doesn't even make sense. Why not? "A code" is a software package which solves some kind of problem computationally. Plural, codes. I'm sure it's been in use almost as long as the programmable computers. Here's[1] a link to an article from 1968 which uses the term in the singular ("The MENE Neutron Transport Code".) [1] https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4819611-mene-neutron-transport-code https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4819611-mene-neutron-transport-c...

bmitc 4y ago
There are plenty of words in English that have the same singular and plural form.
mikebenfield 4y ago
That article appears to be written by a non-native English speaker. I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to a software package as "a code."
- inejge 4y ago
  I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to a software package as "a code." Then you probably haven't been around physicists, or read enough physics-related material. A non-scholarly reference which can't be easily checked online is George Dyson's "Project Orion," where Freeman Dyson (author's father) is quoted as mentioning this or that "code" as significant for the design of various Orion parts. (That should be a native enough English speaker.) The time-frame is late 1950s to early 1960s.
  - mikebenfield 4y ago
    Actually I have been around physicists. In my experience they use “codes” for any amount of code. If A wrote some software, B might say “I’d like to use your codes.” That reference you give doesn’t appear to be available online but I’ll take your word for it.

rsfern 4y ago

It’s used fairly often in the US national lab community (Not just among physicists). I think the point is that the physicists were among the very early adopters of computing systems. I’m not sure about the history of the term “code” used this way, but it might literally predate compiled software since Ulam and von Neumann invented the Monte Carlo method in 1948 during the Manhattan Project. Personally I think it just sounds outdated now, but it’s pretty common to hear people call their software “a hydrodynamics code” or “a molecular dynamics code”

sseagull 4y ago
Now I do wonder about the history of the term. The tendency is to call computational science software “codes”, but I’ve never heard a scientist call, ie a web browser, a code. There’s a different connotation. Like how theres a different connotation between a program, an application, and and app. The are largely synonymous, but have slightly different uses.

mike_hearn 4y ago

I've seen it a lot outside of physics. Obviously, what word they use for it is arbitrary but it's indicative of an actual problem - they're all totally cut off from the software engineering / CS community. Lots of them think programming is like learning to juggle or ride a bike or something, a skill that anyone just learns and then they're done. Then, obviously, they make major mistakes that invalidate their conclusions and nobody notices or cares because it's all student code, all the time.

auxym 4y ago

It's pretty widely used in "traditional" engineering, at least in mechanical/civil/nuclear/aerospace. My impression is that it's probably a holdover from the good old days FORTRAN-IV. See for example Code_Aster (as in, "a code"), which is one of the largest projects for open source FEA (and it mostly rooted in academia).

rfrey 4y ago

All mechanical engineers. All of them. Even that guy, who corrects himself when you're in the room - as soon as you're gone, they're back to the codes.