3 ms·

I think the answer is simple: Software is instructions we give to the computer.

by galaxyLogic 2y ago

Koshkin 2y ago
Dijkstra would disagree.
dartos 2y ago
Are books simply ink on paper? Are stories just ordered words?
- pegasus 2y ago
  Instructions are intentional, ink isn't.
  - dartos 2y ago
    “Instructions” as in directions for accomplishing a task and “instructions” as the binary signals we send to a CPU to process are not the same. CPU instructions may very well not be intentional. Do you know every instruction that your compiler spits out? My point is that calling software just “instructions” is overly reductive. They very fact that CPU instructions can have semantic meaning shows that.
    - galaxyLogic 2y ago
      Of course, instructions always have semantic meaning, whether we give them to the computer or to the humans. The compiler/interpreter/AI translates the instructions I give in a high-level language or now even in natural language to the computer. So in this sense any intentional speech is "software" too.
elliotec 2y ago
What about the product of the instructions? Or as another commenter said, the runtime execution? Which of those is more “software” than the other and what does it make the other? Seems reasonable to believe the thing happening due to the instructions is on another level of “abstract artifact” corroborating the point despite semantic nuances.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- yetihehe 2y ago
  Product of instructions is just product. Sometimes it may be software, sometimes it may be graphics, sometimes it may be both (graphical programming languages, they exist). > Seems reasonable to believe the thing happening due to the instructions is on another level of “abstract artifact” Well, yes. Thing happening due to execution of instructions is typically[1] not those instructions. > Or as another commenter said, the runtime execution? Software is a list of instructions. Runtime execution is a process (of executing those instructions). What do you mean by your comment? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quine_(computing) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quine_(computing)
  - elliotec 2y ago
    I hear you that the end result is the software product, but what I'm saying is there are a lot of middle steps and grey area that could also be argued to be "software." In other words, I think I was trying to say I simply disagree with, or don't understand the point of the article due to the massive nuances. Also, yes, I love quines. And they're a great example of a nuance I'm conveying here.
MrMcCall 2y ago
Yeah, that's very good, but I'd say "try to give the computer", for various values of "try" :-)

I think the answer is simple: Software is instructions we give to the computer.

Koshkin 2y ago

Dijkstra would disagree.

dartos 2y ago

Are books simply ink on paper? Are stories just ordered words?

pegasus 2y ago
Instructions are intentional, ink isn't.
- dartos 2y ago
  “Instructions” as in directions for accomplishing a task and “instructions” as the binary signals we send to a CPU to process are not the same. CPU instructions may very well not be intentional. Do you know every instruction that your compiler spits out? My point is that calling software just “instructions” is overly reductive. They very fact that CPU instructions can have semantic meaning shows that.
  - galaxyLogic 2y ago
    Of course, instructions always have semantic meaning, whether we give them to the computer or to the humans. The compiler/interpreter/AI translates the instructions I give in a high-level language or now even in natural language to the computer. So in this sense any intentional speech is "software" too.

elliotec 2y ago

What about the product of the instructions? Or as another commenter said, the runtime execution? Which of those is more “software” than the other and what does it make the other? Seems reasonable to believe the thing happening due to the instructions is on another level of “abstract artifact” corroborating the point despite semantic nuances.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
yetihehe 2y ago
Product of instructions is just product. Sometimes it may be software, sometimes it may be graphics, sometimes it may be both (graphical programming languages, they exist). > Seems reasonable to believe the thing happening due to the instructions is on another level of “abstract artifact” Well, yes. Thing happening due to execution of instructions is typically[1] not those instructions. > Or as another commenter said, the runtime execution? Software is a list of instructions. Runtime execution is a process (of executing those instructions). What do you mean by your comment? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quine_(computing) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quine_(computing)
- elliotec 2y ago
  I hear you that the end result is the software product, but what I'm saying is there are a lot of middle steps and grey area that could also be argued to be "software." In other words, I think I was trying to say I simply disagree with, or don't understand the point of the article due to the massive nuances. Also, yes, I love quines. And they're a great example of a nuance I'm conveying here.

MrMcCall 2y ago

Yeah, that's very good, but I'd say "try to give the computer", for various values of "try" :-)