Do I have to look at the text of the article (words, letters, punctuation) to get to the ideas in it? Do ideas exist outside of the code where they are embedded

Do I have to look at the text of the article (words, letters, punctuation) to get to the ideas in it? Do ideas exist outside of the code where they are embedded? If the ideas live outside the code how confident can I be confident the code as written embodies the ideas? These are the things I keep thinking about.