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code 1. n. The stuff that software
writers write, either in source form or after translation by a compiler or
assembler. Often used in opposition to “data”, which is the
stuff that code operates on. Among hackers this is a mass noun, as in
“How much code does it take to do a bubble
sort?”, or “The code is loaded at the high end of
RAM.” Among scientific programmers it is sometimes a count noun
equilvalent to “program”; thus they may speak of
“codes” in the plural. Anyone referring to software as
“the software codes” is probably a
newbie or a suit. 2. v. To write code. In this
sense, always refers to source code rather than compiled. “I coded
an Emacs clone in two hours!” This verb is a bit of a cultural
marker associated with the Unix and minicomputer traditions (and lately
Linux); people within that culture prefer v. ‘code’ to
v. ‘program’ whereas outside it the reverse is normally
true.
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