I'm writing a bit of open-source propaganda and I need to explain what source code is to a non-technical audience in ten words or less without them losing interest. I've tried things relating to recipes and the like but I'm not an English major so I'm having a really hard time with this. Any ideas?
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110answers:
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A:
10 words isn't a lot but here's my attempt - it's the instructions that tell the computer what to do.
TLiebe
2010-05-19 16:01:37
Actually, you did it in EXACTLY 10 words. Nice job!
FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
2010-05-19 16:02:47
I love it when I'm given a specification that I can actually follow!
TLiebe
2010-05-19 16:05:16
@TLiebe: Amen to that! If only it were always that easy.
FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
2010-05-19 16:06:07
Actually, I only count that as nine words (The "it's" is not included. If it was, it would count as two words: "it is."). This was exactly what I was looking for, thank you for your help!
marcusw
2010-05-19 16:35:10
That's just the "code" part. For the "source" part, I believe you'll need to say something like "the original code that the programmer used to build the program". Because, mind you, compiled binaries are also composed of "instructions that tell the computer what to do"
hasen j
2010-05-20 06:01:53
+1
A:
Recipe cards for making cakes and meal entries in cookbooks are "source code" They provide directions for a cook to follow, to produce the desired result. Source code are directions for the computer to follow, to produce a result.
Compilation is merely a means to make the process efficient, for an idiot (the CPU) to follow. Its as if you took the cookbook entry that says, "add flour" and broke into down into micro instructions: "get cup. use to get 1/2 cup of flour. move cup over pot. pour cup into pot".
Ira Baxter
2010-05-19 16:03:24
Ah, the recipe analogy. Reminds me of the first time I saw a "menu" on an Apple 2e. It looked like a restaurant menu. Good times...
David Lively
2010-05-19 16:08:51
+1
A:
The human-readable version of the instructions followed by a computer.
Kramii
2010-05-19 16:04:49
A:
Basically, a computer processes zeros and ones. But it would be too complicated for us to directly talk to a computer with zeros and ones.
So, instead, we talk to it in a language that is both understandable by the machine (so that it can convert our instructions to zeros and ones) and by us (so we are able to produce programs in an efficient and fast way).
It is the text written in that language, before it is converted to zeros and ones, that I would call source code.
xqib-team
2010-05-19 16:06:32
+2
A:
The written instructions that programmers use to control the computer.
Earlz
2010-05-19 16:08:42