Essay Example on Unveiling the Mystery of Computer Code: How It Works

A computer code very crucial. Every electronic devices we use on daily basis in one way or the other relies on a computer code. How things works through a computer code might sound quite confusing although when broken down it is actually very simple. Developers, programmers or coders are the names for people who write computer codes. These people work with computers to create mobile applications, games, and websites among other computer programs. In this article, I will explain what a computer code is and why everyone in business need to have the basic understanding of coding.

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Computers have their own special language referred as machine language. This language is what tells a computer what to do and how to it. A code is defined as a set of computer instructions to accomplish a task. Every piece of code, set of instructions, tells a computer to change something in its memory. Leaning machine language is very possible but can take longer time. However, this does not mean it will take forever for one to learn how to code (Highsmit, 2001). There is another easier way of communicating with computers which is through a programming language. There exists so many programming languages. You write your code and then a compiler provided by the language turns translate the instructions to the machine language which a computer understands. This is what is referred as coding. Coding is the process of manipulating a computer behaviour through a programming language. This process involves step by step instructions that have been written using a programming language, a piece of code. A computer executes tasks in steps. You can think of this a doing a second-grade math; Taking two numbers and putting them in a box each at time. Some of the programming languages includes; Java, C++, C#, Python, and Perl among others. According to research, the number of professional software developers stand at eleven million and 7 million who are hobbyists.

Different programmers have different interests in the coding space. Some developers write code that are embedded in hardware for instance coding running in TVs, smartwatches and Cameras. Others create code for mobile devices and websites. All these people have different culture and tribal folklores including the way they organise their works. Software developers make computes do wonderful things. However, computers have limits and people need to understand this fact. All computers operate differently, do all are powerful. Depending on the installed RAM, they have different processor speeds. Making everything to work well requires lots of effort and collaboration between the programmer and the marketer. According to British artist William Morris, one cannot have art without resistance in the materials. Therefore, the computers and its peripherals are the materials while code remains as the art.

Different technology companies have a specialisation in different set of computer products all having certain aspect of computer codes. For instance, Apple makes computers while Microsoft makes only software including hardware such as mice and keyboards. This signifies that everything is slowly becoming computer and will continue to be. These things includes watches, air conditioners, cameras, toilets, aeroplanes, cash registers and movie projectors. Companies are making things that looks like computers, for instance, Samsung makes computer-like TVs, while Tesla is making computers that had wheels and engines. Some of the things that are not going the computer way are very likely to fall (Ford, 2015).

Is there a need of people in business to have a basic understanding of code? Yes. Coding is involves writing step by step instructions that guide computer to accomplishing tasks. These tasks involves some business processes like accounting, calculating salaries, loan interests. A simple piece of code can perform a one-man eight to five routine job within few seconds. A computer processes data used business decision-making processes. Coding is about business needs, and every person in business need to understand how their data is being handled. Data is very critical organisational asset and intellectual property. Ability to write usable and effective code requires a good understanding of certain business processes. This calls for the collaboration between business people and programmers to develop usable software. Business people need to understand how the company data is being handled and processed. This is evident during the software testing phase of software development lifecycle where a piece of code is tested against some defined business needs. These business needs are normally defined by those in business at the initial stages of software development life cycle.

However, if individuals in the corporate environment need to understand coding, there need first an understanding of what object programming is (Ford, 2015). Objects programming is a concept used in coding that involves organising a piece of code in terms of objects. Objects are manipulated through methods. Examples of objects can be a person, book, bank account, and a company among others. An objects has attributes for example bank account number, employee number and anything describing the object entity. Within a piece of code, all the company data are organised in terms of objects. This brings the need for the individuals in business to understand this concept (Highsmith & Cockburn, 2001). Poor organisation of these data objects would be disastrous in business. It can lead to serious loses or misinterpretation of important data. Software developers talk of data all the time. For instance, creating a website will require writing to or reading a database somewhere (Ford, 2015).

With everything becoming computerised, more data is being generated and there is the need for people in business to have this knowledge of data management through programming. Coding makes working much easier. Complex tasks are executed within seconds and human-impossible missions are made possible through few lines of code. Everybody need to get the coding basics right.

References

Ford, P. (2015). What is code? Bloomberg Businessweek, 11.

Highsmith, J., & Cockburn, A. (2001). Agile software development: The business of innovation. Computer, 34(9), 120-127.