Do you know the difference between "Programming and Coding"? If not then let's listen to Nerdy Nod.

Hello Everyone!!

Nerdy Nod to you all.....

This post will discuss the two most used terms of computer science, Programming, and Coding. Though they are very related terms and most of the time are used interchangeably, they have their own subtleties and differences.

While using these terms we understand what the other person wants to convey but there are many differences between these terms which will be pointed out in this post.

Let's move further and understand these terms:

1. What is Programming?

Wikipedia says "Programming is the process of designing and building an executable computer program to accomplish a specific computing result or to perform a specific task". When translated to laymen's terms (according to me), programming is telling someone/machines what to do to achieve/accomplish/complete a task flawlessly.

For example, She programmed her Air Conditioner to maintain a temperature of 22^oC using the remote.

Now that you have some idea of what programming means let's understand what we mean when we say Coding.

2. What is Coding?

Coding is to make people or machines understand your message. So when you say you are coding in a programming language, it means you are coding your message into that language so that machines can understand your message just like when you talk to an Indian guy, you translate/convert/encode your message in their language so that they can understand.

Now that you know what does coding and programming mean, you may be able to differentiate between these two terms. If not, don't worry the example below will help you to understand and differentiate between them.

Example:

1. Rachael programmed her A/C to maintain a room temperature of 22^oC using the remote.

Here, when we say Rachael programmed her A/C, it means Rachael somehow told/conveyed to A/C to maintain a temperature of 22^oC by pressing buttons of her A/C remote.

[That may sound weird that Rachael "telling" her A/C but that's what communication is, the word communication is not restricted to humans only]

and that's why it can be said that Rachael programmed her A/C but does that mean "Rachael coded her A/C"?

sounds weird?

[If yes, then it means you have understood the difference between programming and coding.]

Yes, it is correct that programming something does not mean that you have coded it. In the above example, someone else has coded the different functionalities of A/C into that remote and mapped them to different buttons; and using this Rachael was able to program that A/C as per her requirements.

Hope this really helped you to understand the difference between these two terminologies. 

Thank you for reading, stay tuned for more such articles and discussions.

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