code

The word “code” means instructions written in a programming language that a computer can run. In plain terms, most commonly today, instructions written for a computer; also a set of rules, or a system for disguising information.

“Code” is pronounced kohd (/koʊd/ in IPA).

Here is “code” used in a sentence: “She spent all afternoon debugging the code.”

Depending on how it is used, “code” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “code” comes from Latin. From Old French code, "system of law," ultimately from Latin codex, an early word for a wax-covered wooden writing tablet — and later, a book.

“Code” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Code” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: instructions written in a programming language that a computer can run.

Code is the written text, the instructions a programmer types in a language like Python or JavaScript. A program is the complete, working software those instructions produce once assembled and run. Code is the raw material, while the program is the finished, usable result built from it.

The two overlap heavily and are often used interchangeably. Coding usually refers to the hands-on act of writing the instructions themselves. Programming tends to describe the wider process around it, including planning, designing, testing and maintaining software, of which writing code is one central part.

Source written in languages such as Python, JavaScript, Java, C++ or HTML all counts as code. It might be a short script that renames files, or millions of lines running a whole operating system. Whatever the scale, it is text that instructs a computer to carry out specific tasks.

They are closely linked but not identical. Code is the human-written source text, while software is the running product that code becomes once compiled or interpreted by a computer. Put simply, developers write code, and users run software. One is the recipe, the other the finished meal.