Code, what is it good for?

What is code? My website is called Coders Journal but is code limited to programming a computer or is it something grander? After looking up “code definition” on Google I came upon the following definitions:

1.     a system of words, letters, figures, or other symbols substituted for other words, letters, etc., especially for the purposes of secrecy.

2.     program instructions.

The computer definition of coding is the second definition, not the first. That is because the word code was used for ages, before we, as a nation, imagined the invention of the personal computer. The first definition is the one I want to focus on today, especially since in addition to being a computer programmer, I am a scientist and an educator, and it turns out that in all my professions I use or try to understand code.

            As a biologist, I have manipulated and used the genetic code to better understand how the human body works. Deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) is the code a cell uses to make its proteins and orchestrate the phenomenon of cell division, for example. It is what ultimately leads to the human being reading the words on their computer screen. DNA can determine if an individual is more susceptible to a particular disease, or even make it harder to get sick with another disease. Essentially code is all around us, and within us, not solely in the computer.

            Mathematics is another form of code. When a person learns to solve the equation 2+2=4, they learn the code underlying mathematics. The wonderful thing about this code is it is not dependent on a group’s language, someone speaking Spanish, or Chinese can still understand the truth that 2+2=4. It is an international code and mathematicians all over the globe communicate using this code to try and understand the secrets hidden within mathematics.

            Physicists use mathematics to understand the code of the universe, in other words how things work. And the struggle is still ongoing. Unraveling, or rather deciphering, the code underlying how light works or how an electron travels around its nucleus is still being understood. Mathematics is the tool physicists use to decipher the nature of reality.

These mysteries are what drive scientists to explore the world around them. The struggle to further our understanding of how a chemical reaction works, how to keep infections from becoming pandemics, or why a photon acts like a wave and a particle are questions that drive scientists around the world.

Future articles I write will be about more than just computer code. I will expand to write about code in general. I will write about scientific topics as well as topics underlying education. It will give me motivation to further expand my knowledge of a diverse range of topics, read new peer-reviewed articles, and generally help my enjoyment of writing new articles for my website. Thank you for joining me on this adventure.