A Popular Introduction to Programming Culture and the Evolution of Code

Software was born in the 1940s. That means more than one generation has been sitting at a desk pretending to know what software is and what its code consists of. Today software lives in our pockets, managing our cars and homes, shaping our lives, and we can no longer claim ignorance. The world belongs to those who write code. Not understanding this will leave you behind.

This special issue aims to introduce code and programmer culture in an accessible way. It includes some terminology and several basic mathematical concepts, as well as many jokes and timeless insights. Reading the whole thing may take some time, but the value it brings to your career makes it worthwhile. Code brings changes to the world every month:

Some are amusing,

Some are breathtaking,

Some are unsettling.

In the Business Weekly (Chinese edition) programming special you will read the following highlights:

P14 6. How does code become software?

Software developers think in lines of code stored in files. When they encounter a problem, they think about it, write code that solves it, and let the computer turn words into actions. Code is dead. How to make it alive? You need software to turn it into machine language. The term “language” sounds grand, but a computing device can be built from wood and marble. Your goal is to turn code into a sequence of explicit instructions that a network of logic gates can execute, thus turning code into an executable entity—software.

P28 12. What are the uses of different programming languages?

If all computer languages performed the same function (making the computer do what you want), why bother choosing? The reason is like not using a bicycle to move a refrigerator or not seeing a psychologist for a physical checkup. Some tools are especially suited for specific tasks.

P46 17. The legend of a programmer with IQ 10,000

For a truly gifted programmer, writing code is just a byproduct of thinking. Their skill is not syntax but their understanding of time and computation. They can judge faster than average programmers the consequences of their actions; they navigate darkness more quickly. Their code still has bugs and needs optimization—they are not flawless. It is just that if we have a candle, they have three or four flashlights and a map.

P51 20. Why are there so many languages?

In the field of electronic computing there is a famous paper titled “The Next 700 Programming Languages” by P.J. Landin, discussing about 1700 languages that have crowded the computer world. The paper was published in an academic journal in 1966 and opens with a Zen‑like statement: “Most programming languages have two aspects, calculation, which scientists need, and some task aspect, one is to express things with other things, the other is a predefined set of basic things.”

P86 37. How to choose a language?

Debates about programming speed should be handled carefully. All else being equal, faster is better, but equality does not exist. Do you need the speed to get a website up quickly and running, or the speed to rotate thousands of polygons in a 3D environment? Do you need to convert 10,000 PDFs to text per hour, or 10 million at once? These questions differ. We need to ask many questions about what we need, how many times, and whether existing code can help.

P93 41. Should you learn programming?

Maybe you should learn programming because there is a new economy that is as absurd, bizarre, and troublesome as the old one. Learning programming may help you decode the future. “Disruption” is just “optimization” with a new name. SDKs are encoded, renewable culture, a generation has fervently embraced them, like people once embraced Beatles records.

Code shatters the original holistic existence into fragments. Skilled professionals use this explosive capability according to their will.

P98 44. The programmer's disdain chain

From programming languages, editors, platforms to whether you write an if on the same line or the next, different camps habitually look down on each other. The question “What programming language do you use?” is the most popular disdain chain, so for beginners choosing the wrong language can land them at the bottom of the chain. How cruel is the programmer’s disdain chain? From language, tools, OS, hardware to workplace, see the diss battles among programmers.

P100 45. Wang Xiaochuan: I am crazy about programming

I remember when doing a CMS, I invited a dorm friend to help, but I found I could not tolerate two people coding together because it would ruin the original beauty of my code. As a coder, I cannot abandon elegance and aesthetics, but as a manager I must compromise. To me, programming creates a life. This life has your technical display, your thoughts, your understanding of beauty, and finally produces a virtual running life. Code is alive.

P107 50. Longquan Temple IT group: Buddhism is ancient, but Buddhists are modern

The master hopes to establish a new type of temple so that Buddhist teachings can be better understood by modern people, thereby benefiting the masses. Hence the emergence of the IT group is natural. The master said Buddhism is ancient, but Buddhists are modern.

P144 54. How to write a programmer‑style cultivation novel

One day my compiler will become part of my soul, the world will be restructured by code in my eyes, I will see endless mountains and galaxies turned into binary streams, past heroes will appear in my mind, and I will hear countless coders kneeling before my program shouting. They call me the god of code. At that time, I think I will finally find you.

This article is reprinted from Business Weekly.