For so long, there have been arguments, debates, and discussions about the difference between programming and coding. While this may be so, we can’t exactly blame the masses for confusing one over the other! At first glance, they both do look like they’re pointing at the same thing. In reality, they are terms that are used differently for software developers around the globe.
Coding
Coding is significantly different from programming. It’s all about translating a specific program into a breakable, more understandable code. However, coding is encompassed by programming. Coding is about taking part in the process of programming.
By this, a few of the job requirements of being a coder include being well-versed in programming languages and syntax.
It deals with writing code in a language that is both understood by machines and humans (how cool is that!). Coding serves as a bridge in connecting the two.
With coding, you become the translator just like in an instance where bilingual persons would translate a text into a language that their friends understand. Coding is the foundation where programming rests upon and must not be taken any lightly.
Programming
Programming basically serves as a set of instructions to specific devices for performing tasks on behalf of a human doing it for them.
A simple and common example includes a remote control for the television. Pressing different numbers on the controls entails different meanings, and the television is ‘programmed’ to recognize each key or combination that there is for as far as they are programmed to do so. The person responsible for the television’s automation are programmers.
Among the steps of programming are planning for its structures, designing the structure, developing it, testing the program, and deploying once it’s done.
Programming encompasses coding. In this way, every part and element of coding overall creates a program. It requires document review and analysis along with the code.
Conclusion
Coders require a basic knowledge in programming languages, while programmers are the ones who are responsible for the algorithms, math models, and data structures.
Programming is all about creating an overall outline or structure for a specific code before it’s actually written to perform accordingly. The coder’s job is to follow a set of technical specifications for a program and be able to code accordingly based on its requirements.
So, which one is better? A coder or a programmer?
Neither.
Both work hand-in-hand in order to see the type of automation in today’s time. Without either, the several features in technology and other popular applications wouldn’t even come close to what we see today.
Software developers (both coders and programmers) are still fairly new professions. However, in the past decade, since the breakthrough of technological advancements and computer science, these jobs have been advancing at a rapid pace -- more than any other professions out there.
The future of software development isn’t going to get any dimmer, and both programmers and coders are taking the front seat. Whether you are a coder or a programmer, the job is always going to be a challenge, but reaping the fruits of your labor by seeing your code work is always a satisfying feat that only a few professions can relate to.
Cheers to a fun, more complicated (or simplified) code and programs that will help build the technology of the future!