Fundamentally, What is programming?

Fundamentally, it’s arranging patterns so that, when fed to a machine, certain desirable patterns come out.
This is a Jacquard loom:
This is the device that inspired Charles Babbage to invent the computer. As you can see, it’s weaving a carpet.
This is not a computer (there are certain important things that are missing, like internal state and the ability to also change the patterns on the paper), so this loom didn’t involve computer programming, but I think it’s still programming - just look at the tape; that’s obviously code, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to call the person that wrote it a programmer.

Guest Author

Vladislav Zorov

programming enthusiast.
Lives in Bulgaria

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