What is coding?
Many have asked the same question I’m sure, so here’s my go at describing it in one particular dimension, metaphorically.
1) The Humble Square
The square represents the building block, it is in and of itself a benign and boring concept on the surface, until you start to delve into it's properties.
This could represent any number of software building blocks, the byte, a text character, the pixel, the variable and so on.
2) The Symbol
The symbol is comprised of the square, its still a very simple concept but already it's obvious that the square, when structured, can convey meaning, in this case the letter E which represents the phonetic sound EEEEEEEE!
This could represent a single function, or a set of pixels.
3) The Message
The message is comprised of the symbol, comprised of the square. It has functionality in the real world as it can be put into context with other messages to convey an infinite number of meanings.
This could represent a whole program, or a function, or just some text.
4) The Storage
As you can see, in this configuration the square can be used to store information, in this case a palette of colour, in the shape of a square.
You might say this is similar to a database
5) The Embodiment
At what point does the square become the high level embodiment of a concept, or set of concepts? The more squares you have, the higher the resolution of the concept. At what point does it become a real thing? Or is it purely perspective, zoom in or out and it takes on or loses meaning.
What is the art? The concept or the medium?