code

1. n. The stuff that software writers write, either in source form or after translation by a compiler or assembler. Often used in opposition to

data

, which is the stuff that code operates on. Among hackers this is a mass noun, as in

How much code does it take to do a bubble sort?

, or

The code is loaded at the high end of RAM.

Among scientific programmers it is sometimes a count noun equilvalent to

program

; thus they may speak of

codes

in the plural. Anyone referring to software as

the software codes

is probably a newbie or a suit.

2. v. To write code. In this sense, always refers to source code rather than compiled.

I coded an Emacs clone in two hours!

This verb is a bit of a cultural marker associated with the Unix and minicomputer traditions (and lately Linux); people within that culture prefer v. ‘code’ to v. ‘program’ whereas outside it the reverse is normally true.