Coding is Like Writing

Note: This is a half-poem half-essay thing

When you code, you format the characters in such a way that you can understand what you have written — as well as anyone else who will be reading it. When you write, you format your words in such a way that you can understand what you have written — as well as anyone else who will be reading it.

Every single choice you make in your formatting will completely change how what you are creating is interpreted.

But none of that matters — no matter how we format our words or how we space and write our code, the underlying function will always be the same. Always carrying out the same function, holding the same meaning, communicating the same amount of information.

But without the format, the meaning would be meaningless to the reader. The syntax and tone in which the code is written affects its efficiency and how it is interpreted by its human readers. Code without spacing, or English-named variables, or inconsistent formatting would be unreadable to humans, even though it contains the exact same underlying information.