Software Source Code Item

Context:
- It can (typically) be referenced by a Software Code Measure, such as lines of code.
- It can (often) be edited by Source-Code Editing (with a source code editor).
- It can range from being a Source Code Fragment to being a Source Code Unit.
- It can range from being a Working Source Code Item to being an Erroneous Source Code Item.
- It can be stored in a Source Code Repository, such as a GitHub Snippet.
- It can be contain Software Code Sections.
- It can be contain Source Code Comments.
- It can be created by a Software Programming Task (typically by a software engineer).
- It can be updated by a Software Code Change Task.
- It can range from being a Production Code to being an Adhoc Code.
- It can include:
  - a Data Structure Definition, such as a Computer Program Object Definition.
  - a Data Input Processing Code, Data Transformation Code, Data Loading Code.
- ...
Example(s):
- Software Fragments, such as:
- Source Code File.
- ... Items, such as: Python code, Perl code, Scala code, R code, Java code, C++ code, C code, PHP code, Ruby code, Prolog code, SQL/PSM code.
- Software Test Code.
- ...
Counter-Example(s):
- Pseudocode.
- Machine Code (or an executable file or a program process).
- Technical Document.
- Tehnical Diagram, such as a Data Model Diagram.
- DNA Segment.
See: Codebase, Human-Readable, Compiler, Plain Text, Source Code Error Correction.

References

(Economist, 2015) ⇒ The Economist. (2015). “What is Code?.” In: The Economist, Sep 8th 2015 Journal.
- QUOTE: From lifts to cars to airliners to smartphones, modern civilisation is powered by software, the digital instructions that allow computers, and the devices they control, to perform calculations and respond to their surroundings. How did that software get there? Someone had to write it. But code, the sequences of symbols painstakingly created by programmers, is not quite the same as software, the sequences of instructions that computers execute. So what exactly is it? Coding, or programming, is a way of writing instructions for computers that bridges the gap between how humans like to express themselves and how computers actually work.

(Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/source_code Retrieved:2014-3-16.
- In computing, source code is any collection of computer instructions (possibly with comments) written using some human-readable computer language, usually as text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source code. The source code is often transformed by a compiler program into low-level machine code understood by the computer. The machine code might then be stored for execution at a later time. Alternatively, an interpreter can be used to analyze and perform the outcomes of the source code program directly on the fly.
  Most computer applications are distributed in a form that includes executable files, but not their source code. If the source code were included, it would be useful to a user, programmer, or system administrator, who may wish to modify the program or understand how it works.
  Aside from its machine-readable forms, source code also appears in books and other media; often in the form of small code snippets, but occasionally complete code bases; a well-known case is the source code of PGP.

(Knuth, 1985) ⇒ Donald Knuth. (1985). “Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs."
- QUOTE: ... Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute. ...