Computers run on code, which has two forms: source code and object code. Source code is written by programmers and compiled into object code, which is executed by the computer processor. Open source code allows for modification and creation of new object code.
Computers are machines that run on millions of lines of code. Programmers write code in various languages, but all this code has some basic functionality, regardless of the language used. A program always has two sets of code, source code and object code. Source code is what is created in advance, the language that the programmer uses to give instructions to the computer compiler to make the program work. The result of the compiler compiling these source code statements is called the object code.
The terms are intuitive, as source code is the beginning, or source, of the operation, and object code is the desired result, or object, of the whole exercise. It is stored in files created by the computer compiler and can therefore become the programmer’s intended ultimate purpose.
Once the source code has been compiled into files, it can then continue to the computer processor, which executes the final instructions. Commonly available software applications are huge collections of object code that cannot be fundamentally changed since the source code is not included. It’s like having the solution to the problem but not all the steps used to get there. Changing this code without having the source code can be an exercise in frustration.
This multistep process is necessary because computers can only execute instructions written in machine language. This is the end result, which is the executed versions of the object code. So when a consumer gets a software application, that consumer receives a executed version of the source code that has become a machine language that has been transformed into the final project.
Given the current emphasis on open source code, more and more applications are being released with vias in the source code. Diligent coders and programmers can access that source code, modify it to meet their needs, and then create new object code, which fulfills a purpose that may be different from that intended by the original programmers.
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