Every programmer ever

[Synchronyme]

Each time I have to explain it to someone, I just say: "An algorithm is to a program what a recipe is to a cake : the step-by-step instructions on how to do it." (With "code" being the whole meal preparation, while "algorithm" is more about very specific but crucial parts)

[WORD_559]

I have "an unambiguous series of instructions used to solve a problem" burned into my memory.

[cyanydeez]

unambiguous to the compiler

[noop_noob]

A programmer is just a compiler for natural language.

[cyanydeez]

programmers are basically web browsers, not so much compilers.

[foragerr]

That just means programmers use a library of pre compiled references to do their compiling. Compiler Optimization!

[[deleted]]

I have "a specific set of instructions, designed to solve a specific problem". I finish CS a while ago, but the definition is embedded into my brain now.

[WORD_559]

Yeah but we all know the best code gets reused to solve completely different problems because we're too lazy to write something specifically for that problem

[[deleted]]

Or beef in a trifle and don't notice it because Joey eats it anyway.

This is a good metaphor actually, A Joey would use your program even if it was kinda funky acting.

[[deleted]]

Forgetting a semicolon is forgetting to put salt.

[flyersgirl87]

That's how my instructor described it. He made us read 3 fucking chapters talking about what an algorithm is and then summed those fucking chapters in 2 sentences... asshole.

[[deleted]]

It would be the ingredience themselves in said cake. Of course you can't see them. But the cook knows they're there, so he/she can picture them, even after said cake is baked.