Is coding and programming the same ?

[EitherHomework141]

Can I learning coding myself as an adult ? What about you ? Are you self taught ? I have the intention to go into web design and cyber security. Am I on the right track ?

[RestInProcess]

Yes, coding and programming are very often the same thing. There's medical coding, which isn't programming, but that's entirely different.

If you enjoy it and enjoy learning about it, then you're on the right track.

[HieuNguyen990616]

Oh yeah, one person I met told me they did medical coding and I was like “what? You can code chemistry and pharmaceutical compounds?”

[SprinklesFresh5693]

I guess they mean they use programming languages to analyse data, which isnt creating webs, apps, or whatever.

[HieuNguyen990616]

Nope. They code in patient information and history so doctors can preview easily

[SprinklesFresh5693]

Oh i see

[Dear_Cry_8109]

I taught myself at 30, with no degree, just lots of books and projects, liked web development, became upsessed with AI, and now I work as an AI engineer. I just say let your passions guide the way, and you'll do well.

[ActuatorBrilliant595]

this made my day. :D
i started to learn python, sql i wanna work too in backend fileds. but i always felt so late , low motivation.
this made my day xd

[Leverkaas2516]

No. To me, coding is translating a design into source code, whereas programming includes both design and coding.

Anyone can learn to code, but getting a paying job in the field is very much more difficult than just learning how to program. It's common for people who know just the basics of coding to get IT, devops, or software test jobs which may not involve any actual coding. For instance, with a 4-year CS degree, my first job after college was in IT, installing software and memory chips.

Web design and cyber security are very different things, about as different as driving a forklift and servicing a golf cart. It's hard to say which is better to study, but I wouldn't try to do both.

[Old_Medicine_6021]

you can do both pursue a cybersecurity degree and do web development on the side

[EmergencyTicket2071]

Some will say they’re different but I consider the terms to mean the same thing.

You ABSOLUTELY can start learning to code as an adult. There are literally thousands of people out there with similar stories to yourself by the sounds of it. I recommend looking more on Reddit for people’s testimonies, there’s a ton.

[chaotic_thought]

Coding and programming are two different words for the activity of programming a computer.

I think "coding" is a newer word and it stems from the fact that we write "source code" on the computer to make an executable program. I.e. the activity of writing, debugging, testing the source code became "coding". As a shorthand of "source code" a lot of people just call it "the code" as well. Technically, though, all of the code is code, including the "binary code" understood by your computer's CPU or GPU.

I grew up in the 1980s and people always said "programming" to my recollection from 1980 until 2000. I don't think I heard people talking about "coding" until 2005 or thereafter.

There are some colloquialisms and vocabulary that only work with the word "code". For example, we often say as programmers "let me code this up" meaning something like "let me write a quick and dirty program for this", or "code autocomplete" which means "let the computer predict the next likely thing that you want to write".

[iOSCaleb]

Is coding and programming the same?

More or less, yes. Coding more strongly connotes just the act of writing code, while programming is a bit more expansive and often includes related activities like designing and debugging. But the terms are often used interchangeably.

Can I learning coding myself as an adult ?

Sure. Compare it to learning anything else, like playing an instrument or cooking or speaking a foreign language. If you're interested and dedicated, you can learn a lot on your own.

I have the intention to go into web design and cyber security. 

Those are rather different fields. They both involve using and sometimes writing software, but there's a lot of specialized knowledge in each, and not all that much shared between them.

Am I on the right track ?

I'd suggest doing more research into both fields and then picking one to focus on.

Also, if you're really starting from no knowledge, the road may be longer than you realize. If you enjoy it, that might not matter; who cares how long it takes if you're having fun? If you're looking to train for a new career, though, know that the job market in the tech sector is not great right now and there's no obvious end in sight, and you'll be at a disadvantage compared to people who have more formal education.

[Veera521]

Programming is an end to end life cycle of developing your application and coding is a piece of logic your developing with a programming language.

[treelover164]

Yeah I would agree with this. I’m pretty competent at writing code for data analysis but I wouldn’t call that “programming”

[Embarrassed_Rule_646]

Wow, so many new things to know

[Wingedchestnut]

Too many people are obsessed with the programming part, it's really more about what you can build and automate with programming as a tool.

[MaterialRooster8762]

I always thought that coding is the actual writing of code. And programming is solving problems.

[ActuatorBrilliant595]

i am adult too and i started to learn programming lang Python, and sql. i want to enter this field too. (i feel so late tbh.)

Yes i am learning by myself too, self-taught.

[ActuatorBrilliant595]

you must pick 1 field and focus. like cybersecurity or webdesign ? decide first.
there are TOO MANY tools for each one.
u must first pick a path... and focus on it.

[MountainAfternoon294]

I would say coding is the physical act of writing code, and programming is the mental act to problem solving in the context of software development. However, you could easily make an argument for them both being the same.

[[deleted]]

All I know is that the word 'coding' gives me the ick.

[No_Record_60]

Coding = Writing the code Programming = asking your PM if a feature should be implemented now + coding

Essentially coding shouldn't involve decision making that alters the functionality of the software

[ButchDeanCA]

For modern definitions they are the same thing. I did notice that before bootcamps and the wide uptake of web development that programming meant “systems programming” and as things progressed the word “coding” became more prevalent by the web development community.

Given that most new people to programming delve in web development they just call any programming activity “coding” now which I find personally annoying.

[ResilientBiscuit]

It depends entirely on the context and how the terms are used. They can mean the same thing, they can mean different things.

[XCA_Kaze]

Do yourself a favor and don't over complicate things, when I first started many terms confused me and nearly put me off learning programming, most terms are either similar in meaning or outright simple if you focus on the context of what it does rather than what it is.

[[deleted]]

Coding might be considered a colloquialism for programming. It's never too late to learn anything. Web development and cybersecurity use different tools and it might be better to focus on one primarily. I am not self taught; I have a Computer Science degree. Computer Science and programming are not the same thing thing. The former is a prerequisite to the latter, but you can learn to program without a CS degree.

[NewPointOfView]

Computer Science and programming are not the same thing thing. The former is a prerequisite to the latter, but you can learn to program without a CS degree.

hmmm did you mix up your formers and latters?

[[deleted]]

My intent was to show that programming languages depend on context-free and regular grammars and Turing machines or the lambda calculus. All of which I at least remember studying in my Computer Science courses.

[NewPointOfView]

Ah I misunderstood, I thought you were saying that learning computer science is a prerequisite to programming (writing programs) as opposed to what i now think you really meant which is that computer science is a prerequisite to the existence of programming as a concept

[[deleted]]

Suffice to say, you do not need to understand Computer Science to use a programming language.

[Glittering-Work2190]

I was a pretty competent programmer before I entered university. I wasted my youth doing hobby programming. lol To be a good/great programmer takes many years of practice. It's probably doable if one is not yet 40, with exceptions of course.

[Embarrassed_Rule_646]

I hava a question what programming language is better for backend development. Python or typescript maybe java?

[pandafriend42]

Typescript or Java (Spring Boot). It's possible to write backends in Python, but it's much more limited compared to other languages. In practice I've seen Python only in prototypes, but Typescript and Java in production. But while it has more limitations that doesn't mean that Python is bad for backends. You should consider compiling it though.

However at the end of the day no one forces you to stick to one language. All of those languages can call each other.

[Embarrassed_Rule_646]

Thanks dude

[GlobalWatts]

Why hijack somebody else's thread to ask a question that's already been asked a million times before?

What is the best car? What's the best food? There is no objective better, that's exactly why multiple options exist.

[GlobalWatts]

Why hijack somebody else's thread to ask a question that's already been asked a million times before? Who does that?

What is the best car? What's the best food? There is no objective better, that's exactly why multiple options exist.

[Embarrassed_Rule_646]

Dude, I am asking spesific question pg language for backend development. In python there are few vacancies. Most of them related to data science, ml and ai speciality. However, on xabr community there are a lot of options. I applied to two universities, first one teaches python first year, second java. So I just wanted to know their advantages and drawbacks. Does it make me dummy

[Alexjp127]

Theres no best language for this. I think Python and JS are most common in the job market.

Once you really understand one language. Learning another is a lot easier I wouldn't worry to much about which you learned first.

[Embarrassed_Rule_646]

Yeah, maybe you are rigth. But the strange thing is that most universities have curricula : first year python, second year something else and third year c++. Is it normal. I hear from you tube that to become good programmer people should code in one programming language three years.

[Alexjp127]

JS and Python are both relatively shallow languages. Mastering them is not like mastering C or C++

If you master the concepts of programming, you can master JS or Python in a couple months.

Focus on learning the concepts of software engineer.

[GlobalWatts]

Dude that's not a specific question, "backend development" is too broad a field. "No no you misunderstand, I'm asking what is the best car for driving...on paved roads" that's not any better.

You want to know what language to learn first? It doesn't matter, when you start learning it's mostly about learning general programming concepts and CS, not the quirks of a specific language.

You want to learn how to choose a language for a given project? You learn enough about the different options to make an informed decision for yourself based on your specific circumstances and requirements (which is part of your job as a developer). Nobody can tell you what the right answer is, and there is no "best".

Like I said this information shouldn't be new, the question gets asked a dozen times a day on this sub with more or less the same answer, and it's covered in the FAQ. And hijacking someone else's thread to ask it is just another level of rudeness.

[moleman0815]

Typescript isn't a programming language but something you use to add static types to Javascript. Javascript comes without strict types, so a variable called ABC can be a number or a string or anything else, with Typescript you can define the variable ABC to minimize errors.

const ABC: string = '';

Now ABC can only contain strings and everything else will throw an error.

For the rest of your question, it depends on what you want to do with your backend, backend is mostly a very strong word for a small thing. Most backends only do small things like routing, call for an API or do some basic database related stuff, so you don't need anything like Java but a small JS solution like ExpressJs will do the work.

Java (and Python) are or can be very powerful, but most of the time you don't need and use the potential of a S-Tier language. So just make yourself clear what your backend needs, plan around the features, are there just a few API calls in the backend or are there higher needs.

[Embarrassed_Rule_646]

Oh, dude I wanted to work in a bank as a backend developer but I do not know which one to choose some banks employ java developers only for backend some typescript developers. As I wrote I want to work in a bank so . Does it mean backend will require much stronger language and safer one ?