86. What is coding? The quick guide for non-coders

The terms coding and programming are ubiquitous, yet many non-technical professionals do not know what they mean in practice. Why are there different coding languages? What do developers actually do?

This is what you'll learn in this episode.

Learning notes:

• Data is information that you can use to do something with. For example, your shopping list is information that you use to remember what food to buy when you go to the supermarket.
• Technology is what you use to create, store or communicate that data. In our shopping list example, it could be pen and paper, or the notes app on your phone. 
• In order to make software, you have to tell a computer what to do. You do this via a programming language. All digital technologies are created by using specific coding languages to turn data into useful outcomes.
• Python Java, C++ and Ruby are the most popular languages  today. But, there are 256 coding languages in use today.
• Binary code, also known as Machine Language, is what computers understand and are made up of 0 and 1, and nothing else. Coding languages like Python turn into binary language, so the computer can turn the commands into action. Most developers do not use binary language when writing code.

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