A code is a way of encrypting a message where substitutions are done at the word level. Words from a lexicon are substituted for words in the plaintext message. These words are called codewords.

Examples of these are often seen in spy movies.

    In combinatorics, there exists a subset of the vectors from a vector space over a finite field. These
vectors are collectively called "code words" and the finite field is usually GF(2), although there are useful
codes over GF(3) and GF(4) as well.

     In an error-correcting code, the code words are chosen such that the "distance" between them is
maximized, thus small transmission errors can be recovered by interpreting the received vector as the
nearest code word.

    See Hamming distance.

--back to combinatorics--
cobweb site = C = code grinder

code n.

The stuff that software writers write, either in source form or after translation by a compiler or assembler. Often used in opposition to "data", which is the stuff that code operates on. This is a mass noun, as in "How much code does it take to do a bubble sort?", or "The code is loaded at the high end of RAM." Anyone referring to software as "the software codes" is probably a newbie or a suit.

--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.

The impulse to communicate is one of the most human traits... In this book, the word "code" usually means a system for transferring information among people and machines. In other words, a code lets you communicate. Sometimes we think of codes as a secret. But most codes are not. Indeed, most codes must be well understood because they're the basis of human communication.
-From CODE

CODE - The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software is a book written by Charles Petzold for Microsoft. It gives the reader a great instruction to various coding methods and codes in general starting with simple codes and combinations and going through braille, binary, logic and switches, ASCII, etc. Here's what the inside of the book jacket reads:

What do flashlights, the British invasion, black cats, and seesaws have to do with computers? In CODE, they show us the ingenious ways we manipulate language and int new ways to communicate with each other. And through CODE, we see how this ingenuity--and our very human compulsion to communicate--has driven the technological innovations of the past two centuries.

Using everyday objects and familiar language systems such as Braille and Morse code, author Charles Petzold weaves an illuminating narrative for anyone who ever wondered about the secret inner life of computers and other smart machines.

It's cleverly illustrated and eminently comprehensible--and along the way, you'll discover you've gained a real understanding today's world of PCs, digital media, and the Internet. No matter what your level of technical savvy, CODE will charm you--and perhaps even awaken the technophile within.

The book was written using Microsoft Word 2000, the pages composed with Adobe PageMaker 6.52, with the text and display type in the Sabon font and math fonts in Syntax. The Dust Jacket and Cover pics were designed by Greg Hickman.

This book is well worth the buy. I've read it a couple of times and learned a lot from it. It's one of those books that gives you something to go on.
ISBN: 0-7356-0505-X
Priced at 27.99 USD, 25.99 GBP, 42.99 Canadian

Petzold has also written "Programming Windows"

Code
A story

Read this aloud.

Read what she gave you.

It starts with the doubt.

You can't put away the doubt. You can't deny the doubt. Tell yourself the helicopter isn't crashing. Remember you can't do anything. You're not in control. The helo is just fine. That noise is the throttle, the pilot's maneuver. That jolt is the wind, the air. You're not going to die.

She's not dead because you're not.

You don't know you're breathing until you think about it. You don't feel yourself breathing until you think about it. You don't think about it until now, when your lungs are full and empty too fast. There's not enough air but there is enough air because you're still alive.

She's not dead because you're not.

You don't know your heart is beating until you think about it. You can't feel your heart beating until you think about it. It hits the back of your chest. Inside of the wall of your chest. The clouds blasting by, cut through the props. The drop is your stomach in your throat you're not going to die. You're still alive.

She's not dead because you're not.

It makes no sense for her to be dead if you're still alive. Dead people can't find the living. If she's dead and you're dead it makes no difference.

There's not enough air but there is. Your lungs can't fill enough. Your throat is closing. You don't know it's closing until you think about it. You don't feel it closing until you think about it.

You're not going to die.

She's not dead because you're not.

Do what they tell you. Say this aloud.

Close your mouth and breathe through your nose. Your breathing won't slow unless you breathe through your nose. There's not enough air but there is enough air starve yourself for the air and your breathing will slow because you think about it. Slow your breathing by thinking about it.

Close your mouth and smile. Smile and breathe through your nose. Your heart will slow when your breathing slows because you're thinking about it. Control yourself by thinking about it.

Read this aloud.

Read what she gave you. The helo is not crashing. The rising is the wind. The falling is the wind. The screaming is the wind. Feel yourself in the wind. You can't feel it until you think about it. You're not dying, you're alive, because you're thinking about it.

Tighten your seatbelt and don't think about it. Brace yourself and don't think about it. Slow your breathing and don't think about it. You're alive and you feel it because you're thinking about it.

When you don't, you won't.

She's alive because you are.

Read what they gave you.

It makes no sense for a dead man to hunt a dead woman.

She's alive.

The helicopter lands. The pilot sweats.

She's alive but you have to move fast or it all dies.

Out of the chopper to the earth. The earth. The earth. The earth. The cool green earth.

You're down. Deployed. Radio on.

Read it aloud: "Eight-five-two. Moving."

She's alive because you are.

"Roger. Your signal. Tracking."

You know you're alive because you can think about it. She's alive because you are.

Now find her.

Wake up.

"Honey, wake up."

Wake up.

"Honey, you're having a nightmare. You're talking in your sleep. Wake up. Come on."

"What's going on?"

"You're talking in your sleep."

There she is. Right there. What's this about?

"You're talking in your sleep, honey. You woke me up."

It's cool in the dark room. Hard to see in the fuzzy white-blue. Haze in the eyes. Hands to the eyes to the rub. The back of the neck. Find the blankets. They've been kicked to the floor.

"I had the strangest dream. I was in a sort of spy helicopter coming down over some kind of battlezone. You were kidnapped or something. I had to find you. I was some kind of soldier but I didn't have any gun. It was like I was, it was like I was, was, psychic or something. I was supposed to find you and kill the people who took you with, like, my thoughts."

She can't hear you. She's sleeping.

***

There's a stranger in the lunch room. Have they hired that new VP?

He wades through the clots of people balancing plates and full glasses on square plastic trays. He sits next to Frank, across from you.

He introduces himself, the new VP, your new boss's boss's boss. He'd really like to get to know everyone.

"I'm Rob Weathers. They must have told you about me. I'd really like to get to know everyone."

Especially the coders.

"Especially you guys who are writing the code. You're the engine room. You know--when Kirk calls down to Scotty, 'Engine room--'? That's the way I think about you guys. You keep the ship running."

He has to thin the ranks. He looking for someone to fire. He has to cut three, maybe four.

"I want you all to know what kind of manager I am--up close. My door will always be open to you. I hope you'll take advantage of that."

He wants you to be comfortable. He can't help what he has to do, but he's going to do it.

"I know how hard you guys work. It can't be easy for you. These are not easy times."

He's not going to fire you. It's going to be Denise. And Tom. And Brad and Chuck. That's it. Not you.

Relax. Smile. Finish your lunch.

***

Denise comes into your cube. She sits on the side of the 'L' you don't use. She says, "You haven't been yourself lately," not knowing she's going to be fired. But you do.

"I can't explain it. I've been..." Should you tell her? Why not? You've had an affair with her. One time when you were both drunk and weak with jetlag in the middle of a two-week tour of Asia. A one-star hotel in the middle of Malaysia. Bugs and sheets covering a tea-stained mattress. Sweat. It wasn't any good for you or her.

You couldn't look each other in the eye for three weeks after.

You want to she wants to forget it. Your wife doesn't her husband doesn't nobody knows but her and neither of you bring it up, ever.

You've been depressed lately.

"You're acting like you're really depressed."

Like something bad's about to happen. You don't even know what it is, just that it's going to happen.

"Like you have a heavy weight on your shoulders."

Don't say it.

"Like you know something you don't want to tell anyone."

Don't tell her. Clear your mind.

Don't.

Don't do it.

"Like you know things before anyone else. Like you're tapped into the corporate political structure..."

"I think I can--"

This is your head. This is your mind. You'll do what you want.

"It's like I can read people's minds. Everyone is so unhappy. I know what's going to happen and it always gets worse. It's just going to keep getting worse until--"

You just told her you could read her mind. What is she thinking?

"You can read people's minds? What am I thinking right now?"

Tigerhippoparrotfour--three--nine four six. Eight-five-two.

"Eight five two."

Roger. Your signal. Tracking.

"What did you just say?"

"I didn't say anything," she says, thinking you're crazy. The stress from work. The rumors of layoffs.

"Maybe I'm going crazy. Working too hard."

It was a mistake not trying to start a relationship with her. You're the only one she trusts. Not even her husband understands but you do, you work here. You know what it's like.

"Do you want to go for a drink after work today?"

Don't go. Don't do it.

"Yeah. That sounds good."

***

The amber alcohol quiets the voices. Turns it all down. Now it's smooth. Linear. No tangential thoughts. No forks in the road. No ripples. Thin. Laminar.

And when you have to think for yourself, it's very simple for both of you.

"Eight five two." Silence.

"What did you say?"

"What if none of this is what it seems?" you say, always the philosopher after a few drinks.

"Like what? Like we're all really aliens?"

"No. Not that. Think about all the conflict. Sometimes I think the whole world is really just a sort of a boxing ring. "

You know she knows she should be thinking a reply, but only because it's predictable. She's got that gleam in her eyes you saw in Malaysia. You want to she wants to touch. She waits for you. Waits for what you're going to say.

"Ever feel like you just knew what was going to happen, and then it did, but you didn't tell anyone you knew? It doesn't pay to say anything after the fact, because nobody would believe you. So only you know you anticipated."

She leans forward. You hesitate for a second. Then you don't. You kiss her. It's slow and gentle. Her lips are slightly cool. Wet before her tongue.

"Did you anticipate that?" she says.

"Rob's going to lay you off," you tell her. She pulls away for a second.

"I know. I just know. And Tom and Brad and Chuck."

"What?" she says. "You've seen the list?"

"No I haven't seen the list. There is no list. I don't think they've even decided yet. I just know. I just do."

"What else?"

"You have to think about it? I don't know how to explain it. When you're walking around in your life, you don't know you're in your body. I mean, you know you have a body, but you don't realize you're breathing until you think about it. You have to think about it and it happens. Does that make sense?"

"You're sucking up to Rob. You fucking brown-noser. You pig. You're giving him a list."

"I am not giving him a list."

She grabs her purse. Gets up so fast her thigh hits the table and knocks over your glass.

"You son of a bitch. You're using me."

"I am not using you."

"Just you wait."

She leaves. You don't know what she's going to do. Not until you sober up. Not until the ripples start. The eddys.

***

"Eight five two"

Roger. Your signal. Tracking.

You're on life.

There are suitcases in the foyer. You close the door behind you. It's dark inside. Call for her. Rustling from the bedroom.

Why are all the lights off?

A car pulls into your driveway. Yellow white beams through the picture window turn the living room into a swirling matrix of shadow and light. This is the man who has come to take her.

The car stops, the engine runs. She's leaving.

She's got her coat on. She picks up the suitcases.

"What are you doing?"

She's crying. She hands you a note she written. On the paper is a code. It means something for another world. It has to happen this way for you to get the information. It has to be traumatic. You have to be torn to pieces or you'll never remember. She doesn't know that's what it is, but that's what it is.

"Wait a minute. Wait a fucking minute."

Her hands shaking, barely able to speak, "Who is Denise?"

She knows. She thinks you've just come back from a hotel.

"You were out fucking her. Don't think I don't know."

"I was not. We just had a drink."

She hates you but she loves you and she hates herself for it.

"On your goddamned business trip! You think I'm an idiot."

"I don't think you're an idiot. I love you."

Nobody who loves her would treat her this way.

"Get out of my way."

All this time she's been putting off Carl. All of his advances. Flattering, but unwanted. All the time you've been away. This is what you deserve.

"Who's in the driveway?"

"I'm leaving you. Good bye."

She hates you destroyed her trust. She thought you were special. Your marriage was special. He's taking her away. They're going to the airport. He's been planning it for years, she's been resisting for years. His place in Hawaii. Way out. Way up. He'll take her by helo. You won't find her until she wants you to, until she can tell if there's anything living between you anymore.

You killed your marriage and he may kill her she doesn't know.

"Oh God. Please don't. Don't go. He doesn't love you."

She doesn't believe you do.

She gets in the car. The doors slam. The car pulls away.

Dark. Silent.

You feel like you're dying.

You're alive because she is alive.

Read what she gave you.

Read the note. Read the code.

"I loved you."

Roger. Your signal.

Tracking.

Find her.

In a hospital, a code is some kind of special or emergency situation that about which many people need to be notified. Typically the hospital intercom is used to broadcast the alert. You could hear something like "Code Green in the ER" should you ever visit a hospital. To "call a code" is to alert hospital staff that some emergent situation (aka "emergency") is occurring. While the exact colors* may vary, the following is a relatively standard list of codes one might exect to ever hear called while in a hospital. Codes Blue, Green, and Red are fairly standard. The rest may not be of concern to all hospitals.

It is interesting how a Code Blue is handled in different hospitals. Very large, urban hospitals tend to have a "crash team" on hand at all hours. This team's job is to respond to Code Blue emergencies. This team would typically be made up of two or three physicians (generally surgeons), and probably an anesthesiologist and a nurse or two. In smaller communities (and smaller hospitals), a Code Blue is a call to all available physicians in the hospital. This pretty much equates to anyone not already scrubbed in to the OR.

* Not all hospitals use colors; some use a numeric system. In that case, a Code Blue might equate to something like Code 99.

The key difference between a code and a cipher (also spelled cypher)is that a code has no physical relationship to the message. A code can be a word, a symbol, a sequence of events, or an arrangement of objects.

For example, Paul Revere used a lantern code to know what his observer saw of British troop movements. "One if by land, and two if by sea, and I on the opposite shore shall be." Other examples include color codes, codewords, and international traffic symbols.

A cipher is a straight one-for-one letter substitution using letters, numbers, or symbols that replace each letter in the encoded message.

code is an HTML tag that is used to specify a fragment of source code within an HTML document. It is typically not good for specifying long pieces of code because it ignores newlines and carriage returns, so depends largely on the br (line break) tag which can clutter up the code. It is usually much cleaner to utilize the pre (preformatted text) tag for long code segments.

See also: font, kbd, plaintext, pre, samp, tt, var

Attributes

The code tag does not have any required HTML attributes. Regardless of this fact, and the fact that attributes are rarely used with this tag, the following are all valid:

Usage

To use the code tag, simply place opening and closing HTML tags around the source code. For example:

<code>bool isLeapYear = ((!(year % 4) && (year % 100)) || !(year % 400));</code>

NOTE: The line C++ code above determines if a given year is a leap year, assuming that the value of year contains the year in question.

On browsers that support this tag, this will typically cause the source to be displayed in a monospace font. It should be noted that you cannot use the greater than ('>') or less than ('<') symbols in your code because these are used for delimiting HTML tags. You should therefore type &gt; to output the greater than symbol, and &lt; to output the less than symbol. A much easier solution is to simply copy and paste your code into the E2 Source Code Formatter which will format it correctly for web use.

Everything2 Support?

E2 does provide limited support for the code tag. It does not allow the use of any of its HTML attributes. Below is how your browser displays the example above here on Everything2:

bool isLeapYear = ((!(year % 4) && (year % 100)) || !(year % 400));

Similar to the problem with '<' and '>' above, keep in mind that on E2, square brackets ('[' and ']') can also cause problems with your source code. Again, use the code formatter to fix these problems. If you would like to use this tag with any of its attributes, you can do so in your Notelet Nodelet.

Common Browser Implementations*

Most web browsers support this tag, as it has been around since at least HTML 2. Most browsers will display the code in a monospaced font such as Courier New.

Previous HTML Tag: cite
Next HTML Tag: col (next E2 supported HTML tag: dd)
See Also: HTML tags and HTML attributes


* Please feel free to send me information about how other browsers implement this tag.

Code (?), n. [F., fr. L. codex, caudex, the stock or tem of a tree, a board or tablet of wood smeared over with wax, on which the ancients originally wrote; hence, a book, a writting.]

1.

A body of law, sanctioned by legislation, in which the rules of law to be specifically applied by the courts are set forth in systematic form; a compilation of laws by public authority; a digest.

⇒ The collection of laws made by the order of Justinian is sometimes called, by way of eminence. "The Code"

Wharton.

2.

Any system of rules or regulations relating to one subject; as, the medical code, a system of rules for the regulation of the professional conduct of physicians; the naval code, a system of rules for making communications at sea means of signals.

Code civilCode Napoleon, a code enacted in France in 1803 and 1804, embodying the law of rights of persons and of property generally.

Abbot.

 

© Webster 1913.

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