We explain what the source code is and what are the various applications it has. Also, what is open source.
What is the source code?
In computing, the source code is called the set of lines of text that express, in a programming language determined, the steps to be followed by the computer for the correct execution of a specific program. That is, these are the instructions that the original programmer of the software compiled so that they could be transmitted to a computer system and interpreted in a precise and timely manner.
The source code is usually visible during some certain operations of the software, but its instructions will be incomprehensible except for those who handle the specific language in which it was programmed. This is also the case with websites and other types of software elements, programmed in web-languages (such as HTML or Java Script) and then executed or interpreted by the window of the browser from Internet.
The area of the computing that is dedicated to the creation of these source codes is software engineering, dedicated to the creation of computer programs. Bliss creativity It is also supported by copyright laws, in the sense that the source code is the exclusive work and creation of its programmers, unalterable and irreproducible by third parties, much like the content of a literary work.
Open Source
There are programs that are not guided by the guidelines of copyright with regard to their source code, allowing their users to modify, edit and share it more or less freely, forming a kind of community from users specialized. These programs are called "open source", since anyone can intervene their essential instructions and create their own or individual versions of the original program, called in turn "distributions". Examples of such software are Unix and Linux operating programs, among many others.