Since a few years I hear and read the term the coding when they mean the code more and more often. Personally this sounds so absolutely wrong to me and I think it is.
A few examples:
- "Can I have your coding?"
- "The coding is buggy"
- "The coding (containing the invalid instructions) was done years ago"
- "In this coding you can find xyz"
I would appreciate it if someone (other than me for strategic reasons) could clearly and as concisely as possible summarize when to use:
- the term coding
- the term code
so that I can point people to this question every time I hear/read this and they immediately understand the difference (and hopefully start using those terms in their (original) meaning).
PS: My question aims at the context of software development exclusively (so e.g. code as in cryptography or security or other fields are out of context).
Edit: Enhanced 3rd example because the semantics were unclear.
Best Answer
Code is the result of a coding process. The coding (process) of an algorithm results in executable code (product).
There is a similar question about learn to code vs learn coding. In that case they are equivalent, as they are both verbs.
In your example The coding was done years ago, the usage is arguably correct when you talk about the process. With a different verb it would not work:
*The coding was written years ago
The code was written years ago
Edit: Just for completeness, to code is also a verb. A code is a mapping between symbols, eg Morse code mapping e to '.' and t to '-', or ASCII mapping 32 to ' ' and 65 to 'A'.