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An argument that we must read code for more than what it does-we
must consider what it means. Computer source code has become part
of popular discourse. Code is read not only by programmers but by
lawyers, artists, pundits, reporters, political activists, and
literary scholars; it is used in political debate, works of art,
popular entertainment, and historical accounts. In this book, Mark
Marino argues that code means more than merely what it does; we
must also consider what it means. We need to learn to read code
critically. Marino presents a series of case studies-ranging from
the Climategate scandal to a hactivist art project on the US-Mexico
border-as lessons in critical code reading. Marino shows how, in
the process of its circulation, the meaning of code changes beyond
its functional role to include connotations and implications,
opening it up to interpretation and inference-and misinterpretation
and reappropriation. The Climategate controversy, for example,
stemmed from a misreading of a bit of placeholder code as a
"smoking gun" that supposedly proved fabrication of climate data. A
poetry generator created by Nick Montfort was remixed and
reimagined by other poets, and subject to literary interpretation.
Each case study begins by presenting a small and self-contained
passage of code-by coders as disparate as programming pioneer Grace
Hopper and philosopher Friedrich Kittler-and an accessible
explanation of its context and functioning. Marino then explores
its extra-functional significance, demonstrating a variety of
interpretive approaches.
A single line of code offers a way to understand the cultural
context of computing. This book takes a single line of code-the
extremely concise BASIC program for the Commodore 64 inscribed in
the title-and uses it as a lens through which to consider the
phenomenon of creative computing and the way computer programs
exist in culture. The authors of this collaboratively written book
treat code not as merely functional but as a text-in the case of 10
PRINT, a text that appeared in many different printed sources-that
yields a story about its making, its purpose, its assumptions, and
more. They consider randomness and regularity in computing and art,
the maze in culture, the popular BASIC programming language, and
the highly influential Commodore 64 computer.
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