Are apps we build real?

[maboroshi]

I have a question. Are applications that we code are they real?

Think for a moment. People often define something tangible they can hold in there hand as real. We can not hold binary data in our hand so how could it possibly be considered a reality.

I mean we can see it but we can't hold it, we can't smell it, we can't touch it we can't hear it all our other senses have been withdrawn from this. I have to ask is it considered real then?

Just a thought

Maboroshi

[bad_brain]

of course the are real. they become real as soon as they leave your head. if you print the code on paper or you have it on the HDD (or in RAM): it needs space. you maybe can not touch it with the hands but you can define the space it occupies.

[leetnigga]

Yes.

People often define something tangible they can hold in there hand as real.

This is where I think your confusion stems from. Being able to hold something in your hand is used as an analogy for something existing physically. The analogy breaks for things like comets and hydrochloric acid, but those things are obviously still physical and real.

The programs we write are usually stored in files on a storage medium. The bits physically exist on the storage medium. When running the program, the bits physically exist as voltages in memory and through the CPU. Therefore, our programs are physical and real.

[floodhound2]

If a sexy woman rubs your crotch or you imagine a sexier woman rubbing your crotch the results are often identical. I say its real.

Mab the mad thinker is on the loose!

I never seen mab is he real, or am I real? I would like to think so.

[DrVirus]

"If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply signals interpreted by your brain."
- Morpheus in The Matrix

The question Mab asks here is surprisingly difficult to answer with logic. Like everyone else I also challenged his definition of real. But I realize that myself couldn't come up with a better one.

[Gogeta70]

This answer is particularly hard to answer because you have to define real to determine if something is real. The problem with defining "real," is that it is completely perceived. My reality is different than your reality. However, like anything - reality has a standard, socially-accepted definition, which can be put as follows:

1: Anything that takes up space (ie. anything with mass)
2: Anything with the ability to affect the world around it outside of its own enclosed system.

Since a computer program can affect it's user (for example, a calculator on your computer gives you an answer - it answers a question, thus affecting you), it can be considered real.

The problem with the definition above is that while it may be solid, reality is still perceived.

With the definition i gave above, i basically said "any physical object that can physically affect the physical word around it is real." While the physical aspects of real stays mostly the same between all people, mental and emotional generally aren't.

Well, i guess i better stop typing now, i think you all get my point... ^_^