Definition: Code Literacy

literacy -n
1. the ability to read and write
2. the ability to use language proficiently

- World English Dictionary

When I speak of code literacy I am simply talking of the expansion of the idea of what we normally think of a literacy just expanded over to programming languages. Additionally, it’s not simply a matter of using the language proficiently; it’s a matter of being able to use computation as a result of this knowledge.

It’s important to keep in mind that this idea is completely separate from Donald Knuth’s idea of “Literate Programming”.

code literacy is:
the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, and use rules that shape and reshape information in order to participate fully in the creation of new information.

- Ryan Betts (UX Mag)