When you buy software, the source code usually is not made public, but doesn’t your computer still have to run the code to use the software? How can it run the code without allowing the user to see the code?
In: Technology
The source code is like a blueprint to make a car. The blueprint describes all that is needed for the factory to build the car, and the source code describes all the instructions for the *compiler* to build the software.
The finished product, the software, doesn’t need to know how to *make* said software, it just tells your computer how to *run* it – just as a car doesn’t tell you how to run a factory to make the same car.
A little more in depth: source code compiles into *assembly* code and it’s this that your computer runs (essentially just a bunch of instructions on what to display on your screen for given inputs).
Source code is written in a way that’s easy for humans to understand and therefore big projects can be achieved in a relatively small amount of time – but the assembly code this compiles to is much more complicated and not so easily understood by your average programmer.
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