Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
source program

source program

1 5.6
A set of instructions written in a language people can read and later changed into code a computer can run
  • noun
  • /sɔrs ˈprɒɡræm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : programa fuente
  • The apps bundled with Edubuntu (www.edubuntu.org) are just the tip of the iceberg of open source programs for education.
  • open source program

Examples

  • Developers often modify the source program to add new features.

  • Schools that are currently paying significant licensing fees for commercial software stand to gain the most from adopting open source programs.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Whole courses can be taught using the open-source program Moodle.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Ditto is a free, open-source program that extends the standard Windows clipboard.

    Blog text (9)

  • Instead of switching all computing to open source programs, they are choosing key areas and operations where they can give their budgets some needed wiggle room.

    Academic text (2006)

  • The source program for this application was developed in Python.

  • You can download the source program from the official website for free.

Synonyms

source code
vssource program
  • Specialized
21 4.1

Text of a computer program that people can read and change

describes the written set translated into executable form

Antonyms

object program
  • Specialized
6.1

A file that is ready for a computer to run

Surface Forms

source program singular
source programs plural

Morphology

source + program

The phrase is largely compositional — a "source program" can be inferred as the original/origin form of a program by combining 'source' (origin) + 'program' (coded instructions). However, the specific technical nuance (that it is the human-readable form that must be compiled or translated into machine code) is domain-specific and may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without programming knowledge, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Source program imagines the code as the source — the original recipe of program instructions a person writes. That recipe is then changed into the computer's language so it can 'run', so the phrase means the program written by a person before the computer uses it.