computer program
- noun
- /kəmˈpjuːtər ˈprəʊɡræm/
- Specialized
- The engineer created a computer program to automate the data analysis process.
- using computer programs
- developed computer programs
- computer programs that generate
I got the computer program, Final Cut Pro.
- I got the computer program, Final Cut Pro.
- Can a computer program generate truly random numbers?
- In most cases, when you're writing a computer program, you have two audiences at once.
- And we use this idea to evaluate the strength of modern computer programs.
- And so all of the traders in the algorithm are programs, they're computer programs.
- And if that's an illegal computer program that's hacking data, then does the number become illegal itself?
- To investigate this, the researchers then used a computer program to generate paintings and randomly assigned male or female names to these works.
- And that is that if a child writes a computer program, that child is engaged in the closest approximation we can come to thinking about thinking.
Examples
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Typically, a flow chart of some type is used, and then a computer program is written.
Academic text (1990) -
It's a computer program that screens candidates.
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And that really means that they need to be able to write their own computer programs or code.
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How would you make a computer program that could reach out and drink a cup of coffee?
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As in the United Kingdom, the United States has no national computer program being used by all states.
Academic text (1994) -
Can a computer program generate truly random numbers?
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I'd like to use the computer program you wrote.
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There was a major fight to have computer programs considered to be literary works.
Academic text (1999) -
In most cases, when you're writing a computer program, you have two audiences at once.
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Database management systems are computer programs that store, update, and retrieve information in computerized files.
Academic text (1990)
Synonyms
A set of written instructions a computer follows to do a task
Programs that tell a computer what to do
A computer program that does a task, for example email or a game
Programs that run on a computer to help people do tasks
A set of written instructions that tells a computer what to do
Instructions written in a language a computer can follow
Computer software that helps you do specific tasks like writing or managing files
A set of computer instructions that follow rules to solve a problem
How Complex
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'computer' (an electronic device) + 'program' (coded instructions), yielding 'instructions for a computer to perform tasks', which follows a common noun–noun compound pattern. Both constituents are frequent and the concept maps closely across many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the parts will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Computer program comes from the idea of a program as a written list of steps or commands, like a simple recipe for a machine. Early users gave this list to the computer, and because the machine followed the steps exactly, today a computer program means 'a set of instructions' the computer follows to do a job.