The History of Coding

Coding was born the day one of our ancestors used his fingers to count objects. For the first time the number of certain objects was represented by the number of fingers on his hand. Coding has come a long way ever since.

Information, such as numbers and data, can be handled only if it can be represented with the help of something that is susceptible to rule-based manipulation such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Thus the whole of mathematics and statistics is nothing other than logic and rule-based handling of information, that is in the form of coded (numbers).

In other words, the very development of modern science and knowledge has become possible only because of successful representation of information in coded form that is then passed through rule-based manipulation (testing, predicting, verification). This means that the more man is able to handle codes with efficiency and power, the greater is the potential for multiplying knowledge and technological development. What is more, even softer science within humanities, social-sciences, and economics are benefiting from the same tools, though they are not advanced as they are in physics or engineering.

Representation of information in the form of code has passed through several very clearly discernible stages and the power of coding and the power of code-manipulation has increased by several orders at each new stage. Numbers are the earliest form of code where an abstract symbol represents something that is real. All modern breakthrough in information processing and management eventually came mainly because of the way number-manipulation developed at the theoretical and technological front.

First Stage: Counting on fingers, drawing lines, dropping pebbles into a pot for keep count of things, etc are the first stage. There is plenty of archeological evidence for the last two methods. They could not have gone far, obviously, because while these methods help to represent numbers in the form of codes, they are not advanced enough for arithmetical and logical processing such as multiplication. Mankind had to wait for the next stage of development before numerical-processing could take place.

Second Stage: Developing a workable number system came next -- a system that had facilities for addition and subtraction to begin with, which would eventually offer facilities for multiplication and division also, for no arithmetic is complete without these four operations. What is more, no other branch of mathematics could develop unless this bare minimum attained maturity.

The precise origin of the second stage is lost in antiquity, but it seems that a workable number system developed simultaneously in several places around the world. Of these, the so-called Roman and the Arabic system are with us even today. Not all systems, obviously were equally efficient or intuitive and it can be illustrated by multiplying 25 with 25 in the two systems that are left with us.

In the Roman system this would be (XXV)(XXV) whereas in the Arabic system it would be (25)(25). The first one would require several steps to solve, and in most case it would involve cumbersome numbers. On the other system, the Arabic multiplication would only involve multiplication of 25 by 5 first and by 2 after and a simple addition of these two.

The invention of the abacus added to the ease of using the Arabic number system. What is more, the invention of the Arabic numbers, coupled with the invention of the number zero made it a powerful system for number-manipulation, and code-manipulation by implication. Plain geometry and algebra developed to a high level, making it possible to take coding to the next level where a single code-element such as x could now stand for ANY code whatsoever, the value of which is unknown till the code is decoded.

Geometry depends upon numerous theorems. Each theorem represents something that would happen in the real world of circles, triangles, and rectangle. However, this information could be derived (or proved) only because these entities, otherwise physically drawn or constructed, could now be represented in terms of code that is susceptible to logical analysis.

Third Stage: The decimal fraction (as opposed to the decimal number system, or the Arabic number system) developed about a millennia ago and it gave a big boost to the manipulation of fractions. An unusual level of precision came into mathematics for the first time, which in turn resulted in high levels of accuracy in code-manipulation.

This in turn led to the discovery of Logarithms, where multiplication and division of large quantities was reduced to simple arithmetic of addition and subtraction, and that also of very small numbers. This moved complex code manipulation to simpler realms, making it possible to study the real world more easily through coded information. Soon it was found that numerous natural processes, say the perception of sound intensity by people, follow a logarithmic pattern or scale. This led to further development in representing real-world processes in terms of mathematical coding.

Fourth Stage: Mathematics only meant artihmatics, algebra, and geometry since time immemorial. However, new and exotic branches of mathematics were developed in the last five to six centuries. Often highly theoretical and bizarre-looking, many of them found real-life application only a century or more after they were developed. Some of them have not found full application yet, but they might soon become useful.

The fourth stage prepared the world of science to take analysis of real-world phenomena beyond the approximations that are seen in school physics textbooks. For the first time it became possible to represent quantitative models of the physical world with realistic accuracy. The process is complex, but several levels of mathematical development and the arrival of number-crunching machines have made it possible to handle code with satisfaction at the infinitely complex level.

The next level of development is nowhere in sight, but once it arrives it would probably make today's coding look infantile. A combination of human ingenuity, more exhotic branches of mathematics, and machines which would be able to handle logical-processing are likely to bring in this stage of development.