Critical Code Studies

Marino, Mark C.

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商品描述

An argument that we must read code for more than what it does--we must consider what it means.

Computer source code has become part of popular discourse. Code is read not only by programmers but by lawyers, artists, pundits, reporters, political activists, and literary scholars; it is used in political debate, works of art, popular entertainment, and historical accounts. In this book, Mark Marino argues that code means more than merely what it does; we must also consider what it means. We need to learn to read code critically. Marino presents a series of case studies--ranging from the Climategate scandal to a hactivist art project on the US-Mexico border--as lessons in critical code reading.

Marino shows how, in the process of its circulation, the meaning of code changes beyond its functional role to include connotations and implications, opening it up to interpretation and inference--and misinterpretation and reappropriation. The Climategate controversy, for example, stemmed from a misreading of a bit of placeholder code as a "smoking gun" that supposedly proved fabrication of climate data. A poetry generator created by Nick Montfort was remixed and reimagined by other poets, and subject to literary interpretation.

Each case study begins by presenting a small and self-contained passage of code--by coders as disparate as programming pioneer Grace Hopper and philosopher Friedrich Kittler--and an accessible explanation of its context and functioning. Marino then explores its extra-functional significance, demonstrating a variety of interpretive approaches.

商品描述(中文翻譯)

「我們必須閱讀程式碼超越其功能,更要考慮其意義」這是一個主張的論點。電腦原始碼已成為大眾討論的一部分。程式碼不僅被程式設計師閱讀,還被律師、藝術家、評論家、記者、政治活動家和文學學者閱讀;它被用於政治辯論、藝術作品、流行娛樂和歷史記錄。在這本書中,馬克·馬里諾(Mark Marino)主張,程式碼的意義不僅僅是其功能;我們還必須考慮其意義。我們需要學會批判性地閱讀程式碼。馬里諾以一系列案例研究作為批判性程式碼閱讀的教訓,這些案例研究涵蓋了從Climategate醜聞到美墨邊境的黑客藝術項目。

馬里諾展示了程式碼在流通過程中的意義如何超越其功能角色,包括內涵和含義,從而使其開放於解釋和推論,同時也容易被誤解和重新運用。例如,Climategate爭議源於對一段佔位符程式碼的誤讀,被認為是所謂的「煙火彈」,聲稱證明了氣候數據的捏造。尼克·蒙特福特(Nick Montfort)創建的詩歌生成器被其他詩人重新混音和重新想像,並受到文學詮釋。

每個案例研究都以呈現一小段獨立的程式碼開始,這些程式碼來自程式設計先驅格雷斯·霍珀(Grace Hopper)和哲學家弗里德里希·基特勒(Friedrich Kittler)等不同的程式設計師,並提供了其背景和功能的易於理解的解釋。然後,馬里諾探討了其超功能意義,展示了各種解釋方法。