source code

noun

: a computer program in its original programming language (such as FORTRAN or C) before translation into object code usually by a compiler

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Reddit said on Thursday that hackers had accessed its source code after a successful phishing attack compromised an employee’s system credentials. WIRED, 11 Feb. 2023 In April last year, the hacking group Lapsus$ stole T-Mobile’s source code after purchasing employees’ credentials online. Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 20 Jan. 2023 The source code for Apple’s Lisa, the predecessor to the Macintosh, is set to be exhibited next month. IEEE Spectrum, 12 Dec. 2022 And because Mastodon’s original source code is publicly available, anybody can create his or her own version of the service. Kalley Huang, New York Times, 7 Dec. 2022 Bittker built his app by modifying the source code of NewsDiffs, a now defunct site that tracked changes made to online articles in the Times and other major news outlets. Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2023 Be sure to maintain offline backups of your source code. Dan Branco, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2023 In some cases, the meetings can be 20 people or so, and Twitter engineers are being asked to bring paper printouts of their source code from last 30 days to show the Tesla engineers. Kurt Wagner, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2022 LastPass, an online password manager with more than 33 million users, said some of its source code and proprietary information was stolen, but no customer information had been taken. Alyssa Lukpat, WSJ, 26 Aug. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'source code.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of source code was in 1965

Dictionary Entries Near source code

Cite this Entry

“Source code.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/source%20code. Accessed 1 Apr. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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