# Intro
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's align on what code and programs are. We'll use metaphors to relate code and programs to things everyone should be familiar with like a recipe or an instruction manual. And with those mental models to compare to, code and programs will feel less foreign and abstract.
# What is code?
So by definition, code is the set of instructions that you ask a computer to interpret and follow. Compared to a recipe, code is a step in the recipe like crack 2 eggs into a bowl. In an instruction manual, it's a step like screw the leg into the table. The difference is that instead of you following a recipe or an instruction manual, you're writing code for a computer to follow. So while the actors are different (you vs the computer), the code of a program, the steps in a recipe and the steps in an instruction manual are all discrete steps/instructions for something to follow/execute.
# What is a program?
Hopefully the last explanation of code made sense because a program is the recipe and whatever you're trying to build in our analogy. A program is made up of lines of code that string together a series of commands for the computer to do something. And while a computer can't bake you a cake or build a table for you (yet), it can do things like check the weather, check prices on Amazon, calculate your budget, etc.
