Coding with power: Toward a rhetoric of computer coding and composition

This article explores the connection between computer programming (coding) and traditional composition. It first looks at how a discussion about adopting the open source community's copyleft publishing model suggests a deeper parallel between coding and composition than has been previously acknowledged. By repositioning the rhetorical triangle as a coding triangle, the article argues that the act of writing programs for a machine informs the process of constructing an audience, in traditional composition. To better inform the act of how a traditional writer invokes an audience, the article summarizes how Walter J. Ong has characterized this process. The article then examines how Claudia Herbst's portrayal of the cultural power of computer code raises questions as to how computer users similarly invoke an author. It also briefly considers how computer programming texts have characterized coding as an act of writing. Next the parallels between coding and composition and their treatment thus far in composition literature and new media theory are considered. The article considers Alfred Kern's work in employing BASIC programming to teach grammar and composition and then offers suggestions for thinking of new ways that a knowledge of coding can inform the teaching of writing. This article concludes with guidelines for writing teachers who wish to incorporate computer coding into their curriculum.