Software Structures
Without diverting into a didactic text about Structuralism, I will simply state that a structure is a relationship among elements. Within disciplines such as linguistics and anthropology, structures exist but are open to re-interpretation, but in computer science, structures are by necessity extremely precise. Computers are machines designed for their reliability and accuracy and while these characteristics make computers valuable to the scientific and engineering communities, they are not necessarily important characteristics for an artist. Artists such as Takashi Murakami use the computer as a precise tool, but it’s not possible to imagine the work of Anselm Kiefer put through the filter of a precise computing machine.
Some structures are unique to software and are not possible to express in other media. Software is excellent at defining processes. In the words of MIT Professor Harold Abelson, “processes manipulate other abstract things called data. The evolution of a process is directed by a pattern of rules called a program . People create programs to direct processes.” The potential of defining systems in software is revealed through the following three structures.
via - Casey Reas
