Programming == Configuring? [closed]

Question

I hear a couple of people using the term 'programming' rather than configuring, for example:

Have you already programmed Apache's Virtual Hosts configuration correctly, with ServerName named FOO?

Program your .vimrc first before starting Vim the first time.

The last is a word-by-word citation from my teacher, but I didn't dare to correct him. Is it OK to use 'programming' instead of 'configuring'?

IMHO this sounds very ugly.

Answer 1

Well.. ordinary people "program" their VCR, Tivo etc. So for ordinary people program == configure. Note that even programmers don't say "program the javascript". Instead people use words like "develop" or "write" for writing programs in the programming sense.

Answer 2

A definition I like for programming is:

creating a sequence of instructions to enable the computer to do something

So, if you configure anything you are indirectly creating a sequence of instructions. Which IMHO would "qualify" configuring as an indirect type of programming.

EDIT: Also, computer development is far more than computer programming. To develop you need much more than only write instruction, you also need

• Requirements definition
• Write specifications
• Planning
• a lot more