Comment by navait
11 years ago
Well, if you wanted to be absurdly pedantic, you could call instructions in an architecture predefined tools, or protons and electrons.
I don't think it matters if the tools are predefined - what matters is that they can be used together to build a system greater than the sum of it's parts.
Yes, and that is exactly what very rarely happens when people use Photoshop or Excel and happens in coding all the time. Which isn't strange, because the former two aren't intended for that, while the latter is.
I think it can matter a lot whether the tools are predefined, because the exact nature of those predefined tools determines whether they are easily composed into something greater than the sum of its parts. You need iron ore, wood and a forge to construct a different hammer. Of course you can cobble something hammer-like together with the tools in your toolbox at home, but it won't be like the hammer forged afresh from more fundamental parts better suited for that purpose.