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wtf is whatiscode?

bitinn/whatiscode — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-18 · repo last pushed 2015-06-13

HTMLAudience · writerComplexity · 2/5DormantLicenseSetup · easy

TL;DR

The source code for Bloomberg's interactive "What Is Code?" article, showing how to build a richly formatted, animated web page that explains programming to non-developers.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Interactive explainer article
      Animated web page
      Mixed licensing per file
    Tech stack
      HTML
      JavaScript
    Use cases
      Educational web content
      Long-form journalism
      Interactive storytelling
    Audience
      Journalists
      Web developers
    Licensing
      Text under Creative Commons
      Code under Apache

Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Study how Bloomberg structured a long-form article as an interactive web page instead of a static blog post.

REASON 2

Adapt the animation and layout techniques to build your own educational explainer content.

REASON 3

Learn how to combine long-form writing with JavaScript interactivity to keep readers engaged.

REASON 4

Reuse the Apache-licensed JavaScript code as a starting point for an interactive article.

What's in the stack?

HTMLJavaScript

How it stacks up

bitinn/whatiscode100/rutgers-pbl-dining-2015a15n/a15n_old
LanguageHTMLHTMLHTML
Last pushed2015-06-132015-12-012016-06-18
MaintenanceDormantDormantDormant
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity2/51/51/5
Audiencewritergeneralgeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Just an HTML file with JavaScript and third-party libraries, open it in a browser to view.

The article text is shared under Creative Commons for reading and sharing, the JavaScript code is shared under the more permissive Apache license.

Wtf does this do

This repository holds the source code and content for an interactive article published by Bloomberg called "What Is Code?" It's essentially a digital magazine piece designed to explain programming concepts to people who aren't software developers. The article itself is a long-form, richly formatted piece of writing that lives in an HTML file. Rather than being a plain text document, it's built as a web page with interactive elements, styled layouts, and custom JavaScript to make the reading experience more engaging. Think of it like an animated, clickable educational article rather than a static PDF. The repo contains several pieces: the main article text (which Bloomberg shares under a Creative Commons license so people can read and share it), the JavaScript code that makes interactive parts work (which Bloomberg shares more openly under Apache license), and various third-party JavaScript libraries that handle things like animations or layout on the web page. Each piece has its own licensing rules depending on who owns it. This would be useful for anyone building educational or explanatory web content. If you're a journalist or communicator who wants to teach a complex topic online, you could look at how this project structures long-form articles as interactive web pages rather than traditional blog posts or PDFs. It's a good example of how to combine readable writing with technical interactivity to keep an audience engaged while learning something new. The repository is essentially showing "here's how we made our explainer article work" so others can learn from or adapt the approach.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how this repo structures its HTML and JavaScript to create an interactive long-form article.
Prompt 2
Help me adapt the animation techniques in this repo for my own explainer article.
Prompt 3
Explain the licensing differences between the article text and the code in this repo.
Prompt 4
Walk me through building a simple interactive educational web page inspired by this project's approach.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is whatiscode?

The source code for Bloomberg's interactive "What Is Code?" article, showing how to build a richly formatted, animated web page that explains programming to non-developers.

What language is whatiscode written in?

Mainly HTML. The stack also includes HTML, JavaScript.

Is whatiscode actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2015-06-13).

What license does whatiscode use?

The article text is shared under Creative Commons for reading and sharing, the JavaScript code is shared under the more permissive Apache license.

How hard is whatiscode to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is whatiscode for?

Mainly writer.

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