setting an order and time for planned events
"The project manager spent the morning programming the conference schedule to ensure all keynote speeches start exactly on time."
creating a sequence of instructions to enable the computer to do something
"She spent the weekend learning programming so she could create a script that automatically organizes her photo gallery."
The designing, scheduling or planning of a radio or television program/programme.
"The station manager spent all afternoon programming the evening news schedule to ensure prime-time slots were filled efficiently."
In plain English: Programming is writing instructions for a computer to follow so it can do specific tasks.
"She spent all afternoon learning programming for her new coding project."
Usage: When referring to the arrangement of content for broadcast, programming means the specific schedule or lineup of shows aired by a station. Do not use this term when discussing computer code, which requires the word coding or software development instead.
present participle of program
"The artist is programming a new digital installation that responds to movement in real time."
In plain English: To program is to give specific instructions to a computer so it can do what you want.
"The new employee spent her afternoon programming the thermostat to turn on at eight o'clock."
Usage: Use "programming" as a verb to describe the act of writing code or setting up software instructions for a computer. Do not confuse this with the noun form that refers to scheduled shows on television.
The word programming comes from combining the noun program with the suffix -ing to describe the act of creating a set of instructions for a computer. It entered English as a direct extension of the existing term "program," which originally referred to an outline or schedule of events before being applied to computing in the mid-20th century.