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The line between program and data can become blurry. An [[interpreter (computing)|interpreter]], for example, is a program. The input data to an interpreter is itself a program, just not one expressed in native [[Machine code|machine language]]. In many cases, the interpreted program will be a human-readable [[text file]], which is manipulated with a [[text editor]] program. [[Metaprogramming]] similarly involves programs manipulating other programs as data. Programs like [[compiler]]s, [[Linker (computing)|linker]]s, [[debugger]]s, program updaters, [[Antivirus software|virus scanners]] and such use other programs as their data.
For example, a [[user (computing)|user]] might first instruct the [[operating system]] to load a [[word processor]] program from one file, and then use the running program to open and edit a [[Document file format|document]] stored in another file. In this example, the document would be considered data. If the word processor also features a [[spell checker]], then the dictionary (word list) for the spell checker would also be considered data. The [[algorithm]]s used by the spell checker to suggest corrections would be either [[machine code]] data or text in some interpretable [[programming language]].
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