> If the definition of programming is "a process to create sets of instructions that tell a computer how to perform specific tasks" there is nothing in there that requires it to be deterministic at the definition level.

The whole goal of getting a computer to do a task is that it’s capable to do it many times and reliably. Especially in business, infrastructure, and manufacturing,…

Once you turn specifications and requirements in code, it’s formalized and the behavior is fixed. That’s only when it’s possible to evaluate it. Not with the specifications, but with another set of code that is known to be good (or easier to verify)

The specification is just a description of an idea. It is a map. But the code is the territory. And I’ve never seen anyone farm or mine from a map.