Is code a language, or is language a code?

Code is not a language, because coded messages are written in an underlying language, which is then “hidden” using a key that substitutes the words, letter or syllables.

This doesn’t really seem to be up to interpretation. Just pick your source and read their definitions.

@erniefernandez nailed it, just before I could.

I’m confused!

I’m not clear what you mean by code. Code as in a cypher substitution isn’t a language – it’s just using different symbols for the underlying language. Code as in a programming language is the wrong part of speech but the programming language is considered a language – not a natural language but a language for machine instructions and/or algorithm descriptions. So, strictly speaking, no in either case.

yes.

The latter.
By definition.

No. Those words describe two different things.

JVTLQ JGD PCWMN.

Lisp

Language (the means of communication) is understood through a code (a system of symbols). Without the code, there is no communication. But code alone does not a language make. Symbols may be verbal, tactile, visual, auditory, etc.

Language is a code.

C+A+T= this

Both! In my opinion. Code has become a language of sorts, if we speak in the digital or morse sense. Language can also be interpreted as a code (if you stretch the definition a little) because a code has a set of rules establishing it, thereby marginalizing its parameters. And you can’t make up your own words if you want to speak someone else’s language.

Well, that’s my 1½ cents.

If code is a set of symbols designed to convey meaning (or to facilitate communication), then language (as spoken or written) is a code, but there are codes that are non-linguistic. So not all codes are languages. Unless, of course, you consider every symbolic system designed to convey meaning to be a language. In that case, code is just another word for language.

However, it seems to me that code is generally used to mean a symbolic system that it takes special education to understand, while language is something people are built to understand. I.e., code is man-made, while language has evolved, but can not be considered to have been made.

Code is defined as communication between an encoder (a “writer” or “speaker”) and a decoder (a “reader” or “listener”) using agreed upon symbols.

Examples of code include English, Chinese, computer languages, music, mating calls and radio signals. Codes always involve a system of symbols that represent ideas or plans. Other examples include, yes, Bee waggle dances. Bird songs. Whale songs. And ant communication by pheromone.
http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/dnanotcode.htm

Word!

Though I’m unconvinced about the ant pheromones.

What particularly cements the nature of language as code is that, with just a few exceptions, there is no relationship between the sound of a word and its meaning. There are other cases where this does not hold. If I speak into a microphone, my voice is converted to an electrical signal that varies in strength the way my voice does, making it an analog conversion. In this case, I would not say that an encoding has taken place.

Yes to both.