Action at a distance (computer programming)

Okay kiddo, imagine you have two toys, but they're too far apart for you to reach both of them at the same time. So, you decide to use a string to connect the toys. When you pull one toy, the other toy moves too, even though you're not touching it directly. This is called action at a distance.

In computer programming, action at a distance happens when one part of the code can affect another part of the code, even if they're not directly connected. For example, if you have a program that calculates the cost of an item based on its weight and you change the weight variable, the cost variable changes too, even though they weren't directly connected. That's action at a distance.

Sometimes action at a distance can cause problems in code, kind of like pulling too hard on the string between your toys can make them break. So programmers try to avoid it as much as possible and keep their code organized and well-connected, just like keeping your toys close together so you don't need the string.