Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism

Pedants will object to my use of who to refer to a computer, since only people (or perhaps some class of animals) should be referred to in that way.  Personifying computers and processes is a common practice.  It's a form of metaphor, and I find that it helps my thinking in much the same way that drawing pictures does. 

Don't be deterred by pendants.  Be friendly with your processes.  But remember that metaphors and pictures are not precise and can be misleading.  To understand something, you have to describe it precisely.  For algorithms, that means using mathematics, as embodied in a precise language like PlusCal.