Source code is the human-readable form of a program or digital work. In the provided materials, it appears not as the finished executable itself, but as the underlying description from which a work can be built, studied, or reconstructed. In the case of the public release of Wolfenstein 3D, id Software distributed the source code while explicitly withholding the game data needed to run the executable, requiring users to obtain that data separately. This shows source code as something that can be shared independently from the data that makes a work function.
The Prince of Persia materials present source code in a broader preservation context. The release included the code itself along with technical documentation for porting, indexed sound names, and files made almost entirely of comments. In that setting, source code is not just a means of execution; it is part of a body of knowledge intended to support later rebuilding, porting, and reinterpretation. The documents around it explain what must be supplied, what can be replaced, and how a future team might bring the work up again on another platform. In other words, source code functions as a record for reconstruction as much as a record of authorship.