Book Image

Computer Programming for Absolute Beginners

By : Joakim Wassberg
4 (1)
Book Image

Computer Programming for Absolute Beginners

4 (1)
By: Joakim Wassberg

Overview of this book

Learning how to code has many advantages, and gaining the right programming skills can have a massive impact on what you can do with your current skill set and the way you advance in your career. This book will be your guide to learning computer programming easily, helping you overcome the difficulties in understanding the major constructs in any mainstream programming language. Computer Programming for Absolute Beginners starts by taking you through the building blocks of any programming language with thorough explanations and relevant examples in pseudocode. You'll understand the relationship between computer programs and programming languages and how code is executed on the computer. The book then focuses on the different types of applications that you can create with your programming knowledge. You'll delve into programming constructs, learning all about statements, operators, variables, and data types. As you advance, you'll see how to control the flow of your programs using control structures and reuse your code using functions. Finally, you'll explore best practices that will help you write code like a pro. By the end of this book, you'll be prepared to learn any programming language and take control of your career by adding coding to your skill set.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
1
Section 1: Introduction to Computer Programs and Computer Programming
6
Section 2: Constructs of a Programming Language
7
Chapter 5: Sequence – The Basic Building Block of a Computer Program
14
Section 3: Best Practices for Writing High-Quality Code
Appendix B: Dictionary
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W

Code quality – best practices

As stated earlier in this chapter, what we focus on here is the quality of the code, not the quality of the user experience when using our applications.

When writing code, there are some things we can keep in mind to make our code better, quality-wise.

We will look at some best practices and talk about why it is a good idea to use them.

Limiting line length

Long lines are never a good idea. Look at any newspaper and think about why the text hardly ever runs on one line across the full width of the page:

Figure 12.18 – A newspaper uses columns to limit the line length. Photo by Wan Chen on Unsplash

Figure 12.18 – A newspaper uses columns to limit the line length. Photo by Wan Chen on Unsplash

A rule of thumb is that if the line is wider than what can fit on the screen, then it is too wide. Use your common sense and divide the code into several lines if needed, but do so in a way that makes sense.

Take a look at the following screenshot. The code shown here is just one single statement and...