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

A brief history of computing

Humans have always built tools and made innovations to make life more comfortable and to allow us to do more things faster and more efficiently. We need to go back in time a few hundred years in order to see the first attempts at building a tool that could resemble a computer. However, before we do that, we might want to define what a computer is. Wikipedia offers the following definition:

A computer is a machine that can be instructed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically via computer programming.

So, a computer is a programmable machine that performs arithmetic or logical operations. Let's review a few inventions from the past using this definition to ascertain which of them could be considered a computer.

To begin, we can rule out the Jacquard machine, which was the automated loom invented in the early years of the 19th century. These looms could be programmed using punch cards, but they produced woven...