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

Why do we have programming languages?

Machine code is very difficult. As we saw in the previous chapter, machine code is not made for us humans. It is perfect for computers, but we need something more comfortable to read, write, and understand.

The time it takes to write a program,  find errors and bugs in code, and update a program to add new features costs money. If the language we use can help us reduce the chance of introducing errors in code, it will reduce the costs. If it helps us understand the code when we read it, it will let us add new features faster, and so reduce costs. One goal of a programming language is that it must help us be efficient when we write programs.

It is at this point that the higher-level programming languages enter the scene. They enable us to write our code in something that often, at least to some degree, resembles English. In Chapter 1, Introduction to Computer Programs we saw one attempt to do this: assembly language. The introduction...