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

Chapter 7: Program Control Structures

If all of our code was simply executed in sequence, our programs would always do the same thing, no matter what data we provided them with. We must be able to control the path through the program so that some part of the code executes at the designated time, and other parts at other times, depending on the values provided by the data. For instance, only if it is cold outside do you put on warm clothes, not always. The same thing applies to our code. When things are a certain way, we want something to happen.

In a way, we can say that we, by this, will introduce some sort of intelligence, or at least some decision-making capabilities into our code. If things are this way, do this, if not, do that.

In this chapter, you will learn the following topics:

  • Controlling the execution path of the program
  • Making decisions with the help of if statements
  • Selecting one out of many options with switch statements
  • Repeating code execution...