The purpose of computing, since the very first computer was conceived of by Charles Babbage over 200 years ago, was automation and accuracy. That is, we want computers to do things that we can do, but faster and with fewer mistakes. Things have moved on considerably since the days of analogue computers, and now we have systems that hold petabytes of data, and we typically carry computers in our pockets that would put to shame the computers that sent a man to the moon 50 years ago! The premise to all this, though, is the same: we just want computers to do the same things that we could, but faster and with fewer mistakes.
The particular problem that we are addressing in this chapter is very much an automation one: imagine that you've just started at a new company and, as your first job, you&apos...
