INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER PROGRAMS Computer program - set of instructions that the

computer can execute, and it is our job, as

Computer - machine that can be instructed to carry out
programmers, to write these programs using one or
sequences of arithmetic or logical operations
more programming languages.
automatically via computer programming.
Operating system – Layer that facilitates
- is a programmable machine that performs
communication between Application like (web
arithmetic or logical operations.
browser, word processor, or mail client) and
computer hardware.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF COMPUTING
Device drivers - special programs that are designed to
enable communication between operating system
Year Description Inventor
and a particular hardware device.
Ancient ABACUS – none China,
Times programmable devices that Russia,
helps on getting results of SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
Eastern
arithmetic computation. Europe
1770s Automata - Dolls that could Pierre
read instructions but cannot Jaquet-
perform arithmetic or logical Droz
operations. It could play
music, make drawings, and
write letters
19th Jacquard machine - automated Jacquard
Century looms that could be
programmed using punch
cards. They produced woven
silk.
19th Difference Engine/Analytical Charles
Century Engine. The Analytical Babbage
Engine was particularly
groundbreaking as it could be
programmable, which meant
it could be used to solve
different problems. HOW DOES A COMPUTER PROGRAM WORK?
1943 Electronic Numerical Integrator J. - We can provide input to the computer in many
and and Computer (ENIAC) - the Presper ways, such as with a keyboard, a mouse, voice
1946 first digital computer because Eckert commands, and touch screens.
it was the first one that was and John - The input data is sent to the computer's storage: the
both completed and fully Mauchly internal memory.
functional - The result of these operations is then sent back to
1833 The inventor of programming, Ada be stored in memory again before it is sent out as
she wrote an algorithm for Lovelace output.
how Bernoulli numbers, a CPU (which is the central processing unit) retrieves the
sequence of rational numbers
data from storage and performs operations on it.
often used in number theory,
could be calculated by the
FOUR TASK OF A COMPUTER
Analytical Engine.
1949 Short Code - can be John
considered to be one of the Mauchly
first higher-level
programming languages.
1954 FORTRAN - considered to be John
the first widely used high- Backus -
level, generalpurpose IBM
programming language
1950s Lisp and COBOL – other John
famous general-purpose McCarthy
programming language.
UNDERSTANDING THE BINARY SYSTEM
Binary code - represents text, computer processor
instructions, or any other data using a two-symbol
system.
- two-symbol system used is often "0" and "1" from
the binarynumber system.
- assigns a pattern of binary digits, also known as
bits, to each character, instruction, etc.
-
UNDERSTANDING ASCII AND UNICODE
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information
Interchange) - Computers can only understand
numbers, so an ASCII code is the numerical PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
representation of a character such as 'a' or '@' or an Date Programming Inventor
action of some sort. Languages
1943 - Plankalkül Konrad Zuse
1945
April Fortran John Backus
1957
1958 Lisp John McCarty
1958 ALGOL American and
European computer
scientists
1959 COBOL - Common University of
Business-Oriented Pennsylvania
Language
1960- C, C++, Java, Go, Various Computer
present JavaScript, Perl, Scientist
Boolean algebra - branch of mathematics that deals with PHP, Python, C#
operations on logical values with binary variables. and many others.
Boolean variables - represented as binary numbers to
represent truths: 1 = true and 0 = false. TRANSLATING CODE INTO SOMETHING THAT THE
*Elementary algebra deals with numerical operations COMPUTER UNDERSTANDS
whereas Boolean algebra deals with logistical
operations. Interpreting - An interpreter will look at a single line of
source code, translate it into machine code, let the
computer execute this line, and then move on to the
next line of code.
Compiling - When we compile source code into machine
code, we first translate every line of code, and it is
not until the translation of all the lines of code has
Machine code – the native language of the computer been done that the program is executed.

COMPARING INTERPRETATION AND

COMPILATION

INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

FAMILY TREE OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

LANGUAGES THAT BOTH COMPILE AND
INTERPRET
*The benefit of doing this is that we get some of the
advantages of both techniques.
*Some examples of mixed technique languages are
Python, Java, C#, and Perl.
SYNTAX AND THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF A
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
Syntax - the rules for how we write a program using a
language.
- set of rules defining how the source code will be
written and structured.
*There is one big difference between grammar and
syntax and that is about forgiveness for errors.
Keywords - sometimes also referred to as reserved
words.
- language will typically have between 30 and 50
keywords.
*Most programming languages are case sensitive, so
the use of uppercase and lowercase letters
matters—for example, if is not the same thing as If
or IF.
OPERATORS
- programming language will also have several
operators, and these are what we use to
accomplish things such as addition and
multiplication, as well as to compare items.
Code blocks - sometimes referred to as a compound
statement.
- a lexical structure of source code which is
grouped together
- Blocks consist of one or more declarations and
statements.
Braces or curly brackets {} - common technique that
many languages employ is using parentheses.
TYPES OF APPLICATIONS
STANDALONE APPLICATIONS
- is a program that can work offline and does not
necessarily require a network connection.
- These applications do not need to interact with
other programs.
Examples - Text editors such as Notepad on
Windows or TextEdit on Mac, simple games such
as solitaire, and paint programs.
CLIENT-SERVER APPLICATIONS
- a model we can use to create distributed
applications, which are applications that run on
more than one machine.
Email server - handle incoming and outgoing emails,
and the client only connects to receive and
transmit messages
IP - an abbreviation for Internet Protocol and is part
of a larger protocol stack, called TCP/IP, that
describes how computers communicate over the
internet
IP address - can also be in the form of a domain
name
- identifies all computers and other devices
connected to the internet.
Domain name - a one-to-one mapping between an IP
address and a name.
- tied to one single IP address and is used
because it is easier to remember a domain
name than an IP address that is just four
numbers in the form 123.123.123.123.
Web application process
1. The information you entered is sent to the
server
2. The server requests the information stored in
a database about this user:
3. The database returns the information it has for
this user.
4. Server produces a web page for this user and
transmits it to the client's computer
WEB APPLICATIONS
- a special form of client-server application where
we have a client that interacts with a user in the
form of a web page
- server is responsible for producing the results the
user will see and to accept and process the input
from the user.
- are unique because, the logic of our application is
done on the server side, and it's the server that will
produce the pages the user sees.
MOBILE APPLICATIONS
- programs that are designed to run on a mobile
device, such as a smartphone and tablets.
- might also use other features of the device, such
as the GPS, sending text messages, or sensing
the movement of the device using its
accelerometer.
- can be connected, same as client-server setup
DISTRIBUTED APPLICATION
- an application that does not run on one single
machine, but instead lets different parts of the
program run on multiple computers that
communicate with each other over a network.
CLOUD-BASED APPLICATIONS
Cloud computing - first mentioned in 1996, but it was not
until Amazon released its Elastic Compute Cloud in
2006 that it became widely popular.
Advantages of adopting cloud-based applications
Reduced costs - we will not need to buy a server
computer, and we will not need to maintain this
computer.
Scalability - is how we can adapt when the amount of
work our application is doing changes.
CLOUD SERVICE MODELS
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - handles hardware
resources such as servers, storage, firewalls, and so
on.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - builds upon the IaaS.
This contains readily configured environments that
are targeted to a specific purpose.
Software as a Service (SaaS) - This will provide you with
everything—the hardware, the server software, as
well as applications—and the only thing you need to
do is to configure it to work the way you want it to.
OTHER TYPES OF APPLICATIONS
Systems Software - The software in this category helps
the user, applications, and computer hardware to
interact and function together.
Programming Software - Applications used by
programmers when they write and test software.
Integrated Development Environments (IDE) -
specialized text editors that will assist programmers
when writing code.
SOFTWARE PROJECTS AND HOW WE ORGANIZE
OUR CODE
1. CODE MODULES
Modular programming is a software design technique
that emphasizes separating the functionality of a
program into independent, interchangeable
modules, such that each contains everything
necessary to execute only one aspect of the
desired functionality.
Benefits:
- able to reuse the module in other applications.
- easier to change or replace a module.
2. WORKING WITH SOFTWARE PROJECTS
PROJECT can be used in two different ways when
talking about software development:
- collaborative enterprise used to develop the
actual program – in other words, as a group of
people working together.
- container for all the files that make up the
program we develop. IDE is used to organize
codes
3. WORKING WITH PACKAGES TO SHARE CODE
Open source - denoting software for which the
original source code is made freely available and
may be redistributed and modified.
Package manager - is a piece of software that will
help us find, download, and install code.
Python installation instruction
4. AVOIDING CONFLICTS USING NAMESPACE
Namespace is a declarative region that provides a
scope to the identifiers (the names of types,
functions, variables, etc) inside it.
- used to organize code into logical groups and to
prevent name collisions that can occur especially
when your code base includes multiple libraries.
SEQUENCE – THE BASIC BUILDING BLOCK OF A
COMPUTER PROGRAM
Sequences - the main logical structure of algorithms or
programs.
- contain any number of instructions but each
instruction must be run in the order they are
presented.
- No instruction can be skipped.
*Sequential thinking can help us structure our ideas
so that we can break them down into smaller
pieces.
Statement - a command that the programmer gives to
the computer.
- expresses some action to be carried out and is
made up of several internal components.
- sequence of codes that we write is made up of.
*print("Hello World") [a statement]
*This command has a verb (“print”) and other details
(what to print).
Expressions - Statements are made up of expressions,
and expressions are made up of even smaller parts.
Compound statements - statement that spans several
lines.
- made up of one or more normal one-line
statements.
Separating statements
- programming language will separate statements
by defining where a statement ends.
- Another popular way to terminate statements is
by using a semicolon, ;
Python - type of language that use new line to terminate
statements
MAKING THE CODE READABLE BY INDENTING AND
USING EMPTY LINES
Indentation - is a technique that we use to show that
certain code lines belong together in a block.
Blank lines - are inserted for human readers.
MAKING THE CODE UNDERSTANDABLE USING
COMMENTS
Comment - line of normal text, inserted in the code,
which is only for humans.
- we use them to explain lines of code that are not
obviously understood at first glance.
*Compiler or interpreter ignores comments, it is not
being executed.
Uses of comments
Planning and reviewing - Comments can be used to
plan the structure of the code before it is written.
- when writing an intricate part of an application,
some people prefer to map out the logic with
comments before focusing on the real code.
Code description - one everyday use of comments is to
summarize what a section of code is doing and
explain the programmer's intent.
Algorithmic description - sometimes, we implement
complex algorithms that need an explanation with
maybe both text and diagrams.
WORKING WITH DATA – VARIABLES
UNDERSTANDING VARIABLES
- When writing programs, we continuously work
with data.
- As we are using this data, we need a way to keep
track of it.
NAMING VARIABLES
- The name we give a variable should reflect
what data it represents
Some standard rules for naming variables are as
follows:
- It must begin with a letter of the alphabet or an
underscore (_).
- After the first character, the name can contain
letters, underscores, and numbers.
- You cannot use names that are used as
keywords in the language—that is, words that
are reserved by the language, such as for, if,
and else.
- Spaces or other special characters, such as +,
-, and *, are not allowed to be part of the name
Camel case - is where the words that make up a name
are separated by an uppercase letter that starts each
word.
Snake case - Separating words with an underscore is
called snake case.
- when using this convention, we only use
lowercase letters and separate words with an
underscore character.
- first_name, email_address, zip_code
PRIMITIVE DATA TYPES
Boolean type - A variable that uses this type can only
have one of two values— true or false
Numeric type
Integer data types - The integer data type basically
represents whole numbers (no fractional parts).
- represents some range of mathematical
integers.
- may be of different sizes and may or may not be
allowed to contain negative values.
Floating-point data type - family of data types that act
alike and differ only in the size of their domains (the
allowable values).
- represents number values with fractional parts.
- technically stored as two integer values: a
mantissa and an exponent.
Composite type - data type that is made up of more than
one value
 Fixed array - When we have a fixed size array, we say OPERATORS – THINGS WE CAN DO WITH
how many slots we want it to have when we create VARIABLES
it.
Arithmetic operators
- This size will not change. numbers[10] = 100
Dynamic array - A dynamic array (or list, vector, or
sequence) is an array that can grow and shrink as
we use it.
- numbers.add(11), numbers[11] = 100
Record type - Records are sometimes called
structures or structs. To use them, we first need to
define what they look like.

Relational operators

Dictionary - also known as a map, hash map, or

associative array
- a collection type that uses key-value pairs. The
key needs to be a unique value that we can use
to retrieve the value that is associated with it.
Logical operators

Set - a composite type that will store unique values

without any order
- this type is unordered, we cannot retrieve items
from it with an index
- usually not a problem as this type is often used to
test for membership
Enumeration - often called just enum
- is an enumerated type with distinct values.
- we can use this to create our types and dictate
what values can be assigned to a variable that
has this type.
String - a composite type as it is stored as an array of
characters.
- Most languages will use double quotes to
designate that something is a string and will use
single quotes for single characters.
WORKING WITH NUMBERS
• We can do basic arithmetic, such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division,
• We can use them to keep track of how many
times we have done something.
MANIPULATING STRINGS
String - a sequence of characters, and a character does
not have to be a letter, it can be punctuation marks,
a space, a hyphen, or any other character we can
produce using a computer.
- can also contain digits
- 9 is different from "9"
String concatenation -When we take two strings and
add them together to form a new string.
- word = "day" + "break"
Splitting strings -We can split a string into multiple
strings.
Substrings - Are used when we take part of a string to
form a new string.
- Substring (AIRSPACES, 0, 3)
Case conversion - Conversion from uppercase to
lowercase and viceversa