At its most basic level, programming a computer simply means telling
it what to do. Without these instructions or programs computers are merely
dumb machines. Computers are incredibly stupid. They do exactly what we
tell them to do: no more, no less-- unlike human beings. Computers can't
think by themselves. In this sense, they differ from human beings. For
example, if someone asks you, “What is the time?”, “Time
please?” or just, “Time?” you understand anyway that
he is asking the time but computer is different. Instructions to the computer
should be explicitly stated. Computer will tell you the time only if you
ask it in the way you have programmed it. When you're programming, it
helps to be able to "think'' as stupidly as the computer does, so
that you are in the right frame of mind for specifying everything in minute
detail, and not assuming that the right thing will happen by itself.
The Receipe of a good Program:
In order to design a program effectively and properly we must have a
recipe to follow. In the book name ‘How to design programs’
by Matthias Felleisen and the co-worker, the idea of design recipe has
been stated very elegenlty as “Learning to design programs is like
learning to play soccer. A player must learn to trap a ball, to dribble
with a ball, to pass, and to shoot a ball. Once the player knows those
basic skills, the next goals are to learn to play a position, to play
certain strategies, to choose among feasible strategies, and, on occasion,
to create variations of a strategy because none fits.“ The author
then continues to say that: “A programmer is also very much like
an architect, a composers, or a writer. They are creative people who start
with ideas in their heads and blank pieces of paper. They conceive of
an idea, form a mental outline, and refine it on paper until their writings
reflect their mental image as much as possible. As they bring their ideas
to paper, they employ basic drawing, writing, and playing music to express
certain style elements of a building, to describe a person's character,
or to formulate portions of a melody. They can practice their trade because
they have honed their basic skills for a long time and can use them on
an instinctive level. Programmers also form outlines, translate them into
first designs, and iteratively refine them until they truly match the
initial idea. Indeed, the best programmers edit and rewrite their programs
many times until they meet certain aesthetic standards. And just like
soccer players, architects, composers, or writers, programmers must practice
the basic skills of their trade for a long time before they can be truly
creative. Design recipes are the equivalent of soccer ball handling techniques,
writing techniques, arrangements, and drawing skills. “ Hence to
design a program properly, we must:
o Analyze a problem statement, typically expressed as a word problem.
o Express its essence, abstractly and with examples.
o Formulate statements and comments in a precise language.
o Evaluate and revise the activities in light of checks and tests and
o Pay attention to detail.
All of these are activities are very useful for a programmer.
o Analyze a problem statement, typically expressed as a word problem.
o Express its essence, abstractly and with examples.
o Formulate statements and comments in a precise language.
o Evaluate and revise the activities in light of checks and tests and
o Pay attention to detail.
All of these are activities are very useful for a programmer.
The above details are provided just for the sake of
completeness and do not worry if the above sounds greek to you. it is
natural. If, after going half of the course, you come back here then you
will be in a perfect position to understand all of this. We have kept
this boring detail to a limit. There were other topics like types of softwares,
system software, application software, device drivers and the dry background
of C programming language, which we have not included in this tutorial
/ guide. Our focus in this tutorial / guide is on programming C / C++.
IMPORTANT:
From the next lesson we will be doing actual programming. So, if you
do not have one, get ready your C / C++ IDE. Bloodshed Dev C++ is a very
popular IDE for C / C++, which you can download from the following URLs:
Source: pickatutorial.com
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