INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER CODING
(USING JAVA PROGRAMMING
LANGUAGE)
PART 1
Welcome
to this article which introduce computer coding (using java programming
language).
The
goal/aim of this article is to explain in details the fundamentals of Computer
Coding to everyone (beginners/expertise), by using a popular and well
recognized programming language (JAVA).
These
articles are split into series (part). Part one which is this current article
introduce us to the computer in relation to Software and Programming. The article
will end with a little program in java instructing the computer to display a
message after performing some task.
COMPUTER
The
computer we see today was not the computer that use to be. So when trying to
look for a detailed definition of the computer one might get confused with the
vast definition we see, and will most time end up not knowing which one to pick
as the correct one.
Mainly
people often define computer with reference to different perspective.
so
one could say a: Computer is an
electronic device that accept inputs
as data, process those inputs into
information using its central processing unit(CPU) and give out the information through its output device or store
the information in one of it Storage
device.
This
definition tries as much as possible to define computer in terms of its various
operations (Inputting, Processing,
storing, Output).
This
is just one perspective, let's look at another definition of computer.
According
to Wikipedia: A computer is a device that
can be instructed to carryout arbitrary sequence of arithmetic and logical
operation automatically.
This
definition shows another perspective; which is: defining the computer in terms
of "what it can do"
From
the last definition (Wikipedia's definition) we could see that the computer is
a device that follows instructions in order to do what it
is suppose do.
We
should Note: something here. "The computer does not just follows any
instruction, the instruction that the computer follows are either arithmetical or logical in nature (in the following series of this article we will
be working with both kind of instructions). So, that is to say, majority of
what the computer can do are based on sequences of arithmetically and logically
arranged instructions".
SOFTWARE
The
computer is a device that consist of large set of components (unit). Because of
the large number of components that makes up the computer, there was a need to
categorize those components. So the
computer is basically made up of two components which are: (1) Hardware (2)
Software
Those
Mechanical and Electronical components that we can see and feel are referred to as
the "Hardware components" example of such component include: the
monitor, the mouse, the keyboard etc.
But
for this article we are not concern about the Computer Hardware components.
From
the definition of computer given by Wikipedia we were able to see that the computer
is a device that is given an instructions to follow (carryout).
These
instructions that the computer follows are the Software Components of the computer. These instructions given to
the computer most times are called "Computer
Programs".
Most
computer programs (if not all) are written instructions. These instructions are
written using various languages (programming language) and other
tools.
There
are hundreds of computer language which can be used to instruct the computer on
a particular task at hand. But for this article we will be dealing with a very
popular and well recognize language (JAVA).
At the end of the first part we should be instructing the computer to perform
some simple task for us.
PROGRAMMING OVERVIEW.
Like
I mentioned earlier the goal of this article and subsequent once that I will write
is to explain in details the fundamentals of computer coding.
We
have seen for a fact that the computer receive instructions, and that this
instructions received by the computer are written using various programming
languages and other tools. These instructions are written by someone called a
"Computer Programmer"; and
the process of doing this is called "Computer
Programming".
Well,
technically speaking the process does not just involve writing instructions. There
are more to the process than just writing the language.
Before
a programmer begins to write instruction(s) for the computer to follow he/she
has to design what he/she wants to accomplish in a pattern that the Computer CAN
follow. Yes, the computer can be instructed to follow instruction(s) but we
should note that the instruction we give to the computer should be formed in
such a way that the computer can be able to follow it.
NOTE:
One of the fundamental skills you need to learn for computer coding is for you
to see a problem, figure out a solution for that problem and thereafter be able
to translate that solution to sequential steps that a computer CAN follow in
order to solve the problem.
After
designing a solution to a problem in terms of sequence of instructions that the
computer can follow then coding begins. That is, writing the sequence of
instructions in a particular programming language. One thing we should note is
that designing solutions to problems in a way that computer can follow is not an
easy task. But there are series of approach that we can follow to get it done.
I will be talking about some of these approaches in the consecutive series of
these articles. And another thing that will certainly bring perfection is REGULAR
PRACTICE.
COMPUTER PROGRAM
A
computer program is just a sequence of instructions that the computer CAN
execute to perform some task. The computer
does nothing more than follow instruction.
So
as a programmer your task is to make this instructions to be simple and clear
as possible. The reason is that you don't want to end up confusing the computer
with the instructions you write. Yes some instructions can get the computer
confused.
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
Just
like the computer we used to know (first generation) is no longer the computer
we see today (fourth/fifth generation). So are the programming languages we use
in giving instructions to the computer.
Computer
only response/follow/execute instructions in one particular language which is
called "machine language"(low level language). This language is made
up of binary digit which are 1s and 0s
1100110100101110011
Giving
instructions to the computer in this format is very cumbersome. Due to this
fact, developing computer programs was very difficult and time consuming at a
certain time. But after a while other languages was developed to boost the
efficiency of software development. This languages are generally referred to as
“high level language”. This languages
are English like languages cause they are constructed with English words like: “do, if, for, while, public, class, static,
this” etc. and also consist of punctuation like { ;(semi colon) ,(coma)
.(period) } etc.
There
are a lot of high level programming languages, Java is an example of one of
such high level languages. And it will be my approach of introducing you to
computer coding.
High
level languages like java are very easy to write and learn (at least compared
to machine language) when trying to give instructions to the computer. Unfortunately
the computer cannot understand high level language. The computer can only
understand and execute machine language.
Luckily
for us there are Software called Language Translator that will come
handy in regard to this issue.
One
of such software is called Compile: A compiler is a software (language
translator) that translate/convert a High Level Language in English like
statement such as Java to a low level language (machine language in 1s and 0s).
So
basically what we will do, is that, we will write instructions in a high level
language like Java feed that instructions to a compiler, the compiler then
turns the instructions into a machine code (1s and 0s) for the computer to execute.
OUR FIRST JAVA PROGRAM
Enough
theory let's take a look at how these instructions actually look like. Note
that details explanation of the following code sample will be given in the next
Series.
You should not try too hard
to understand it yet, this is just to give an insight of the Kind of arbitrary
instructions that are given to the computer.
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