Introduction: Computer Programing 101
You may have been stuck down the pub listening to your nerdy mates talking Computers, feeling a bit left out.
This tiny tutorial will tell you everything you need to know about comuter programming languages.
The box above represents something a computer program does. I could be printing a line of text to the screen, declaring a variable (a place to store a piece of information), playing a video, debiting a bank acount, or invading Poland.
Step 1: Sequence
At its most basic a computer program is just a list of operations - a sequence.
Step 2: Selection
At some point your program will have a decision to make about what to do next - a selection.
Step 3: Iteration
One of the things computers are best at is repetative tasks - looping round and starting again. This is known as Iteration.,
Step 4: Thats It Really
You can dress it up in all sorts of ways. Every line of the program must end in a smiley face, information is stored in dog shaped containers, The color you type it affects the behavior - the list is endless. There are thousands of programming languages.
Perhaps the oldest example is oft sited Jaquard Loom controlled by paper cards, or at its most simple the player piano roll which consists only of a sequence.
In the last analysis all programms consist of just three things : Sequence, Selection and Iteration.
This is a proven Mathematical fact.
Sadly many computer "experts" are unable to articulate this simple truth.
If you want to know more