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Computer Programming for Absolute Beginners
Computer Programming for Absolute Beginners

Computer Programming for Absolute Beginners: Learn essential computer science concepts and coding techniques to kick-start your programming career

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Computer Programming for Absolute Beginners

Chapter 1: Introduction to Computer Programs

Programming is the art and science of writing instructions that a computer can follow to accomplish a task. This task can be playing a game, performing a calculation, or browsing the web, for example. However, before we can learn how to write programs, we should understand what a program is and how a computer can understand and execute the instructions we give it. In this chapter, we will study this in more detail, along with the basics of what a computer is, how it works, and its history.

Even a basic level of understanding of these topics will help us later on when we discuss the different aspects of writing programs, as we can then relate to how the computer will treat the code we write.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

  • A perspective on the history and origins of the computer
  • Background knowledge of the original ideas behind programming
  • Understanding what a computer program is
  • Learning how...

A brief history of computing

Humans have always built tools and made innovations to make life more comfortable and to allow us to do more things faster and more efficiently. We need to go back in time a few hundred years in order to see the first attempts at building a tool that could resemble a computer. However, before we do that, we might want to define what a computer is. Wikipedia offers the following definition:

A computer is a machine that can be instructed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically via computer programming.

So, a computer is a programmable machine that performs arithmetic or logical operations. Let's review a few inventions from the past using this definition to ascertain which of them could be considered a computer.

To begin, we can rule out the Jacquard machine, which was the automated loom invented in the early years of the 19th century. These looms could be programmed using punch cards, but they produced woven...

A brief history of programming

A programmable computer needs to be, well, programmed. So, of course, the history of programming goes hand in hand with the evolution of computers.

In 1833, Charles Babbage met Ada Lovelace, daughter of poet Lord Byron. She became very impressed and interested in Babbage's plans for his programmable machines, and their collaboration began. Among other things, she wrote some notes outlining her ideas for how the Babbage Analytical Engine could be programmed. We can call her the inventor of programming, even if we had to wait over 100 years until we had the machine that could make her ideas come true. Her status today is summarized in a History Extra article, from 2017, by James Essinger:

Today, Ada is quite rightly seen as an icon of feminist scientific achievement, a heroine of the mind, and one of the earliest visionaries in the early history of the computer.

In her notes, Lovelace did a couple of remarkable things. The first was that...

What is a program?

A computer is dumb in the sense that, without programs, it can't do anything. A computer program is a set of instructions that the computer can execute, and it is our job, as programmers, to write these programs using one or more programming languages.

Most applications that we run, such as a web browser, word processor, or mail client, can't communicate with the computer hardware directly. They require a layer in between that takes care of this. This layer is called the operating system. Windows and Linux are two examples of well-known operating systems. The main purpose of an operating system is to take care of the direct communication between the applications that we use and the hardware, such as the processor, memory, hard drives, keyboards, and printers. To be able to perform this communication, the operating system requires special programs that are designed to communicate with a particular device. These programs are called device drivers. A somewhat...

Understanding the binary system

Why is it that computers only work with zeros and ones? Why can't they work directly with text or images, for example? The answer is that it is rather easy to build circuits that can represent two states. If you have an electrical wire, you can either run electricity through it or not. The flow or no flow of electricity could represent several things, such as on or off, true or false, or zero or one. Let's think of these two states as zero and one for now, with zero representing no electricity flowing and one symbolizing that we do have flow. If we can serve these two states, we could add more wires and, by doing that, have more zeros and ones.

But what could we possibly do with all of these zeros and ones? Well, the answer is that we can do almost anything. For example, with only zeros and ones, we can represent any integer by using the binary numeral system. Let's demonstrate how that works.

To understand binary numbers, we must...

Summary

In this chapter, we have gone back in history and explored the development of computers. The history of computers is a vast topic, but we touched on some important events that have made computers the fantastic machines that we know today.

For a computer to be useful, it requires programs, and to be able to write programs, we need programming languages. We learned that the development of programming was closely related to the development of computers, even if Lady Ada Lovelace managed to write what was considered to be the first computer program about 100 years before the first computer was built.

With the history of computers covered, we then turned our attention to what a computer program is and how the computer can use the instructions given in the program to accomplish the intentions of the programmer. To do that, we examined the smallest parts of data a computer can handle, the bits, which are the zeros and ones of the binary representation of numbers. We learned...

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Key benefits

  • Understand the fundamentals of a computer program and apply the concepts you learn to different programming languages
  • Gain the confidence to write your first computer program
  • Explore tips, techniques, and best practices to start coding like a professional programmer

Description

Learning how to code has many advantages, and gaining the right programming skills can have a massive impact on what you can do with your current skill set and the way you advance in your career. This book will be your guide to learning computer programming easily, helping you overcome the difficulties in understanding the major constructs in any mainstream programming language. Computer Programming for Absolute Beginners starts by taking you through the building blocks of any programming language with thorough explanations and relevant examples in pseudocode. You'll understand the relationship between computer programs and programming languages and how code is executed on the computer. The book then focuses on the different types of applications that you can create with your programming knowledge. You'll delve into programming constructs, learning all about statements, operators, variables, and data types. As you advance, you'll see how to control the flow of your programs using control structures and reuse your code using functions. Finally, you'll explore best practices that will help you write code like a pro. By the end of this book, you'll be prepared to learn any programming language and take control of your career by adding coding to your skill set.

Who is this book for?

This book is for beginners who have never programmed before and are looking to enter the world of programming. This includes anyone who is about to start studying programming and wants a head start, or simply wants to learn how to program on their own.

What you will learn

  • Get to grips with basic programming language concepts such as variables, loops, selection and functions
  • Understand what a program is and how the computer executes it
  • Explore different programming languages and learn about the relationship between source code and executable code
  • Solve problems using various paradigms such as procedural programming, object oriented programming, and functional programming
  • Write high-quality code using several coding conventions and best practices
  • Become well-versed with how to track and fix bugs in your programs
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Language : English
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Table of Contents

16 Chapters
Section 1: Introduction to Computer Programs and Computer Programming Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 1: Introduction to Computer Programs Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 2: Introduction to Programming Languages Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 3: Types of Applications Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 4: Software Projects and How We Organize Our Code Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 2: Constructs of a Programming Language Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 5: Sequence – The Basic Building Block of a Computer Program Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 6: Working with Data – Variables Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 7: Program Control Structures Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 8: Understanding Functions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong – Bugs and Exceptions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 10: Programming Paradigms Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 11: Programming Tools and Methodologies Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 3: Best Practices for Writing High-Quality Code Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 12: Code Quality Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.2
(9 Ratings)
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4 star 11.1%
3 star 11.1%
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tyrdz Apr 24, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Gave as a gift to a non-techie; the book’s content was found to be surprisingly insightful, and leading to a better understanding of computer related matters. Very thorough, though it does not include everything; as I was told.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
K. Graham May 16, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book is so well written and easy to understand. If you are in need of the introductory concepts of computer programming that you can later build on, I highly recommend this book. The author does not skip over any detail with the assumption that you "know it already." It's a great read. There was a comment that the content covered in this book is covered in the first chapter of other programming books (or something to that effect.) That comment simply isn't true. I've got the Python, C++ and Javascript books on my bookshelf. I even took an Udemy Python coding course. What I first needed was this book before jumping in blind. I work in tech - but in marketing - and this book has definitely given me tools to speak more effectively with the engineers at my job.
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jwh Oct 07, 2020
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I wish I had this book years ago to prevented many false starts I had teaching myself programming.Mr. Wassberg's years of teaching programming provides a clarity not found in other programming books I have seen. I recommend this as a first book for anyone starting out in the field.Since it covers programming concepts with pseudocode. It is a excellent resource anyone needing a high level view of programming. You will not be confused by the differences between compute programming languages like Java and C.I think another Appendix showing a table of the different terms by languages such as array, vector, list, or sequence would help.I have not completed the book yet, but it is a high priority for me. If life does not interfere, I should be done in the next five to ten days.Note: I am a retired RF/radio/hardware technician working to learn "The Dark Art of Programming". I plan on doing some embedded design to stay busy.
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Matthew Emerick Aug 11, 2020
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About This BookThis book teaches the reader about the fundamentals of computer programming without bogging them down with how a single language works at the same time. It uses pseudocode examples throughout that are very clear to read and understand. It starts with a high level view before giving the nuts and bolts and then backing up again for a clearer view.Who is This For?This book is for the brand new programmer who wants a deeper understanding of the concepts behind the code. The author mentions in the preface, and I fully agree, that this book is useful for students entering university to study computer science. Other use cases are brought up, but I think this is the most important one. The very first section of the preface mentions that students are learning two major aspects of programming at the same time in their introductory courses: the fundamentals of programming and the programming language. This book takes care of the first so that the student can better focus on the later.Why Was This Written?Most programming books are about how a single programming language, or maybe a single programming paradigm, works. This book takes the language out of the equation and looks at the fundamentals of programming using very clear pseudocode. There are language discussions as well as a primer for turning the pseudocode into working code, which brings readers back full circle to something that they actively can use.OrganizationThis book is organized with a preface, three sections, and two appendices. The main body of the book starts with an introduction to how programs work and how projects are typically organized, moves on to the constructs that make up any modern programming language, and finishes with programming best practices. The book ends with two very important sections on how to translate the pseudocode into one of six modern and popular languages and a dictionary/glossary.Did This Book Succeed?This book easily succeeds at its goals. The reader will have a solid understanding of how a program works and a much easier time picking up a specific programming language. Universities with computer science departments would do well to recommend this text to any of its incoming freshmen. Anyone learning how to program on their own needs this book, also, if they want an easier time with learning a language.Rating and Final ThoughtsIf I were teaching an introductory course on computer programming again, I would want to use this book as one of the required texts. It gives a great overview of computer code without drowning in the details. It easily earns a 5 out of 5.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Happy Customer Sep 24, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Many individuals who might have been good programmers never got through their first course, being overwhelmed with learning both programming logic and the rules and syntax of a complex computer language. This book concentrates on programming logic and rules that apply to all languages, using a simple pseudo-code as the programming language. Once you master this book, you will have much more success in learning an actual programming language such as Python or Java, because you will understand the logic that goes along with every programming language
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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