Computer programming

HTML and JavaScript in an IDE that uses color coding to highlight various keywords and help the developer see the function of each piece of code.

Computer programming (often simply programming or coding) is the craft of implementing one or more interrelated abstract algorithms using a particular programming language to produce a concrete computer program. Programming has elements of science, mathematics, and engineering. Software engineering regards programming (implementation) as just one phase in a software development process.

Programming languages

A programmer writes source code in a particular programming language.

Different programming languages support different styles of programming (called programming paradigms). Part of the art of programming is selecting one of the programming languages best suited for the task at hand. Different programming languages require different levels of detail to be handled by the programmer when implementing algorithms, often resulting in a compromise between ease of use and performance (a trade-off between "programmer time" and "computer time").

The only programming language a computer can directly execute is machine language (sometimes called "machine code"). Originally all programmers worked out every detail of the machine code, but this is hardly ever done anymore. Instead, programmers write source code, and a computer (running a compiler, an interpreter or occasionally an assembler) translates it through one or more translation steps to fill in all the details, before the final machine code is executed on the target computer. Even when complete low-level control of the target computer is required, programmers write assembly language, whose instructions are mnemonic one-to-one transcriptions of the corresponding machine language instructions.

In some languages, an interpretable p-code binary (or byte-code) is generated, rather than machine language. Bytecode is used in the popular Java programming language by Sun Microsystems as well as Microsoft's recent .NET family of languages and Visual Basic previous to the .NET version.

A brief history of programming

The earliest programmable machine (that is, a machine that can adjust its capabilities based upon changing its "program") can be said to be the Jacquard Loom, which was developed in 1801. The machine used a series of pasteboard cards with holes punched in them. The hole pattern represented the pattern that the loom had to follow in weaving cloth. Change the pasteboard cards, and the loom would produce an entirely different weave! This innovation was later refined by Herman Hollerith of IBM in the development of the famous IBM punch card.

Another early use of computer programs were made using a soldering iron and a large number of vacuum tubes (later transistors). As programs became more complex, this became almost impossible, as one mistake would likely render the whole program useless. As data storage media became more advanced, it became possible to re-use one program for many things according to the content of the memory. A person would spend quite some time making punch cards that would hold a list of instructions for a computer. Every model of computer would be likely to need different instructions to do the same task. As computers became more powerful, and storage media became re-usable, it became possibe to use the computer to make the program. Programmers quickly began to favor text over 1s and 0s, and punch cards were phased out. Over time and especially thanks to the manufacture and the development of Integrated Circuits computers have become extremely powerful, and this has resulted in a branch of programming called scripting. Programming has become gradually easier as new languages are invented but this has opened the scene to script kiddies, who are generally seen as an annoyance because of their lack of skill whilst often claiming to be hackers.

Examples of Programming Languages

C++ is an object oriented compiled programming language and one of the most widely-used programming languages currently available. It is often considered to be the industry-standard language of game development, but is also very often used to write other types of computer software applications. C++ was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup and was based on the programming language C. C++ retains the syntax and many familiar functions of C, but also adds various object-oriented programming concepts such as classes.
Python is complex and flexible yet easy to use language. It can be used to create program objects, that is programs that can be recycled. Python can be integrated with other languages and it can be run on virtually any platform. There is even python language available for some cell phones.
Java is an object oriented interpreted programming language. It has gained popularity in the past few years for its ability to be run on many platforms, including Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS, and other systems. It was developed by Sun Microsystems.
Lisp is a functional, sometimes scripted, programming language often used in AI.
C is a compiled procedural programming language made popular as the basis of Unix.
JavaScript is a scripted language and is the basic client end language of the web.
Pascal is a general-purpose structured language named after the famous mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. It was very popular during the 80's and 90's.
Visual Basic a very basic programming concepts language used specifically for the creation of standard applications as opposed to video games and other programs requiring complex animation procedures, designed and developed by Microsoft.
PHP is a widely-used general-purpose open source scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML.

Software development

Software is a mass noun for computer programs and data. The accompanying documentation and software license are also considered an essential part of the software, even though they don't involve any actual coding.

Creating software involves:

Demographics

In the U.S.:

Nearly half of all computer programmers held a bachelor’s degree in 2002; about 1 in 5 held a graduate degree. [1]
Education requirements range from a 2-year degree to a graduate degree. [2]
Men hold 72% of the Bachelor's degrees in computer science, women hold 28%. [3]
The average age is 38 years old for a software developer. [4]

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