Absolute Beginner's Guide to Programming, Third Edition

Summary

There are several ways to get programs for computers, but to really make computers do what you want, you have to write the programs yourself. Programs direct the processing of data. You have to learn a programming language before you can write a program that the computer will understand. Too often, programmers rush to the keyboard without thinking through the logic. The result of a badly designed program is lots of bugs and later maintenance.

• Most companies find they have to write programs they need. This explains the large programming staffs many companies hire.

• Programming languages enable communication between the low-level computer's 1s and 0s and the high-level human programmer who speaks in ambiguous speech.

• A bug is a program error. ...