Anthony Coffey Professor Bingham Intro to Programming Final Project Word Count: 2,013

The Importance of Prelude to Programming.

The tech world is a diverse one; the many complicated facets that make up its existence only continue to multiply and give way to even more complex, groundbreaking technology. The amount of technological advancement since the 1980 s is truly phenomenal, and it owes its astounding complexity to the human brain and computer programming. Since Man has been able to use a computer driven machine to follow a coded program to manufacture goods, the consumer economy has reaped its rewards. A computer is virtually a necessity in this day and age, as well as a high speed internet connection. Computer Programming is a crucial part of our modern society that continues to only advance further. I learned many different techniques in this Intro to Programming class ranging from writing simple pseudo code and flow charts to basic binary code knowledge and many more. There are many important reasons one may want to study programming logic before learning a computer language, in this essay I will be writing about those reasons as well as what I learned in this Intro to Computer Programming class.

I learned about a wide array of topics involving computer programming, such as using pseudo code to develop algorithms. This is a very big part of computer programming because the program you are writing generally has some sort of important function like computing data or converting data using a mathematical equation and the computer does not know what to do unless it has a set of instructions to follow. Also developing pseudo code algorithms gives you a nice outline, if you will, for your program if you wish to code it in JavaScript, PHP or another programming language.

I also learned about the importance of planning when writing code. Before you start a project, you should always first figure out the purpose that your program will serve. Once you have decided on what the function of your program is you can begin the planning process. Using simple pseudo code one can lay out the basic framework and functioning of a program, which will come in handy when actually coding the program later. The plan gives you a visual interpretation of the program making it very easy to read and comprehend. Planning is a very important part in any serious project, especially in computer programming.

One very important element of computer programming I learned a lot about is loops. I have previous experience with computer programming and already knew a fair share of information regarding but this class really expanded my knowledge of loops and their counterparts. I learned more about the WHILE and FOR loops as well as rational and logical operators. I learned the importance of avoiding infinite loops and the benefit of using loops to run programs. I now know the difference between pre-test and post-test loops and understand their relevance; pre-test loops can be great for checking for certain things prior to execution of the program and post-test loops(located in the body of the code, rather than at the beginning) are equally useful as well with an endless amount of possibilities ranging from using a loop to continually receive data input from a user, or one could use several loops to make a simple game and an exit condition would allow the user to end the program and perhaps even output scores on screen. I learned about nested loops and how they allow more complex programs to be coded, and I now know how to write code with the RANDOM function and how to generate random numbers for any program.(Random*10, etc.)

In this class I learned about the different kinds of arrays and why they are so useful in storing data. Arrays allow a user to store more than one value under one specific string in this form: MyData[X], X being either the max amount of values allowed for that one specific string or X being a specific value when being called on in a program to be used for computing. Using arrays can make a program function much more effectively by reducing the number of variables, by allowing the data to be read into the program one time but accessed within the program for any function very easily. It also increases the effectiveness of the program by eliminating the amount of If-Then statements within the program thus increasing the flexibility and difficulty of coding, making it much easier to work with than a vast amount of variables that serve the same purpose. One-Dimensional and Parallel Arrays are a great way to compute

different data for similar strings; they are one of the many essential tools available to computer programmers.

I also learned about the three basic control structures as set in the Structure Theorem. Only three basic control structures are needed to create any program. The sequential structure, or sequence structure, contains a list of statements executed in the order in which they are listed. Another basic control structure is the decision structure. The decision structures contain statements that cause a jump in the list of commands, such as If-Then commands which would tell a program to jump to another part of code if a particular condition had not been met. The diamond symbol is used for a decision on a flow chart diagram. Last but not least, the final basic control structure is known as a Loops Structure. Loops structure is very similar to decision structures in that in causes a branch but instead of both decisions having different results, one branch causes the loop to be repeated. A diamond is also the shape of the loop in a flow chart diagram. These three basic control structures can be used to code a variety of different applications that handle several different tasks and perform many different functions.

I learned about using subprograms with parameters/arguments and why they are useful to use in your code. They make debugging the code a lot easier because they are separate, you can call on these subprograms in multiple applications which can be useful in large projects. Parameters allow the programmer to transmit information between modules, and arguments are simply their counter parts. For Instance, if you were to in a subprogram call on EmployeeName(Pacino, Al) and EmployeeSalary(Pacino,Al) you could have the subprogram then PRINT EmployeeName is paid EmployeeSalary. This would be convenient because you could easily interchange the different values, hence the word parameter.

Another important element of programming is storing data in files. There are many different ways to store data for instance you can store data in separate text files or in binary code files. Data can also be stored in direct-access files or sequential data files. Binary codes are often used in most programs today, but text file data storing can prove to be useful in many office/business situations. Sequential data filing is often used to store data within a program and later call on it for computing or displaying or maybe even modifying. With sequential data filing you just simply use the open command to create a file, opening a file creates one and then you can store data for computation later throughout the program.

I also learned about classes and objects. Objects are structures that combine attributes and methods using classes. A class is a type of data that allows the programmer to create objects and it provides information for a collection of objects by assigning its attributes and specifying the methods (instructions), this can be extremely useful in programming because a programmer can create multiple functions that serve many different purposes. This allows a lot of flexibility to a program s design because functions can be called upon with a simple word and the organization of the program is never hindered. Classes provide information needed for different objects to perform methods within a program. This is very important to programming and allows the code writer to do virtually anything in their programs, programmers can virtually write any kind of function and store it as a class/object and later call on it again for use in a program.

Object-oriented programming has two basic reasons for becoming so widely used. One reason is because as the 1980s progressed so did the level of complexity in programming. Programs began to involve a lot of methods and keeping track of all the subprograms proved to be rather frustrating, so object oriented programming began to become more popular than your standard top down methods of writing programs. Also as the graphical user interface became more apparent, so did the need for object oriented programming because it was used to code all the essential graphical entities.

After taking this course I feel much more confident about planning and coding a program. I know have a much better understanding about using loops, decisions, data files, objects and arrays to instruct a computer what to do. My mental toolbox has definitely acquired several new concepts that I can readily apply to any programming situation. I feel very confident about continuing on to actually learn JavaScript or PHP. I am aware that this is a job market of the future and I want to excel in it. It is time for me to take my computer skills above and beyond! I am excited to extend my computer language knowledge from only BASIC and HTML to other more difficult languages like C++ and PERL. I really enjoyed this class because I have expanded my mind in a field that I love so much and I am looking forward to taking my next computer programming class next semester.

This course has showed me the importance of programming logic. It is crucial for one to learn the basic logic and reasoning behind computer programming before they attempt to learn a computer language. Virtually all the computer languages out there operate on the same premises such as loops, decisions, objects, functions etc. So having a good, general

understanding of how these concepts work and work together is extremely helpful. One could try to learn a computer programming language like PERL without prior computer logic training but surely they would not last long after endless amounts of incomprehensible computer jargon is thrown at them. The programmer must first prepare himself to learn a language before learning one.

Computer Logic is ultimately the reason for computers to exist, it had to smart small. Just like with all other branches of science, knowledge continues to stack and stack and further evolve that particular branch. When using basic computing logic and reasoning you can plan and create virtually any kind of application, using math you could calculate compounded interest rates, profits of a business, and an endless list of other problems that can easily be solved with a calculation. The programming logic is the blueprint of the application itself, the computer is just simply taking orders. Computer Programming allows us to bring several computations and decisions together into one application that can serve virtually an endless amount of problems. Modern civilization would be nothing like that of today s if computer programming had not completely reshaped the world we live in.

In Conclusion, there are many concepts involved in computer programming and in this course I have learned about several different ones from loops, decisions and arrays to objects, parameters and arguments. I now have a much more broad understanding of the many concepts involved in planning, designing, and debugging computer applications. I have learned a lot this semester in this class and I am excited to move on to JavaScript or some other computer language. I feel, especially after taking this course; that it is very important for one to have a good general understanding of the many concepts you will encounter with any computer language. The importance of learning computer programming logic cannot be stressed enough. If you are familiar with the different terms and things involved with computer programming then it will be much easier for you to be successful in learning a computer language.