Programming is the process of creating computer programs.
To put it simply, it is the compilation of detailed step-by-step instructions in a language the computer can understand. These instructions should contain information about what the user needs to get and in what form.
Programming is the creation of software. To do this, programmers write source code in one of the programming languages.
To make it even clearer, let’s try to get away from the computer for a moment and talk about everyday life. Let’s say you need to write instructions for making a call to the phone number 12345.
It might look like this:
- take the smartphone in your hands;
- unlock the screen;
- open the application “Phone”;
- press button 1 on the numeric keypad;
- press button 2 on the numeric keypad;
- Press button 3 on the numeric keypad;
- Press 4 on the numeric keypad;
- Press the 5 key on the numeric keypad;
- Press the make call button on the numeric keypad.
This simple instruction is a program. Only it will be performed by a person, not a computer. Anyone can write an instruction for a human because people understand each other well. But the computer does not understand human language, and therefore it needs to be given an instruction in a way it understands.
It follows that the main essence of programming is to compose an algorithm and translate it into a programming language.
When drawing up an algorithm it is necessary to describe in as much detail as possible the sequence of actions for the solution of the problem, taking into account possible errors and branches.
Who is a programmer
In the view of people far from code development programmers are seen as professional hackers who crack the secret codes of the Pentagon in a few seconds in movies. In fact, programmers are not much different from ordinary office workers. Except for the level of earnings: experienced professionals earn up to several thousand dollars a month.
A programmer is a person who creates computer programs. In simpler words, he creates algorithms to perform the necessary actions and translates them, using a code, into the languages the computer can understand.
Programs on a PC, applications on a smartphone, websites on the Internet, games, operating systems – all this and much more is created by programmers for ordinary users. But, again, they are not hackers or know-it-alls. Each of them works on solving one small problem as part of a larger project, so there may well be something they don’t know.