PROGRAMMING FUNDAMENTALS

BY: JUN NAVARRA, JMSOFT SYSTEMS

To learn programming, you must first understand what are computer programs and the
activities involve in writing them.

A program is a series of instructions that tells the computer of what to do. It contains
commands that direct or instruct the computer to perform specific tasks, such as
recording of a student's raw scores, calculating an employee's salary, and printing of
sales reports.

Software (general term used to refer to a collection of programs) is classified as

systems software or applications software. Example of systems software are operating
systems which include Windows, Linux and Macintosh that manage your computer, and
utility systems like device drivers that control your audio, video and network devices.
Applications software on the other hand are programs used for specific applications,
such as Word for creating and printing documents, Excel for preparing worksheets,
PowerPoint for slideshow presentations, Photoshop for editing photos and Media player
for playing music or watching movies. You can find most of these programs in the
Program Files folder of your hard drive. Programmers who develop such programs can
also be classified as systems programmer and applications programmer.

Programming is a problem-solving activity. You start by knowing the requirements of the

program, identifying its scope and the problem to be solved, and then formulating a
solution to the problem. Program requirements include input, processing, and output
requirements. The data required as input, the operations to be performed in processing
the data, and the information to be generated as output are some of the important
things you have to think of when writing programs.
The accuracy of the program's output is always dependent on the correctness of the
input data. This means that incorrect data will result to incorrect output, thus the term
"garbage in, garbage out" or GIGO is coined. Mathematical and logical expressions
must also be clearly specified so as to avoid logic errors that are sometimes difficult to
debug.

There is a particular sequence of activities to be performed when writing a program.

You have to design first the algorithm or program logic before implementing it in code.
Algorithm is the step-by-step procedure in solving the problem. It is like a recipe to be
followed when you cook your favorite food. Program flowchart and pseudocode are
used to specify the algorithm during logic formulation. When you are done with your
design, coding or the actual writing of program code will follow.

A programming language is used in writing the code of your program. You can select
from a variety of programming languages such as C++, Java and Visual Basic.
Personally, I used C# for developing business applications, but Java and Visual Basic
are used in the courses that I handle in the academe.

We use a programming language to express our instructions to the computer. These

instructions are in a human-readable but very specific format and must follow a correct
syntax or structure. Syntax errors prevent your code from compiling. The program
statements you specified in your program constitute the source code that must be
compiled and translated into object code. These intermediate codes are linked with
other object files (modules or classes) to become an executable code. This executable
code is the file that is executed directly by the operating system, or managed by a
runtime environment. The language compiler and linker are tools that are already built
in the programming language that you use. Software development tools nowadays like
Microsoft Visual Studio, Eclipse and Android Studio have sophisticated Integrated
Development Environments or IDEs, with features and functionalities such as dynamic
and interactive debugger, intellisense and code completion features, very rich designer
tools and reporting facilities, help system and online support to make you a more
productive programmer. Most big companies used these tools in developing their
distributed and enterprise systems.
Major players in the software business such as Microsoft, Oracle and Adobe continue to
develop their software products to gain competitive advantage in the market. This
competition promotes innovation of their products in which the sure winners are the
users of these tools.

When writing a program, you must apply a particular programming paradigm that will
guide you in the entire program development. A paradigm is an approach or style in
programming. In the early times, procedural-programming was widely used. You
develop the program by writing procedures or functions that perform the required task.
The C programming language was popular in writing procedural programs. At present,
object-oriented programming becomes the standard in developing high-end and
sophisticated solutions. C++, Java and .NET programming languages like Visual Basic
and C# are used in developing object-oriented applications. In OOP, your program is
made up of objects or software components that contain both data and operations.
These objects can interact and send messages with one another to accomplish a
particular goal in the business. From desktop application to web application
development, the object-oriented way of designing and coding makes programming
more manageable than ever before.

In this article, you have learned the fundamentals of programming. To wrap it up, a
program is made up of instructions that a computer can execute. A program is also
called software which is classified as systems software and applications software.

There are certain activities in programming that must be followed in writing a program.
Algorithm is first designed before going to the actual writing of code. When you write
your code, a programming language is used to specify the instructions or program
statements that will be carried out by the computer. Program source code are compiled
and linked to other objects to become an executable code. There are sophisticated
software development tools that could help you become more productive in writing
software. These tools are constantly being developed by big software companies.

A good programming model is necessary in writing a good program. Procedural

programming is still being used for small and simple programs but OOP or object-
oriented programming methodology becomes the industry standard for developing
enterprise-level and complex systems.

I plan to have tutorials about programming in my next article. You learn best in
programming by doing it. You have to get your hands dirty with code. :-)

Happy programming!