CUETO, RENTHEL R.

BSABE III

ABP 31: COMPUTER APPLICATIONS ON AB ENGINEERING

Activity 1: Research Paper 1

1. What is computer programming?

Stokdyk (2020) defined computer programming as the process that professionals use to write code that
instructs how a computer, application or software program performs. At its most basic, computer
programming is a set of instructions to facilitate specific actions. Computer programmers create
instructions for a computer to execute by writing and testing code that enables applications and
software programs to operate successfully.

Meanwhile, Cheryl Frederick, senior associate dean of STEM programs at Southern New Hampshire
University (SNHU), said computer programming is a collaborative process, with a variety of
programmers contributing during the development of a piece of software. Some of that development
can last decades. For software like Microsoft Word released in 1983, for instance, programmers have
tweaking and improving for years.

2. What is Programming Language?

According to Computer Hope (2020) on their article about Programming Language, a programming
language is a computer language programmers use to develop software programs, scripts, or other sets
of instructions for computers to execute.

On the other hand, PC Mag said that it is a language used to write instructions for the computer. It lets
the programmer express data processing in a symbolic manner without regard to machine-specific
details.

Meanwhile, Technopedia said that programming language is also known as a programming system,
computer language or computer system.

3. Identify and explain the basic programming language elements

There are five basic elements of programming that are present in essentially all languages.
Variables: This will how data is represented. It can range from something very simple, such as the age of
a person, to something very complex, such as a record of university students holding their names, ages,
addresses, what courses they have taken, and the marks obtained.

Loops: This will allow us to carry out execution of a group of commands a certain number of times.

Conditionals: This will specify execution of a group of statements depending on whether or not some
condition is satisfied.

Input/Output: This will allow interaction of the program with external entities. This might be as simple
as printing something out to the terminal screen, or capturing some text the user types on the keyboard,
or it can involve reading and/or writing to files.

Subroutines and functions: This will allow you to put oft-used snippets of code into one location which
can then be used over and over again.

4. Explain the importance and how to incorporate computer-aided solutions to solving Agricultural and
Biosystems Engineering problems.

Today we live where technology is everywhere. People made this technologies to make people's lives
easy. But not just that, these technologies or computer-aided solutions play a big role in solving ABE
problems.

We have so many ABE problems in the country. People, especially farmers, exert big efforts for small
profit becaus of the these problems that can be solve, hopefully, by these computer-aided solutions.

If people will be literate about this thing, I know for sure that Agriculture will boom. There are so many
things that can be done with the help of this technology.

5. Define Spreadsheet, Text-based programming, and graphical programming.

A spreadsheet or worksheet is a file made of rows and columns that help sort data, arrange data easily,
and calculate numerical data. What makes a spreadsheet software program unique is its ability to
calculate values using mathematical formulas and the data in cells. An example of how a spreadsheet
may be utilized is creating an overview of your bank's balance, according to Computer Hope.

Chumpia (2018) on her article at Coding Kids refer text-based programming languages as for which have
you write lines and lines of code to make a program. Learning a text-based programing language can be
as difficult as learning a spoken language. It requires to wrap our minds around a very different way of
solving problems which is far from intuitive. Also, programmers can not just replace one programming
language with another or mix them together to create a slang - yes pun intended, said Konig (2018).
That is why, a visual/graphical programming language (VPL) allows users to create illustrations to
describe different types of processes. It is a technique that was made to work with our ability to explain
concepts through visual means. The inclusion of graphical elements makes it accessible to new learners.
These elements can be manipulated to construct programs. Visual programming does not work with
abstract information like classes, instances and I/O. Instead, it allows a person to construct a solution to
a problem in a way that can be easily understood by other humans.

6. Define Flowchart

Tutorials Point referred Flowchart as a diagrammatic representation of sequence of logical steps of a

program. Flowcharts use simple geometric shapes to depict processes and arrows to show relationships
and process/data flow.

In addition, it is a diagrammatic representation of an algorithm. A flowchart can be helpful for both

writing programs and explaining the program to others.

7. Explain the importance of Flowchart in programming.

We can see that flow charts use very few words to show the flow of data and how the data and
processes are related. They mostly use arrows and symbols. Why would computer programmers want to
use a picture to represent a program they are creating? Here are some of the advantages for using flow
charts:

-Flow charts can be used to quickly communicate the ideas or plans that one programmer envisions to
other people who will be involved in the process.

-Flow charts aid in the analysis of the process to make sure nothing is left out and that all possible
inputs, processes, and outputs have been accounted for.

-Flow charts help programmers develop the most efficient coding because they can clearly see where
the data is going to end up.

-Flow charts help programmers figure out where a potential problem area is and helps them with
debugging or cleaning up code that is not working.

References:
https://www.codingkids.com.au/for-teachers/visual-based-vs-text-based-programming-languages/

https://bitspark.de/blog/what-is-visual-programming

https://www.google.com/amp/s/creately.com/blog/diagrams/flowchart-guide-flowchart-tutorial/amp/

https://study.com/academy/lesson/programming-flowcharts-types-advantages-
examples.html#:~:text=Flow%20charts%20help%20programmers%20develop,code%20that%20is
%20not%20working.

https://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/programming/node3.html