If you enjoy using a computer, you may have even more fun learning to control a computer by writing your own programs. To learn how to program a computer, you need to understand three different subjects.
First, you have to understand that computer programming is nothing more than problem solving. Before you even think about writing a program, you need to know what problem you want your program to solve and how it will solve it.
Second, you need to learn the basic ideas behind computer programming in general. Although programming a Windows computer is different from programming a Macintosh or a super computer, the general principles are the same. By learning what these common programming principles are and why they exist, you can learn different ways to tell a computer what to do, step-by-step.
Finally, you also need to learn a specific programming language. A programming language represents just one way to express your ideas in a language that the computer can understand. By combining your knowledge of a programming language with programming principles and the type of problem you want the computer to solve, you can create your own computer programs for fun or profit.
If you have any interest in programming but don't know where to start, this book can give you a nudge in the right direction. You won't learn how to write programs in a specific programming language, but you'll learn the basics about computer programming so you'll have no trouble learning more on your own.
If you already know something about programming, this book can still help you learn more by introducing you to the variety of programming languages available and make it easy for you to learn different programming languages quickly. The more you understand the advantages and disadvantages of different programming languages, the better you'll be able to choose the language that's best suited for a particular task.
Whether you're a novice or an intermediate programmer, you'll find this book can work as a tutorial to teach you more and as a reference to help refresh your memory on programming topics you may not normally use everyday. This book won't turn you into an expert overnight, but it will open the doors to more information about programming than you might have ever known even existed.
To help you learn about computer programming, this book is divided into several minibooks where each minibook is self-contained so you can read them in any order you wish.
Book I: Getting Started
This first book provides a general overview of computer programming. This is where you'll learn how programming evolved, the latest techniques to make programming faster and easier, how different programming languages work, what type of tools programmers use, and how programmers create large projects. This book gives you a broad understanding of programming so you'll understand how programming solves different types of problems.
Book II: Programming Basics
No matter what type of computer you want to program or which programming language you use, programming follows the same basic principles and this book explains how they work. This is where you'll learn the parts of a typical program and how they work to create a working program. This book also explains the purpose of a user interface and the elements that make up a user interface.
Book III: Data Structures
All programs manipulate data, which means they need a way to store that data temporarily in something called a data structure. Data structures form the heart of any program. Think of data structures as closets or drawers for holding information. Depending on the type of information you need to store and how you need to use it, you may need to use different types of data structures. By understanding the different data structures available and the pros and cons of each, you'll learn the best type of data structure to use for your particular program.
Book IV: Algorithms
An algorithm is just a specific method for solving a problem. There are literally an infinite number of ways to solve any problem, but computer programmers generally run into the same type of problems over and over, which means they've also discovered the most efficient algorithms to solve for specific tasks. This book introduces different types of algorithms and explains how they work and when you might want to use them.
Book V: Web Programming
Traditional programs run on a computer, but the advent of the Internet has created a new field of programming known was Web programming. Instead of running on a single computer, Web programs are stored on one computer (called a server) but run and displayed on a second computer (called a client). If you've ever ordered anything off the Internet, you've used a program designed to run on Web pages. Learning Web programming isn't hard, but it often requires using different types of languages and techniques, which is what you'll learn about in this book.
Book VI: Programming Language Syntax
This book explains the basic features of programming languages and then shows how different programming languages implement those features, which is known as the language syntax. Knowing the syntax of different languages can show you the flaws and benefits of each language so you'll know when to use a particular language over another. If you regularly need to program in different languages, this book makes a handy reference to show you how to accomplish a specific task in different languages along with showing you unusual features that appear in one programming language but not in another one.
Book VII: Applications
Knowing how to program a computer is nice, but ultimately useless if you don't know how to apply your programming skills to doing something productive, so this book explains several fields of computer programming. By reading this book, you can learn what types of programming appeals to you. By combining your knowledge of programming with a particular field of interest, you can carve a niche for yourself in any field you choose.
You can use this book as a tutorial or a reference. Although you can just flip through this book to find the information you need, programming novices should start with Book I before tackling any other books. After you understand the basics of programming from Book I, then you can freely jump around to read only the information that interests you.
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The best way to learn anything is to jump right in and not be afraid to make mistakes. To learn programming, you'll need access to a computer and a way to write programs in a particular programming language. You won't learn specific programming techniques in this book. Instead, you'll learn a lot about a wide variety of programming topics so you'll be in a better position to decide what you need to learn next.
Programming is more than learning a particular programming language or even knowing how to program a particular type of computer. Basically, programming is about tackling difficult problems and breaking them down into smaller problems until you solve one big problem. If you like the idea of solving problems, then you'll find this may be the perfect book to introduce you to the wonderful world of computer programming.