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  1. What Is
April 10, 2017updated 27 Oct 2023 9:14am

What is programming?

There are some essential components of learning to program.

By James Nunns

Programming is basically the process of writing computer programs.

The art of programming is one of the most essential skills in the IT world, without it technology would look very different.

Programming is achieved by taking an algorithm and encoding it into a programming language so that it can then be executed by a computer.

The processing of programming involves designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. Code can be written in numerous different languages such as Java, C, Python, Swift, and many more.

Code works as a way of communicating with a computer without using ones and zeros.

There are several quality requirements that must be fulfilled with program development.

These requirements include reliability, which refers to how often the results of a program are correct.

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Robustness is another requirement and this is how well a program anticipates problems due to errors. Usability refers to the ease with which a person can use the program for its intended purpose or unanticipated purposes.

How do you get into programming?

Portability is another requirement which is necessary due to the range of computer hardware and operating system platforms on which the source code of a program can work on.

Maintainability ensures the ease with which a program can be modified by developers in order to improve it, customise it, or to fix bugs and security holes.

The final requirement is efficiency and performance, this refers to being able to measure how much system resources a program consumes.

A big push has been made to increase the number of programmers, with even children being targeted at an early age.

To get into programming it would be useful to take an introductory course and there are numerous online sites such as Codeacademy which can assist in the development of a programmer.

Rather than trying to focus on all areas, programmers typically focus on disciplines that suite where they want to develop. For example developing web technologies would require greater knowledge of HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, while mobile apps would require Android, iOS and Windows Mobile.

Due to a large demand for programmers, many course and online sites offer training for free.

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