If you’re a programmer, there’s no doubt that Coding is a pretty important thing. It’s like the language you use to communicate with your computer. This article will help you understand what coding is, and how languages are used for it. You’ll learn about programming languages and how they work, so you can choose the right one for you.
A programmer uses coding to write computer programs or scripts that control computers. The code tells the computer what to do. For example, a computer program might be written in Python to play a specific video file, or it could be coded in Java to perform some calculations. The computer needs instructions from you to make its actions happen.
You may have heard of “coder” or “programmer.” Both those terms mean the same thing — someone who codes. But there are different types of coders. What type of coder are you? Let’s start by discussing what programming actually is.
Types of Programmers
Programming is not just writing computer code; it involves many other parts of the process. Here are some of them:
– Software development lifecycle includes planning, design, architecture, coding, testing, deployment, maintenance, and support.
– There are four key roles in software development: developer, tester, architect, and manager.
– The best coders are problem solvers who love to think creatively.
– There are five main categories of programmers: application developers, web developers, data analysts, database administrators, and system administrators.
– There are three types of coders: line coders, block coders, and object coders.
– There are two types of coding: procedural coding and functional coding.
– There are seven ways to approach coding problems:
- Functional: Write down a set of functions that solve the problem.
- Algorithmic: Use mathematical formulas to solve the problem.
- Procedural: Write a series of steps that lead to solving the problem.
- Data structure: Build a table of values (e.g., an array) to represent a solution.
- Object-oriented: Design classes that encapsulate data and operations.
- Scripting: Write a script that solves the problem.
- Graphical: Create a graphical user interface (GUI).
There are many more kinds of coders than these, but this list covers the most common ones. And when we talk about coding, we’re talking about the process of creating computer programs.
The Types of Programming Languages
We’ve already mentioned some of the roles involved in coding, such as developer, tester, architect, and manager. These people all need to be able to write code. So which kind of coder should write it? Here’s a brief description of some of the most popular programming languages.
C++: An OOP language with syntax inspired by C.
Java: A general purpose OOP language based on C++.
Python: An interpreted scripting language designed for simplicity and readability.
Ruby: A dynamic scripting language with strong features for rapid development.
Perl: A scripting language often used with HTML.
PHP: A general purpose scripting language with strong features for rapid development.
You don’t need to know any of these languages to become a coder. They’re just tools that programmers use to create their own programs. But it helps if you can at least recognize them. Knowing the differences between them will also make it easier to choose the right one for you.
So now let’s take a look at the basics of programming languages.
The Basics of Programming Languages
Here are some basic facts about programming languages:
– Each language has a unique grammar. Grammar means the rules that make up each language. For instance, English has nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Each language must follow certain rules to be grammatically correct. Some languages allow complex structures while others only permit simple sentences.
– Every language has syntax. Syntax is the rules that tell us how our words should be arranged.
For example, in English you put spaces around phrases, and you end each sentence with a period. In Spanish the space is called a coma, and the period is known as unapuntuación.
– Each programming language has its own set of keywords. A keyword is a special word that lets the compiler know what kind of statement it should interpret.
For example, JavaScript has keywords such as document, true, alert, and var.
– Programming languages are built on top of logical frameworks. Logical frameworks mean the rules that tell us how to build our programs.
For example, in JavaScript you can use arrays, loops, conditionals, objects, and functions.
– When you build a program in a language, you get an abstract syntax tree. The tree represents the program’s internal structure. You can modify this tree to change the program.
When you compile a program, you get an executable binary file. Programs that run on a computer are compiled into machine code before they can be executed.
Now let’s see how to break down a few examples of programming languages.
Examples of Programming Languages
Here are some examples of programming languages:
JavaScript: An interpreted scripting language with strong features for rapid development.
Visual Basic: A BASIC-like structured language for developing Windows applications.
C#: A high level language with strong features for rapid development.
C++: An OOP language with syntax inspired by C.
Java: A general purpose OOP language based on C++.
C: A low level language with syntax inspired by C.
Fortran: A high level Fortran compiler developed by IBM.
Prolog: A declarative logic programming language.
Haskell: An expressive functional programming language.
Scala: A modern multi-paradigm language.
Each language has its own set of keywords and rules.
The first step toward learning programming is understanding the basics, including the difference between programming languages. Then you’ll be ready to learn how to code in your chosen language. Once you master that, you can move on to even more advanced topics.
What is Coding? A Complete Guide to Coding Languages
Every day millions of people spend hours of time working on their computers. That means they need to write computer code. To understand this better, let’s consider a fictional scenario:
Jane is the boss of a small company that makes widgets. She doesn’t want her employees to waste time doing useless work. She wants them to focus on things that will increase profits.
That’s why Jane requires that everyone use a coding language. If she didn’t require it, they would be wasting time trying to figure out how to write a program without knowing anything about it.
But what exactly is a coding language?
A coding language is a collection of symbols and rules that tell a computer how to act. For example, here are the words that Jane says to her employees:
“I want every employee to take part in developing our new widget!”
Those words are a sentence in English. They form a string of characters that we call a piece of text. Each character is either a letter, a number, or a symbol.
In programming, we write pieces of text that we call statements. A statement is a chunk of programming code that performs a task. Statements are separated by semicolons.
Let’s say Jane’s employees really need to code something. How would they go about doing it? First, they’d need to find a way to write down their ideas.
They could draw pictures of their ideas. Or they could write down their thoughts using a pen and paper. Of course, they wouldn’t need to write everything down; just enough to convey their idea.
Once they had a rough draft of their idea, they’d need to decide what language to use. Maybe they’d decide to use a programming language because they know that other people use it to develop products.
Next, they’d need to know how to make the program. This is where they’d learn how to write the code to perform the tasks they wanted.
Finally, they’d need to test the program to see whether it works. They’d need to repeat this cycle until they got the results they were looking for.
This is how a programmer writes a program in a coding language. The code is usually written in a text editor. After the program is complete, it’s compiled into a binary format. That’s how it gets sent to the computer.
In other words, each language has its own set of symbols and rules that tell a computer how to act.
As you might expect, the different languages have different characteristics. For example, a programming language is made up of words and symbols. Those words and symbols are arranged in a particular order. The language specifies what symbols go where.
This arrangement determines what the programmer does with the language. Different languages give the coder more flexibility. If you want to add another feature to the program, you can just insert it wherever you need it.
Some languages are easy to learn. Others are difficult. But if you know what the language is, you’ll have a much better chance of getting the job done.
A person need to be really careful in choosing the option that will give the results. The trial of the person must be to learn the computer programming language with proper detail. A person can plan to your requirements could not be resolved to an installable set of packages. The person can analyse the complete detail.
Learning how to code is a big challenge. To succeed, you’ll need to learn all the elements involved. But once you know all the details, programming will be fun!
