An introduction to Computer Programming, an overview of various programming concepts and what makes scratch programming better for high school students
1. 21/07/15 05:19 AM CSC Alliance — 1
Kimera Richard
E-mail: rkimera@must.ac.ug
Phone: 0701 437989
INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY
Intro to Computer Programming
http://Westechies.blogspot.com
http://kimrichies.blogspot.com
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What is a program
A sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret
and execute;
If I tell you the way from ICS to Administration Block … I will tell
sequence of instructions…. Any wrong instruction leads to a
undesired result.
A program is something that runs on your computer. In
case of MS Windows program is of .EXE or .COM
extensions
MS Word, Power point, Excel are all computer programs
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Programming Concepts
Data Types
Variables
Operators
Conditional Statements
Looping Statements
Functions and working with Files
Application programming Interfaces (API’s)
e.t.c
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Data Types and Variables
Data Type: It is basically a scheme for representing data OR data
storage location e.g Int, String, float, boolean, byte, e.t.c
A variable is a named data storage location in your computer's
memory. By using a variable's name in your program, you are, in
effect, referring to the data stored there.
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Operators
Operators are symbols which take one or more operands or
expressions and perform arithmetic or logical computations.
E.g +, -, *, /, %, =, ++, - -. ==, <, >, //, &&
Operands are variables or expressions which are used in
conjunction with operators to evaluate the expression.
Combination of operands and operators form an expression.
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Conditional Statements
If…else statement – Tests if a certain condition
is true/ false and executes a given statement
Switch Statement – Similary works as the
if..else statement
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Looping Statements
Executes a certain condition and loops up to
when the set condition is met
Examples of statement include;
While loop
Do…….while
Break and continue
goto
for
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Writing Computer Programs
A programmer uses an editor to create or modify files
containing C code e.g Notepad, Codeblocks, Visual
studio, Android studio, e.t.c
Code is also known as source code.
After a source file/Project has been created, the
programmer must invoke the compiler before the
program can be executed (run).
For advanced IDE’s(Integrated Drive Electronics), the
program is compiled as you code.
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Introduction to programming languages
Programming languages can be;
Server side languagesServer side languages – Code is stored on the server
and accessed by a clied basically through the browser.
E.g php
Client side languagesClient side languages – code can be stored on either the
client or server e.g HTML
Interpreted languagesInterpreted languages – Code will execute even if it
contains errors, no compile is needed e.g HTML
Compiled languagesCompiled languages – Code will not execute/run if the
compile fails to understand some statements e.g C, Java
Any more???
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Categories of Programming languages
Procedure languagesProcedure languages – Follow a step by step program execution
e.g C, C++, e.t.c
Object Oriented Programming languagesObject Oriented Programming languages – Classes are used a data
types for Objects.
Event Driven Languages-Event Driven Languages- The program runs basing on user actions,
this is common in GUI programming. Events can be generated
when a user clicks a button, touches the scroon, moves a mouse,
types on the key board, etc. Examples… Java, Visual Basic, C++.
OO Php
Scripting languagesScripting languages – light weight languages e.g php, python,
javascript
Mobile programming language –Mobile programming language – Light weight languages that run on
mobile devices e.g Android, windows OS, swift/Objective C,
Symbian, WebOS, Blackberry OS.
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Example of program written in C
#include <stdio.h>
int main( void )
{
int value1, value2, product ;
printf(“Enter two integer values: “) ;
scanf(“%d%d”, &value1, &value2) ;
product = value1 * value2 ;
printf(“Product = %dn”, product) ;
return 0 ;
}
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Example of program written in Java
/* Sample Java Program */
public class Sample
{
public static void main (String []
args)
{
int i;
for (i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
{
System.out.println
("Number: " + i);
}
}
}
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Example of program written in Objective C
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
int main() {
/* my first program in Objective-C */
NSLog(@"Hello, World! n");
return 0;
}
Source:
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/objective_c/objective_c
_environment_setup.htm
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Example of program written in Android
package com.example.kim.myapplication;
import android.support.v7.app.ActionBarActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.MenuItem;
public class MainActivity extends ActionBarActivity {
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}
@Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.menu_main, menu);
return true;
}
return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
}
}
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Discussion Question
If we are to teach Computer programming in
Secondary Schools, which one of the above
programming languages would be simpler
Lets think about the our school labs and resources
available