This is a presentation I delivered at Coder Dojo Limerick - http://coderdojo.com/ We teach Kids to Code !

1. Programming Languages
Coder Dojo - Limerick
Mark Cahill – MBA, BEng

2. Problem: I need to cross a river

3. Bridge

4. Bridge

5. Possible solutions?

6. Possible solutions
• Rocks
• Swim
• Boat
• Bridge

7. Rocks

8. Rocks
• The River is too deep

9. Bridge

10. Swim
• There are Piranhas in the river
• The current is too strong

11. Bridge

12. Bridge

13. Bridge

14. Bridge

15. Boat
• I don’t know how to build a boat
• I need to get a car across
• The current is too strong & there is a
dangerous waterfall.

16. Bridge

17. Helicopter
• I don’t know how to build a helicopter
• Where do I get the materials?
• How long will it take to build?
• How much will it cost?

18. Bridge

19. Bridge

20. Bridge

21. What kind of Bridge do I need?
• What material?
• How big?
• How strong?
• How wide?
• How many times will be used?
• How much will it cost to build?
• Will I toll the bridge?

22. What kind of Bridge do I need?
• How long will it take to build?
• Does it need to be lift to let boats by?
• What happens is the water rises?
• Does it need maintenance?
• Has someone built one that fits my needs?
• What volume of traffic will pass over it?
• How many people will be using it?

23. Q: Where is software used?

32. Q: Where is software used?
A: Everywhere

33. Where I started
• Commodore 64 at the age of 9

34. Language was called BASIC
NEW
1 REM NUMBER GUESSING GAME
2 PRINT "(CLR/HOME)"
5 INPUT "ENTER UPPER LIMIT FOR GUESS "; LI
10 NM = INT(LIRND(1))+1
15 CN = 0
20 PRINT "I'VE GOT THE NUMBER.": PRINT
30 INPUT "WHAT'S YOUR GUESS "; GU
35 CN = CN + 1
40 IF GU > NM THEN PRINT "MY NUMBER IS LOWER." : PRINT : GOTO 30
50 IF GU < NM THEN PRINT "MY NUMBER IS HIGHER.": PRINT : GOTO 30
60 IF GU = NM THEN PRINT "GREAT! YOU GOT MY NUMBER"
65 PRINT "IN ONLY"; CN ;"GUESSES." : PRINT
70 PRINT "DO YOU WANT TO TRY ANOTHER (Y/N)?"
80 GET AN$ : IF AN$ = "" THEN 80
90 IF AN$ = "Y" THEN 2
100 IF AN$ <> "N" THEN 70
110 END

35. • Why do we need programming languages?

36. Think like a computer

37. Think like a computer
• Computers are from Venus, Humans are from
Mars
• Computers “think” in a very different way to
Humans.
• Computers are stupid, Humans are intelligent.

38. Think like a computer
• Computers will do exactly as you tell them to
do.
• Computers are very good at executing
instructions over and over again, and will not
get bored.

39. Think like a computer
• Computers think in Binary.
• People think about ‘things’ and how they
relate to each other

40. Think like a computer
• Computers view of Website address
– 173.194.37.104
• Human view of Website address
– Google.ie

41. Computer view of a photo

42. Human view of a photo

43. Think like a computer
• Computers view of Location
• Human view of Location
– Next door to Starbucks, by the Luas, you can’t
miss it.

44. High and Low Level Languages
• High Level languages – easy for a human to
read. Examples are C++, Python, Java.
• Low level Languages – are designed to be easy
for a computer to execute; also called
machine language or assembly language

45. High Level Languages

46. Low Level Languages

47. Hello World – C++

48. Hello World – C#

49. Hello World – 8051 assembler

50. Hello World - Java

51. Hello World -JavaScript

52. Hello World - PHP

53. Hello World – POV-Ray

54. Hello World -Python

55. Web
• PHP
• Python
• Java
• Perl
• HTML
• Ruby on Rails
• Javascript
• Flash

56. Desktop
• C
• C++
• Python
• Perl
• Java

57. Games
• C
• C++
• Python
• Perl
• Java

58. Artificial intelligence
• Lisp
• Prolog

59. Smart Phones
• iPhone, iPad, iPod -> Objective C
• Android -> C, C++
• Nokia -> Java ME, C++, Ruby
• Window 7 -> C#

60. Low level hardware
• C
• Assembly

61. Programming languages
Different languages solve
different problems
in different ways

62. List of programming languages
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_program
ming_languages

63. What kind of Software Solution do I
need?
• What material?
• How big?
• How strong?
• How wide?
• How many times will be used?
• How much will it cost to build?
• Will I toll the bridge?

64. What kind of Software solution do I
need?
• How long will it take to build?
• Does it need to be lift to let boats by?
• What happens is the water rises?
• Does it need maintenance?
• Has someone built one that fits my needs?
• What volume of traffic will pass over it?
• How many people will be using it?

65. How do I cross a river?
• There are many ways to solve a problem.
• Every problem is different.
• Ask the right questions.
• Break the problem into smaller pieces
• You choose the best Tool for the Job !