This was a very simple and surface definition for programming. Programming is not just about "giving instructions", there is an underlying meaning for it which we will discuss today in this blog. Many people confuse the terms "coding" and "programming" as the same thing. We will differentiate between these two terms and analyse how they are distinct. Then we will see the evolution of programming from the 1st Computer to the modern-day computer and how this evolution has made things easy for us. Then, we will list the most used programming languages in the world and discuss if you should learn them. Lastly, we will understand the applications of programming in the modern world.
The Real Meaning of Computer Programming
In the preceding paragraph, we got a basic idea of programming through a simple definition. I
mentioned
that it was not the actual definition. We will understand the real definition by differentiating
between
coding and programming.
Coding - It is the act of writing code in a specific programming
language to instruct a machine. It is a subset of programming.
Programming - It
involves analysing a problem, developing a solution algorithm, implementing the algorithm
through
code, debugging and improving the code and maintaining the code.
In short, it is
the
complete software development cycle. Hence, we observe that programming is not just giving
instructins,
but more about problem analysis, algorithm formulation and evaluation.
Evolution of Computer Programming
In general, there are two types of computer languages - Low-level languages and High-level languages. Low-level languages are called low-level because they are the real languages that a machine can comprehend. Binary Language [0, 1] is a low level language and the only language that computers understand. Early computers were directly fed code in binary a.k.a. machine language. Programming then shifted towards english-like codes. ASSEMBLY is the first computer language with english like words. Anyway, due to its complex and low level syntax, it was classified as low level language. With the passage of time, we shifted more towards english and came up with high-level languages like C/C++ and Java, which are widely used today. Howeven, in today's date, Python stands as the easiest & most user-friendly programming language. It is known for its easy syntax and its general-purpose nature. General- Purpose means that it can be used in various fields - Website Development, App Development, Game Development, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Graphics manipulation and a lot more. Slow processing is considered a demerit of Python. You can learn any language, but remember that problem analysis and algorithms are more important in programming.
Applications and the Future of Programming
Programming has wide ranging applications-from simple websites to rocket science. We can use programming to automate the traditional tasks done by humans manually. Automation is indeed one of the most fundamental principles of programming. We started by automating Calculations like 2+2, then we automated manual labour and now we can even automate thinking and decision making using AI. And the future? AI will be training AI itself! This leaves us to think the role of humans in an AI-driven society. Will AI affect humanity positively or negatively? We have no concrete answer to this question. All we can do is predict.
Conclusion
To conclude, I'll say that computer technology has drastically shaped the world. But for now, do not worry much about the future and focus on the present. Presently, computer programming is an in-demand skill that one should definitely go for. Programmers all around the world are working to reduce the effort in learning languages. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia says that english will be the new programming language to make coding more accessible. One fine day, I found a person on Youtube who said - "People learn Python, not problem solving." Learn problem solving. Languages are only tools to express your solution. Focus on the application, not the tool, for that is what sets you away from the crowd.