GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

Posted by Golden on August 18th, 2010

It is a common misconception that computer solutions to problems are infallible. In fact, a computer is dependent on a sequence of instructions prepared by a fallible human and therein lays a major source of error.

It is not easy to describe a computer in a few words, but if one wants to define what a computer is, the following would certainly apply.

A computer is an electronic device which ahs been accredited as a very powerful tool for solving some human problems at a faster, neater, and sometime cheaper way.

A computer can also be described any device which can accept any data in a prescribed form, process the data and supply the result of the processing in a specified format.

A computer is a tool that operates by taking raw materials (data) and converting it into a product (information) by means of a device which performs a process.

The main distinguishing features of a computer from other information tools are speed, capacity and versatility. The computer is able to achieve such features because it is able to carry out a few extremely simple operations accurately and very quickly. The data is manipulated through sequences of instruction known as programs. Thus a program is a set of coded instructions using symbols for the computer to obey. These instructions represent a logic solution to a problem. The order in which a program is written is also important.