Stages of Computer Programming - Essay Example

Computer Programming Introduction The essay focuses on understanding the definition and stages for developing programming languages. Through this paper, it is intended to understand how a programming language can be created, while discussing the background of the development of programming languages. First and foremost the essay focuses on the basic definition of computer programming. Thereafter, it provides a brief history about computer programming. The essay would thereafter focus on understanding how programming languages are developed. The next step to be undertaken for this essay focuses on the various advantages and disadvantages of programming language. It also provides a list of annotated bibliography to understand the development of programming languages. Defining computer programming Computer programming is defined as a field wherein source codes are created through analytical process that could be used for configuring into the computer systems. Computer programmers can either work on varied fields of programming or may choose to specialize in one area of program development. Computer programming is therefore understood as a process wherein the programs are being developed, adapted and maintained so that people are able to conduct their work over the computer or use it for the purpose of entertainment (Friedman et al., 1992). The field of computer programming deals with the development of source code in an analytical manner, which helps in configuring the computer systems. A computer programmer may either work on a specialised aspect of program development, maintenance or support of the home or office computers or may focus on a wide variety of programming functions. Thus, computer programmers provide the platform on which various existing and new functions of the computer system may work on, through which people are able to exchange information, conduct business or use it for the purpose of entertainment (Friedman et al., 1992). The computer programmer mostly looks after developing software which helps people in performing variety of functions. The varied online activities performed by people at home and office are possible due to the development of various programming by the computer programmers. Due to the work performed by programmers, it is possible for people to use applications such as operating systems, word processors and even use Internet (Lee, 2008). However, computer programming is just not about developing software. A computer programmer also focuses on adapting software for internal usage and inserting codes that enable programs to be modified for functioning in a unique manner in a given situation. In such cases, the computer programmer may get engaged with an organisation that is looking at upgrading existing software or further customise a platform that could be used by the employees or the users (Lee, 2008). Another important aspect of computer programming is the continuous maintenance of software which is being used to run the network of an organisation. In such a scenario the computer programmer often works along with other specialist dealing with information technologies for identifying issues within the existing programs and subsequently takes actions to rewrite or debug programs to solve the issue or enhance the network capabilities (Gabbrielli & Martini, 2010). Thus, computer programming can be defined as the act of development, adaptation and maintenance of various programs on which most people rely upon to conduct their work or other activities. Computer programmers are always in demand to create, develop, enhance, implement and maintain various computer programs as well as improve the computer technology (Gabbrielli & Martini, 2010). Brief history of programming As per initial research, the concept of programming started even before the advent of computers when Herman Hollerith started encoding the 1890 census on punch cards, just as the railroad conductors did. Later with the invention of computer, basic languages started forming, which includes LISP, FORTRAN and COBOL that were designed during the 1950s. It is believed that most of the modern computer programming is based on these basic languages itself. The essay therefore would explore the advent of these languages in detail and understand how the programming language developed through the years, especially focusing on the development of the basic language in the 1950s and 1960s, the creation of C and SQL in the 1970s, the designing of C++ and other object oriented languages in the 1980s and the influence of Internet in the 1990s (Terrence and Marvin, 2001). Most of the languages that were designed in the earlier times when computing was invented looked after different activities. Many of these languages were developed to help people in the field of industrial production or academics, and were not used for any generic purpose. For instance, the programming language FORTRAN was developed to help academics in the field of mathematics, while COBOL was designed to be a business-oriented language to be used in industries and did not have any scientific usage (Terrence and Marvin, 2001). During the 1970s people witnessed the need to create languages which could be interchanged with each other and fulfilled more than just one purpose. The constant efforts of programmers resulted in producing various languages such as Prolong and Pascal Forth. One of the major creations of programming language during this time was of the language C, which was developed by Bell Labs for replacing the B language. Further, during the same time, SQL was also created, which also helped in changing the course of the development of computer programming. While C was described as the first ever object-oriented language, SQL was developed as a query to search databases (Lee, 2008). With the development of work stations and mainframes and their integration into large organisations and multi-national corporations in the 1980s, computer languages started becoming much more refined. It was during this time that advanced languages such as C++, which was tipped as a successor to C, was developed. Further, languages such as Perl was also developed which helped in working with huge remote data (Lee, 2008). In the modern world, the programs are being developed keeping in mind the Internet phenomena that started in the 1990s. The computer programmers were required to create new programs that could help in manipulating data and letting people to access the processed data in a faster manner over the Internet. Another version of C called C# was launched during this time, which provided advanced features to the users. Further, smaller languages such as Java, Python and Javascript became popular during this time as they served as compatible applications to run along the web browser. The trend in computer programming these days is to create smaller and modular programs that could be added to provide enhanced functionality and security to the existing programs and the computer systems (Lee, 2008; Gabbrielli & Martini, 2010). Development of programming Although, every language has distinct requirements, most of the computer language development stages include analyzing the requirements of the programming projects, creating value modeling, testing the code, implementing the program and debugging the program. Various approaches might be used to conduct each of these tasks. Some of these approaches include Use Case analysis, Model-Driven Architecture (MDA), Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD) and Unified Modeling Language (UML). All these approaches to creating programming languages and the stages to develop a programming language would be discussed in detail in the essay (Lee, 2008). The development of a computer program generally is undertaken through four major steps: designing, coding, testing and maintaining programs. Designing programs The first step towards computer program development is to design the program. This step of designing is very essential as a good design ensures that the code could be used in an efficient manner by the programmers to create a good program. Further, time and energy spent on designing helps in reducing the time taken to undertake the tasks of coding and testing. Thus, it would help in reducing the overall time taken to develop the program as well. Therefore, it is important to thing to remember is to first create a design before starting to write the code for the program (Pratt & Zelkowitz, 2001). The process of design also include understanding the data requirements, defining the processes required to complete a work, as well as analysing the desired output from the program. Further, programmers often use pseudocode during the stage of designing to find out the various steps that are required to create a program (Pratt & Zelkowitz, 2001). Code writing and developing As soon as the process of designing is completed, the coding for the programs is being undertaken. The program is being written in the language that is being chosen so that the rules of language syntax could be followed in a precise manner. For a programmer, who has just entered into the profession, the process of creating a program might seem frustrating at the beginning. There are times when the codes written by the programmer would not provide the desired result that the program should be performing. However, a programmer should remember that a computer always perform what is being told to it and therefore, a perfect programming could be achieved by using techniques like dry running programs, debugging and checking in a meticulous manner the syntaxes to find any errors (Dowek, 2009). Testing computer programs The purpose behind conducting a test of the computer program is to ensure that the program written works as per the expectations. However, testing a computer program is not a simple task and the programmer needs to develop various skills to understand the nuances of programming to detect any possible issues or problems in the program. Program testing can be undertaken through various kinds of tests. Further, in order to make the program work in a proper manner, it is important to conduct the testing of the program appropriately (Louden, 2003). Maintaining computer programs and software A computer programmer is not only required to create and develop a program, but would also be needed to maintain programs. With the rapid changes in technology and requirements, the programs also are required to be adopted as per the changing pace of the world. Thus, it is important to maintain the existing programs by creating proper documentation related to the development and maintenance of the software, so that any upgradation of the software could be undertaken easily (Lee, 2008). Advantages and Disadvantages of programming Research indicates that programming languages have several advantages which include making the concept of machine code easily understandable by humans and allowing greater portability of using software on various computers. The computer processor uses its own language known as machine code, which is created through binary data or 0s and 1s. However, it is difficult for human beings to understand such code and therefore it is required to develop an intermediary language which could help humans to interact with the computer and perform the tasks easily. Further, computer languages also help in making the software portable, i.e. languages are created in such a manner that it could be used in any kind of computer. The codes are written in such a way that they become compatible with all the computers (Dowek, 2009). However, computer programming has certain disadvantages as well, which would also be discussed in detail in this essay. Certain languages, especially low level languages are very difficult to learn, while on the other hand, high level computer languages such as C++ and Java although being easier to learn does not provide faster output as compared to low-level languages due to their characteristic of being indirectly interacting with the computer. The essay would therefore also focus on conducting an in-depth analysis of the various advantages and disadvantages of using a programming language (Gabbrielli and Simone, 2010). Therefore, through this mind map we are able to understand how the concept of programming language could be defined and explained. This mind map suggests that first and foremost the concept of programming language should be defined. Thereafter, a brief history about programming would be provided and explanation on development of programming language. Further, the advantages and disadvantages of programming would be discussed in detail. This mind map would help in charting the essay in a better manner and addressing all the topics related to the concept of programming as well. Annotated bibliography Friedman, Daniel P., Mitchell Wand and Christopher T. Haynes (1992). Essentials of Programming Languages 2nd Edition. US: MIT Press. The book aims to provide an in-depth understanding about the important concepts related to programming languages, through the use of Schema, which is known as a meta-language. Through Schema, the authors would help students to learn and write high-level languages, by explaining the process of developing a language in a concise and comprehensive manner. The book would also have various short programs that the students can implement and learn about. The book in fact provides around 300 exercises that could be used to understand the concept of programming principals and get a hands-on training to create programming languages. Lee, Kent (2008). Programming Languages: An Active Learning Approach. New York: Springer. The book introduces three programming languages through the use of active Learning approach. These are namely; object-oriented or an imperative language that uses C++ as well as Ruby and also functional languages that uses Standard ML, along with logic programming that uses Prolog. These textbook which is interactive has been intended for using outside and inside the class. Every chapter has a pattern of giving or representing the topic that is followed by using a practice exercise or other tasks. The students are encouraged to read and understand them. These textbooks are good for students with smaller introduction for imperative programming. Some of the features, like accessing structure guides. This is done through different programming languages. Some of the seamlessly entwined practice exercises that are classroom tested is also available for online support. Gabbrielli, Maurizio and Martini, Simone (2010). Programming Languages: Principals and Paradigms. New York: Springer. This book explains various principals and paradigms used in programming languages, especially focusing on object-oriented, imperative, logic and functional features. It provides various stages of programming and explains how a program is designed and implemented. This book is a great guide for beginners as well as professionals to understand about software and various programming languages. Pratt, Terrence W. and Zelkowitz, Marvin V. (2001). Programming languages: design and implementation. Prentice Hall. The book provides comprehensive information on the designing and implementation of various programming language, together with giving basic introduction about various theoretical models. Varied fundamental concepts are discussed in the book, which would help the reader to understand important concepts, differences between various programming languages as well as understanding how source programs are executed. Some of the languages that are discussed in detail in this book are C, C++, Prolog, Smalltalk, BASIC SNOBOL4, JAVA, LISP, Postscript, HTML, COBOL, FORTRAN, PERL and Pascal. The book provides a background on various programming languages and how these are executed and what hardware requirements are necessary for their execution. It also provides details on how a programming language is written, especially focusing on concepts such as data structures and encapsulation, storage management, data types, inheritance, network programming, distributed processing and procedure invocation. This book is helpful for people who are interested in learning how programming languages are designed. Dowek, Gilles (2009). Principles of Programming Languages. London: Springer. Due to the development of various programming languages, the relationship between human beings and machines has also become complicated. Thus, this book introduces various principles related to programming languages to simplify the concepts, and stresses especially on imperative constructions, dynamic data types, functional constructions, objects and reference. Although, the book basically focuses on Java language, it also compares various other languages as well to help the readers understand various concepts related to programming languages, while providing methods and tools to help students learn how to create new programming languages. Louden, Kenneth C. (2003). Programming languages: principles and practice. Brooks/Cole. The book provides an overview of some of the key issues that would be desirable for understanding various programming languages. Instead of concentrating on the issues with individual language, Kenneth Louden is able to put stress on language paradigms and some of the concepts which are common for all languages. Kenneth has included materials which is not found or addressed frequently in any introductory texts, which can be implementation issues or any theoretical foundations for programming languages. This helps the student build a bridge for being able to compile courses and also other courses that are in computer science. Additionally, Louden's is able to talk further on semantics. Louden is able to introduce students towards an informal semantics in one of the chapter which is five. The chapter is about the scope and symbol tables as one of the primary examples. Chapter 13 is an introduction of formal semantics. The material has been enhanced through executable versions of denotational and operational specifications that use ML and Prolog. Tucker, Allen B. and Noonan, Robert (2002). Programming languages: principles and paradigms. McGraw-Hill. The book gives a balanced coverage on various principles and paradigms related to programming languages. The topic covered is usually formal model as well as hands-on laboratory suite which uses Java interpreter for implementing formal model. Students are given good grasp of the language design theory along with its relationship into practice. The book also talks about the foundation of paradigms which is presented in the other half of the book. It contrasts and presents some six programming paradigms, such as, object-oriented, imperative, functional, concurrent, logic, along with event-driven programming. By using one language for one of the each paradigm, students are able to give deep understanding of paradigm. Other resources: http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/proglang.htm: The website provides the definition of the term programming language as well as explains various programming language and how they are developed. http://www.fact-index.com/b/ba/basic_programming_language.html: The website focuses on the history of programming language and explains BASCI programming language in detail. http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/programming+language: This page provides details about the concept of programming language. http://www.computernostalgia.net/articles/HistoryofProgrammingLanguages.htm: This website provides the history of programming language. Read More