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BITS Pilani BITS Pilani: Programming and Computing

The document discusses the differences between computing and programming. Computing broadly refers to solving problems using computers, while programming enables computers to solve problems by capturing higher-level abstractions. For example, the sequence "3+4+5" is a program - an abstraction that refers to the concrete steps of addition performed by a calculator's adder circuit. The concept of a program predates computers, as algorithms were developed centuries ago, while computers were defined and built in the 19th-20th centuries. Alan Turing formalized the concept of a general-purpose computer in the 1930s, while Alonzo Church defined the first programming language called Lambda Calculus earlier in the 1930s.

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48 views5 pages

BITS Pilani BITS Pilani: Programming and Computing

The document discusses the differences between computing and programming. Computing broadly refers to solving problems using computers, while programming enables computers to solve problems by capturing higher-level abstractions. For example, the sequence "3+4+5" is a program - an abstraction that refers to the concrete steps of addition performed by a calculator's adder circuit. The concept of a program predates computers, as algorithms were developed centuries ago, while computers were defined and built in the 19th-20th centuries. Alan Turing formalized the concept of a general-purpose computer in the 1930s, while Alonzo Church defined the first programming language called Lambda Calculus earlier in the 1930s.

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sowmya
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Compilers

BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

MODULE: INTRODUCTION

Programming and Computing

17-10-2014

Shan Sundar Balasubramaniam

Dept. of Computer Science & Information Systems , BITS Pilani

17-10-2014

Computing vs. Programming

The term Computing broadly refers to the activity of solving


a problem using computer(s)
and in some contexts, to what a computer does to solve
a problem.
In contrast, programming is an activity that enables
computers to solve a problem
programming makes computers compute

Shan Sundar Balasubramaniam

Dept. of Computer Science & Information Systems, BITS Pilani

17-10-2014

Programming and Abstraction

Programming captures a higher level abstraction of


computing
contrast this with the circuitry inside a computer.
For example, consider a calculator, which is a rudimentary
computer:
The following is then a program for the calculator
3+4+5
This program is an abstraction that refers to two
concrete steps of addition, performed in sequence, by an
adder circuit that is capable of adding two numbers

Shan Sundar Balasubramaniam

Dept. of Computer Science & Information Systems, BITS Pilani

17-10-2014

Programs vs. Computers A historical perspective

The notion or concept of a program has an existence


independent of computers.
In fact, the concept of a program or algorithm pre-dates
the existence of computers:
For example, Euclid wrote an algorithm
in the 3rd century B.C.
for computing the gcd (greatest common divisor) of
two numbers.
Whereas computers were defined and implemented
as mechanical devices in 19th century (by Charles
Babbage) and
as electronic devices in the early 20th century
Shan Sundar Balasubramaniam

Dept. of Computer Science & Information Systems, BITS Pilani

17-10-2014

Programs vs. Computers A historical perspective

The modern notion of a general purpose computing


mechanism or a general purpose computer was formally
defined by Alan Turing in 1930s.
They are now referred to as (Universal) Turing
machines.
But before this in the early 1930s, Alonzo Church defined the
first programming language, referred to as the Lambda
Calculus.
Later, Turing worked under Church to prove that these
two are equivalent:
i.e. any program written in Lambda Calculus can be
coded as a computation that can be executed by a
Universal Turing machine

Shan Sundar Balasubramaniam

Dept. of Computer Science & Information Systems, BITS Pilani

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