BABI Feb'19 Prep - Programming Basics - v1-1

Programming – Basic Concepts
A computer program is a collection of instructions that performs a specific task when executed
by a computer.
From the program in its human-readable form of code, a compiler (a program that converts
instructions into a machine-code) can derive machine code—a form consisting of instructions
that the computer can directly execute.
1. Program structure:
Programs are frequently referred to as either well-structured or poorly structured. A well-

structured program employs appropriate data structures and program units with a single entry
point and a single exit point, while a poorly structured program has arbitrary data structures and
flow of control.
The overall pattern is:

· Statements to establish the start of the program
· Variable declaration
· Program statements
2. Variable declaration:
Variables are the names you give to computer memory locations which are used to store values
in a computer program.
For example, assume you want to store two values 10 and 20 in your program and at a later
stage, you want to use these two values. Let's see how you will do it. Here are the following
three simple steps −
● Create variables with appropriate names.

● Store your values in those two variables.
● Retrieve and use the stored values from the variables.
Ex: int count;
where, int is Type; Count is Name
Variables are the backbone of any program, and thus the backbone of any programming
language.
3. Data type:
Unlike humans, a computer does not know the difference between "1234" and "abcd." A data
type is a classification of the type of data that a variable or object (Units of code that are
eventually derived from the process) can hold in computer programming.
Different types of variables include:

● Integer(int) – to store integer or “whole” numbers
● Real – to store real or fractional numbers (also called float to indicate a floating point
number)
● Character – A single character such as a letter of the alphabet or punctuation.
● String – A collection of characters
● Boolean – True or False
● Double (e.g., 1.79769313486232E308)
● Date (e.g., 03/01/2016)
In order to use a variable within a program, the compiler needs to know in advance the type of
data that will be stored in it. For this reason, we declare the variables at the start of the program.
Variable declaration consists of giving a new name and a data type for the variable. This is
normally done at the very start of the program.
4. Looping structures:
Loop structures allow you to run one or more lines of code repetitively. You can repeat the
statements in a loop structure until a condition is True, until a condition is False, a specified
number of times, or once for each element in a collection.
The following illustration shows a loop structure that runs a set of statements until a condition
becomes true.
5. Control structures:
A control structure is a block of programming that analyses variables and chooses a direction in
which to go based on given parameters.
When a program is running, the code is being read by the computer line by line (from top to
bottom, and for the most part left to right), just like you would read a book. This is known as the
“code flow “, now as the code is being read from top to bottom, it may hit a point where it needs
to make a decision, this decision could make the code jump to a completely different part of the
program, or it could make it re-run a certain piece again, or just plain skip a bunch of code. The
computer program has a strict set of rules to decide which direction to go. So, this decision that
must be made, that will in turn affect the flow of code, is known as a control structure.
6. Syntax:
In computer science, the syntax of a programming language is the set of rules that define the
combinations of symbols that are considered to be correctly structured programs in that
language. Documents that are syntactically invalid are said to have a syntax error.
The concept of syntax in programming language is similar to the concepts of grammar and
spelling in spoken language. When a sentence in English has very poor grammar and spelling, it
becomes difficult or even impossible to understand sometimes. Similarly, when code has syntax
errors, the program will not execute.
The difference is that when you read a sentence in English with a minor error, you can typically
still understand its meaning. Very small syntax errors in code, however, will not allow the
program to run. Coders, therefore, have to pay great attention to detail to make sure their code is
not only logical but also free of syntax errors. In today’s world, where information is just a
‘search’ away, syntax is very easy to learn
6. Data structure:
A data structure is a specialized format for organizing and storing data.
In computer programming, a data structure may be selected or designed to store data for the
purpose of working on it with various algorithms.
7. Algorithms:
Algorithm is simply a sequence of steps to solve a problem. These steps can be any combination
of logical operators (and/or), mathematical operators (add, subtract, count etc.), text operators
(combine two words, extract first 3 alphabets from a word etc.) conditional statements
(if/then/else) and many others depending on the complexity of the problem at hand. Algorithm is
basically like a recipe when you prepare a dish – a sequence of operations to achieve an output
(dish)
Data structures are used to hold data while algorithms are used to solve the problem using that
data. It also teaches you the science of evaluating the efficiency of an algorithm. This enables
you to choose the best of various choices.
8. Function:
A function is a block of code that performs a specific task. Function takes a set of inputs called
arguments and provides an output as per the definition of the function. A function contains a unit
of code that is designed to perform a specific task – which could be an algorithm. For example,
you could define a function F which takes two arguments a & b and performs addition on those
two. So, you could run a code that looks like >F(2,3) and get 5 as an output. Now this was a very
simple example for illustration purpose; in real life problem solving, a function could be of
varied complexities; e.g. a function called plot(x,y) can create a chart for you with the values
stores in x & y variables.

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Programming – Basic Concepts

Programs are frequently referred to as either well-structured or poorly structured. A well-

The overall pattern is:

● Create variables with appropriate names.

Different types of variables include:

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