Bronze Edition Guide - True BASIC

9
CHAPTER
An Introduction to Programming 1
What is a computer program? What is a programming language? Why should you want
to learn to write programs?
A computer program contains the instructions that tell the computer to do a certain
task, such as play a game of football, format and print a letter, or predict the survival
of lemmings over several generations. People who used the earliest computers had to
know how to write their own programs. There were no stores down the block where
they could buy a ready-to-use package that would track cash flow for their company.
Today, most people who use computers are not programmers. Instead, they use application
packages such as word processors, spreadsheets, address organizers, or flight
simulators. You can become a very sophisticated computer user and know nothing
about writing programs.
Yet even if you have no intention of becoming a software developer or writing complex
applications packages, you can still learn to program and enjoy solving your own problems
in your own way. Why should people learn to program and why would you want
to write your own programs?
There are several personal and practical reasons for learning to program:
• Acquire training and practice in logical thinking. Many business schools continued
to teach programming to their students even after spreadsheets and database packages
became widely available.
• Get a better understanding of how computers work. Everything a computer does
boils down to programmed instructions.