programming-for-dummies

Using Keywords as Building Blocks 129
Ask for the user’s annual salary
Figure 1-1: If
you put
enough
commands
together,
you can
create any
type of
program.
Define the tax rate as 35%
Multiply the user’s salary by the tax rate
Display this result on the screen
A “program” for calculating the amount of taxes
you owe based on your salary.
Commands
Every programming language provides a list of commands dubbed keywords
or reserved words. By typing keywords one after another, you can tell the
computer what to do.
A programming language’s keywords act like the letters of the alphabet. Type
letters in different combinations and you can create different words. Type
keywords in different combinations and you can create different commands,
as shown in Figure 1-2.
Book II
Chapter 1
How Programs
Work
Salary = input(”Enter salary:”)
tax_rate = 0.35
Figure 1-2:
Multiple
keywords,
along with
various
symbol
characters,
can create
a single
command.
tax_owed = salary * tax_rate
print “Your owe=”, tax_owed
Program commands consist of keywords and
symbols such as equal signs (=) and
multiplication signs (*).
Keywords