programming-for-dummies

Figuring Out Programming 17
As a general rule, if you want to make programming easy where speed and
efficiency aren’t that crucial, use a high-level programming language. If you
want to make a small and fast program and don’t care how inconvenient it
may be to write it, use machine or assembly language.
What if you want to write a big and fast program (like an operating system or
word processor) and also make it convenient for you to write? You’d use the
C programming language.
Ultimately, no one cares what language you use just as long as your program
works. A program that works is far better than a small, fast, and efficient program
that doesn’t work. Think of a programming language as a tool. A good
programmer can use any tool well, but a bad programmer can screw up
using the best tool in the world.
Book I
Chapter 1
Getting Started
Programming a
Computer
The programmer’s skill always determines the quality of any program; the
type of programming language used is always secondary. So the goal isn’t to
become a “C programmer” or a “FORTRAN programmer.” The goal is to
become a good programmer, regardless of the language you ultimately use.
Figuring Out Programming
After you understand that programming is nothing more than telling a computer
how to solve a problem, you may wonder how you can get started figuring
out programming on your own. If you want to figure out how to
program a computer, this is what you need:
✦ Desire
✦ A computer
✦ An editor
✦ An assembler or a compiler
✦ A lot of time on your hands
Discover more about programming tools, like an editor and a compiler, in
Book I, Chapter 4.
Desire beats technical training every time
Desire is probably the biggest factor in studying how to program a computer.
Many people think that you need a college degree or a mathematical background
to know computer programming. Although a college degree and a
mathematical background can definitely help, it’s not necessary. Saying you
need to know math before figuring out computer programming is like saying
you need a college degree in biology before you can reproduce.