programming-for-dummies

Chapter 2: Different Methods
for Writing Programs
In This Chapter
Spaghetti programming
Structured programming
Event-driven programming
Object-oriented programming
The goal of computer science is to find the best ways to write a program.
The reality of computer science is that nobody really knows what they’re
doing, so they’re making up stuff as they go along and pretending that there’s
a scientific basis for everything they do. The fact that multimillion dollar programming
projects routinely fall behind schedule and sometimes never work
at all pretty much shows that computer programming is still less a science
than an art.
Despite these problems, computer scientists are always searching for ways to
make programming easier, faster, and more reliable by constantly developing
✦ Better tools
✦ Better programming languages
✦ Better techniques for writing programs
Just as a carpenter doesn’t build a house with rusty saws and a broken hammer,
computer scientists are always developing better tools to help them write, fix,
and create programs. One of the first improvements computer scientists made
was in developing faster compilers. Instead of waiting overnight to see if a program
worked, programmers could use a fast compiler that could show them the
results in seconds. Other tool improvements included editors that would show
programmers the specific line where an error occurred and special programs
(known as debuggers) for making sure that every part of a program worked
correctly.
Another way to improve programmer efficiency involves creating better programming
languages. Assembly language was easier to write and modify
than machine language, and high-level languages are easier to write and
modify than assembly language.