programming-for-dummies

Recommendations

Info

50 Choosing Your First Language Sometimes there’s a good reason to know an obscure programming language. One of the oldest programming languages, COBOL, was heavily used by businesses back when computers filled entire rooms and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Because many COBOL programs are still running today, COBOL programmers can actually make a nice living because so few programmers know COBOL. So knowing an obscure language might limit your opportunities, but at the same time, if someone needs a programmer who knows a particular programming language, you could be the only one they could hire (and have to pay big bucks as a result). Choosing Your First Language So should you start studying BASIC or C as your first programming language? Yes and no, depending on who you ask. C the BASIC choices Here’s why you might consider studying either BASIC or C as your first programming language. ✦ Because BASIC and C are two of the most popular languages used, you need to know one (or both) of them eventually, so you might as well start understanding them right from the beginning. ✦ BASIC was originally designed to teach programming, so understanding BASIC can be easy, fun, and fast. ✦ By studying BASIC, you can focus on understanding programming principles without getting lost in the technical details of how a computer or operating system works, or learn confusing commands or cryptic syntax that can make programming harder than necessary. Understanding C can be important because so many programming languages (such as Java, C++, C#, and Perl) are based on the C language. So after you know C, you’ll have no trouble understanding Java, C++, or practically any other programming language based on C. With so many people using C (or languages like Java or C++, which are derived from C), any C programmer can find plenty of work, so knowing C is practically a necessity for anyone who wants to make a living as a programmer. Because you’ll probably need to know C eventually, you might as well start with C from the beginning. Having second thoughts Ultimately, there’s no “perfect” programming language to know and use because every programming language is designed to solve one problem
Choosing Your First Language 51 extremely well (and hopefully prove useful enough to solve other problems, too). BASIC was designed to be easy to understand. C was designed to create efficient and powerful programs. Book I Chapter 3 BASICally disrespected From a financial point of view, BASIC programmers usually earn less than C programmers, even if they’re doing the exact same job. Part of the reason for this is that BASIC suffers from the perception that it’s a toy language — unsuitable for commercial use. Although that was true at one time, the BASIC language has evolved to the point where it can do practically anything C or other languages can do. Types of Programming Languages Although you can use BASIC to create anything from satellite navigation systems to Wall Street financial trading programs, BASIC programmers will probably always get paid less, so you’ll need to know another language like C anyway, just to get paid more. Because BASIC programmers tend to get paid less than other programmers, many programmers feel that they might as well skip BASIC and just figure out C instead. C, it’s kinda hard There’s nothing wrong with studying C as your first programming language. The biggest problem with C is that it’s not an intuitive language for beginners to learn and understand. With its cryptic syntax and odd use of symbols in place of actual words, understanding C means trying to figure out how to program while also wrestling with trying to figure out C, which essentially doubles the effort needed to know how to program a computer. As a result, many beginners get frustrated with C as their first programming language and wind up more confused than ever. Imagine how many people would want to drive a car if it meant knowing how to refine their own gasoline and build their own engine. Understanding C isn’t quite as difficult as refining gasoline or building a combustion engine, but it can seem that way, especially when you’re programming for the first time and you start with the C language. So if you’re going to begin programming, you should definitely understand C eventually, but not necessarily as a first language. You don’t need to know BASIC, but BASIC can definitely help you understand how programming works. If you figure out BASIC first and then figure out C, you’ll know two of the most popular languages on the planet. The more programming languages you know, the better you can understand the benefits and drawbacks of all programming languages, including favorites like BASIC and C. Ultimately, the best programming language to discover first is the language that makes programming easiest and fun for you, whether that language is as simple as BASIC, as arcane as assembly language, or as obscure as SNOBOL.
Page 1 and 2:
Beginning Programming ALL-IN-ONE DE
Page 3 and 4:
Beginning Programming ALL-IN-ONE DE
Page 5 and 6:
About the Author I started off as a
Page 7 and 8:
Acknowledgments This is the part of
Page 9 and 10:
Contents at a Glance Introduction .
Page 11 and 12:
Table of Contents Introduction.....
Page 13 and 14:
Table of Contents xi Finding an Int
Page 15 and 16:
Table of Contents xiii Playing with
Page 17 and 18:
Table of Contents xv Using Structur
Page 19 and 20:
Table of Contents xvii Searching wi
Page 21 and 22:
Table of Contents xix Book VI: Prog
Page 23 and 24: Table of Contents xxi Declaring Con
Page 25 and 26: Introduction If you enjoy using a c
Page 27 and 28: How to Use This Book 3 means they
Page 29 and 30: Book I Getting Started
Page 31 and 32: Chapter 1: Getting Started Programm
Page 33 and 34: How Computer Programming Works 9 De
Page 35 and 36: The History of Computer Programming
Page 41 and 42: Figuring Out Programming 17 As a ge
Page 43 and 44: Figuring Out Programming 19 ✦ Lin
Page 45 and 46: Figuring Out Programming 21 Convert
Page 47 and 48: Figuring Out Programming 23 certain
Page 49 and 50: Getting Started with Programming 25
Page 51 and 52: Knowing Programming versus Knowing
Page 53 and 54: Chapter 2: Different Methods for Wr
Page 55 and 56: Spaghetti Programming without a Pla
Page 57 and 58: Planning Ahead with Structured Prog
Page 63 and 64: Making User Interfaces with Event-D
Page 65 and 66: Making User Interfaces with Event-D
Page 67 and 68: Organizing a Program with Object-Or
Page 73: Chapter 3: Types of Programming Lan
Page 77 and 78: Teaching Languages 53 Principles Be
Page 79 and 80: Teaching Languages 55 The Interacti
Page 81 and 82: Teaching Languages 57 near future.
Page 83 and 84: Teaching Languages 59 The main disa
Page 85 and 86: Teaching Languages 61 Book I Chapte
Page 87 and 88: “Curly Bracket” Languages 63
Page 89 and 90: “Curly Bracket” Languages 65 Th
Page 91 and 92: “Curly Bracket” Languages 67 C#
Page 93 and 94: “Curly Bracket” Languages 69 Vi
Page 95 and 96: Artificial Intelligence Languages 7
Page 97 and 98: Scripting Languages 73 2. From the
Page 99 and 100: Scripting Languages 75 In compariso
Page 101 and 102: Scripting Languages 77 Transferring
Page 103 and 104: Database Programming Languages 79 @
Page 105 and 106: Comparing Programming Languages 81
Page 107 and 108: Chapter 4: Programming Tools In Thi
Page 109 and 110: Choosing a Compiler 85 3. Choose a
Page 111 and 112: Choosing a Compiler 87 than other c
Page 113 and 114: Choosing a Compiler 89 With a cross
Page 115 and 116: Finding an Interpreter 91 In the ol
Page 117 and 118: Compiling to a Virtual Machine 93 C
Page 119 and 120: Writing a Program with an Editor 95
Page 121 and 122: Fixing a Program with a Debugger 97
Page 123 and 124: Fixing a Program with a Debugger 99
Page 125 and 126:
Fixing a Program with a Debugger 10
Page 127 and 128:
Creating a Help File 103 Obviously,
Page 129 and 130:
Dissecting Programs with a Disassem
Page 131 and 132:
Chapter 5: Managing Large Projects
Page 133 and 134:
Software Engineering Methods 109 Fi
Page 135 and 136:
Software Engineering Methods 111 de
Page 137 and 138:
Software Engineering Methods 113 Ad
Page 139 and 140:
Automating Software Engineering wit
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
The Pros and Cons of Software Engin
Page 149 and 150:
Book II Programming Basics
Page 151 and 152:
Chapter 1: How Programs Work In Thi
Page 153 and 154:
Using Keywords as Building Blocks 1
Page 155 and 156:
Organizing a Program 131 So if your
Page 157 and 158:
Dividing a Program into Subprograms
Page 159 and 160:
Dividing a Program into Objects 135
Page 161 and 162:
Dividing a Program into Objects 137
Page 163 and 164:
Creating a User Interface 139 The u
Page 165 and 166:
Chapter 2: Variables, Data Types, a
Page 167 and 168:
Declaring Variables 143 This BASIC
Page 169 and 170:
Declaring Variables 145 You can alw
Page 171 and 172:
Declaring Variables 147 Every progr
Page 173 and 174:
Using Different Data Types 149 type
Page 175 and 176:
Retrieving Data from a Variable 151
Page 177 and 178:
Using Constant Values 153 Using Con
Page 179 and 180:
Defining the Scope of a Variable 15
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185 and 186:
Chapter 3: Manipulating Data In Thi
Page 187 and 188:
Using Math to Manipulate Numbers 16
Page 189 and 190:
Using Math to Manipulate Numbers 16
Page 191 and 192:
Manipulating Strings 167 Most progr
Page 193 and 194:
Finding Strings with Regular Expres
Page 195 and 196:
Finding Strings with Regular Expres
Page 197 and 198:
Using Comparison Operators 173 Comp
Page 199 and 200:
Using Boolean Operators 175 Most pr
Page 201 and 202:
Using Boolean Operators 177 So if t
Page 203 and 204:
Converting Data Types 179 Both type
Page 205 and 206:
Chapter 4: Making Decisions by Bran
Page 207 and 208:
Picking One Choice with the IF-THEN
Page 209 and 210:
Picking Three or More Choices with
Page 211 and 212:
Picking Three or More Choices with
Page 213 and 214:
Playing with Multiple Boolean Opera
Page 215 and 216:
Making Multiple Choices with the SE
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Chapter 5: Repeating Commands by Lo
Page 225 and 226:
Looping a Fixed Number of Times wit
Page 227 and 228:
Page 229 and 230:
Page 231 and 232:
Looping Zero or More Times with the
Page 233 and 234:
Playing with Nested Loops 209 This
Page 235 and 236:
Checking Your Loops 211 Outer loop
Page 237 and 238:
Chapter 6: Breaking a Large Program
Page 239 and 240:
Creating and Using Subprograms 215
Page 241 and 242:
Creating and Using Subprograms 217
Page 243 and 244:
Passing Parameters 219 The #include
Page 245 and 246:
Passing Parameters 221 Figure 6-5:
Page 247 and 248:
Passing Parameters 223 When you pas
Page 249 and 250:
Passing Parameters 225 DIM Temp AS
Page 251 and 252:
Repeating a Subprogram with Recursi
Page 253 and 254:
Repeating a Subprogram with Recursi
Page 255 and 256:
Chapter 7: Breaking a Large Program
Page 257 and 258:
How Object-Oriented Programming Wor
Page 259 and 260:
Encapsulation Isolates Data and Sub
Page 261 and 262:
Encapsulation Isolates Data and Sub
Page 263 and 264:
Sharing Code with Inheritance 239 S
Page 265 and 266:
Sharing Code with Inheritance 241 F
Page 267 and 268:
Design Patterns 243 However, when y
Page 269 and 270:
Design Patterns 245 The flyweight p
Page 271 and 272:
Object-Oriented Languages 247 Becau
Page 273 and 274:
Real-Life Programming Examples 249
Page 275 and 276:
Page 277 and 278:
Page 279 and 280:
Page 281 and 282:
Page 283 and 284:
Chapter 8: Reading and Saving Files
Page 285 and 286:
Storing Data in Text Files 261 A co
Page 287 and 288:
Storing Data in Text Files 263 Read
Page 289 and 290:
Storing Fixed Size Data in Random-A
Page 291 and 292:
Storing Fixed Size Data in Random-A
Page 293 and 294:
Storing Varying Size Data in Untype
Page 295 and 296:
Using Database Files 271 Figure 8-5
Page 297 and 298:
Using Database Files 273 Think of a
Page 299 and 300:
Using Database Files 275 When using
Page 301 and 302:
Chapter 9: Documenting Your Program
Page 303 and 304:
Adding Comments to Source Code 279
Page 305 and 306:
Page 307 and 308:
Page 309 and 310:
Writing Software Documentation 285
Page 311 and 312:
Writing Software Documentation 287
Page 313 and 314:
Chapter 10: Principles of User Inte
Page 315 and 316:
The Evolution of User Interfaces 29
Page 317 and 318:
Elements of a User Interface 293 GU
Page 319 and 320:
Elements of a User Interface 295 Fi
Page 321 and 322:
Elements of a User Interface 297 If
Page 323 and 324:
Page 325 and 326:
Page 327 and 328:
Designing a User Interface 303 diff
Page 329 and 330:
Designing a User Interface 305 A we
Page 331 and 332:
Designing a User Interface 307 Figu
Page 333 and 334:
Book III Data Structures
Page 335 and 336:
Chapter 1: Structures and Arrays In
Page 337 and 338:
Using Structures 313 If you wanted
Page 339 and 340:
Using an Array 315 the array, which
Page 341 and 342:
Using an Array 317 Perkins has empl
Page 343 and 344:
Working with Resizable Arrays 319 D
Page 345 and 346:
Working with Multi-Dimensional Arra
Page 347 and 348:
Using Structures with Arrays 323 Th
Page 349 and 350:
Drawbacks of Arrays 325 To store da
Page 351 and 352:
Drawbacks of Arrays 327 Suppose you
Page 353 and 354:
Chapter 2: Sets and Linked Lists In
Page 355 and 356:
Using Sets 331 Adding (and deleting
Page 357 and 358:
Using Sets 333 This command asks th
Page 359 and 360:
Using Sets 335 Bill Evans John Doe
Page 361 and 362:
Using Linked Lists 337 This tells t
Page 363 and 364:
Using Linked Lists 339 Each time yo
Page 365 and 366:
Drawbacks of Sets and Linked Lists
Page 367 and 368:
Drawbacks of Sets and Linked Lists
Page 369 and 370:
Chapter 3: Collections and Dictiona
Page 371 and 372:
Using a Collection 347 Every elemen
Page 373 and 374:
Using a Collection 349 When you del
Page 375 and 376:
Using a Collection 351 Figure 3-6:
Page 377 and 378:
Understanding Hash Tables 353 Every
Page 379 and 380:
Understanding Hash Tables 355 VP Ke
Page 381 and 382:
Understanding Hash Tables 357 ✦ D
Page 383 and 384:
Understanding Hash Tables 359 In ge
Page 385 and 386:
Chapter 4: Stacks, Queues, and Dequ
Page 387 and 388:
Using a Stack 363 Like a collection
Page 389 and 390:
Using Queues 365 Counting and searc
Page 391 and 392:
Using Queues 367 Adding data to a q
Page 393 and 394:
Using Queues 369 Figure 4-6: The Pe
Page 395 and 396:
Using Deques 371 Initially, a deque
Page 397 and 398:
Using Deques 373 Figure 4-11: The U
Page 399 and 400:
Chapter 5: Graphs and Trees In This
Page 401 and 402:
Understanding Graphs 377 457 miles
Page 403 and 404:
Understanding Graphs 379 Figure 5-4
Page 405 and 406:
Creating Trees 381 Figure 5-5: A tr
Page 407 and 408:
Creating Trees 383 For example, an
Page 409 and 410:
Taking Action on Trees 385 Traversi
Page 411 and 412:
Taking Action on Trees 387 10 8 12
Page 413 and 414:
Taking Action on Trees 389 10 8 12
Page 415 and 416:
Book IV Algorithms
Page 417 and 418:
Chapter 1: Sorting Algorithms In Th
Page 419 and 420:
Using Bubble Sort 395 32 9 74 21 Or
Page 421 and 422:
Using Insertion Sort 397 32 9 74 21
Page 423 and 424:
Using Shell Sort 399 32 9 74 21 50
Page 425 and 426:
Using Heap Sort 401 Heap sort dumps
Page 427 and 428:
Using Merge Sort 403 94 46 74 21 32
Page 429 and 430:
Using Quick Sort 405 Using Quick So
Page 431 and 432:
Comparing Sorting Algorithms 407 If
Page 433 and 434:
Chapter 2: Searching Algorithms In
Page 435 and 436:
Sequential Search 411 Backward or f
Page 437 and 438:
Sequential Search 413 Binary search
Page 439 and 440:
Sequential Search 415 Fibonacci num
Page 441 and 442:
Using Indexes 417 102 John Smith 55
Page 443 and 444:
Adversarial Search 419 The more lev
Page 445 and 446:
Adversarial Search 421 So if the co
Page 447 and 448:
Chapter 3: String Searching In This
Page 449 and 450:
Sequential Text Search 425 In this
Page 451 and 452:
Sequential Text Search 427 The Shif
Page 453 and 454:
Searching with Regular Expressions
Page 455 and 456:
Searching Phonetically 431 Both sym
Page 457 and 458:
Searching Phonetically 433 If you h
Page 459 and 460:
Chapter 4: Data Compression Algorit
Page 461 and 462:
Lossless Data Compression Algorithm
Page 463 and 464:
Page 465 and 466:
Page 467 and 468:
Lossy Data Compression 443 Basicall
Page 469 and 470:
Chapter 5: Encryption Algorithms In
Page 471 and 472:
The Basics of Encryption 447 in a m
Page 473 and 474:
The Basics of Encryption 449 Stream
Page 475 and 476:
The Basics of Encryption 451 Electr
Page 477 and 478:
Symmetric/Asymmetric Encryption Alg
Page 479 and 480:
Cracking Encryption 455 Sender’s
Page 481 and 482:
Cracking Encryption 457 Instead of
Page 483 and 484:
Cracking Encryption 459 Code cracki
Page 485 and 486:
Book V Web Programming
Page 487 and 488:
Chapter 1: HyperText Markup Languag
Page 489 and 490:
The Structure of an HTML Document 4
Page 491 and 492:
The Structure of an HTML Document 4
Page 493 and 494:
Defining the Background 469 Adding
Page 495 and 496:
Making Tables 471 The anchor point
Page 497 and 498:
Making Tables 473 Book V Chapter 1
Page 499 and 500:
Making Tables 475 Column 1 Column
Page 501 and 502:
Chapter 2: CSS In This Chapter Und
Page 503 and 504:
Creating Style Classes 479 color :
Page 505 and 506:
Separating Styles in Files 481 Sepa
Page 507 and 508:
Cascading Stylesheets 483 If you ha
Page 509 and 510:
Chapter 3: JavaScript In This Chapt
Page 511 and 512:
Declaring Variables 487 need to def
Page 513 and 514:
Using Operators 489 The relational
Page 515 and 516:
Branching Statements 491 To make th
Page 517 and 518:
Using Arrays 493 A variation of the
Page 519 and 520:
Designing User Interfaces 495 A con
Page 521 and 522:
Chapter 4: PHP In This Chapter Und
Page 523 and 524:
Declaring Variables 499 Declaring V
Page 525 and 526:
Using Operators 501 Table 4-3 Logic
Page 527 and 528:
Branching Statements 503 Command; }
Page 529 and 530:
Creating Functions 505 If you don
Page 531 and 532:
Creating Objects 507 Creating Objec
Page 533 and 534:
Chapter 5: Ruby In This Chapter Un
Page 535 and 536:
Using Operators 511 # long time to
Page 537 and 538:
Using Operators 513 Table 5-3 Logic
Page 539 and 540:
Looping Statements 515 Command else
Page 541 and 542:
Using Data Structures 517 Using Dat
Page 543 and 544:
Creating Objects 519 To tell an obj
Page 545 and 546:
Book VI Programming Language Syntax
Page 547 and 548:
Chapter 1: C and C++ In This Chapte
Page 549 and 550:
Declaring Variables 525 Despite min
Page 551 and 552:
Declaring Variables 527 All integer
Page 553 and 554:
Using Operators 529 Relational oper
Page 555 and 556:
Branching Statements 531 Table 1-6
Page 557 and 558:
Looping Statements 533 switch (expr
Page 559 and 560:
Data Structures 535 If a function d
Page 561 and 562:
Using Objects 537 Now you can decla
Page 563 and 564:
Using Objects 539 To inherit from m
Page 565 and 566:
Chapter 2: Java and C# In This Chap
Page 567 and 568:
Declaring Variables 543 The double
Page 569 and 570:
Using Operators 545 Declaring float
Page 571 and 572:
Using Operators 547 The increment o
Page 573 and 574:
Branching Statements 549 if (condit
Page 575 and 576:
Looping Statements 551 Because no b
Page 577 and 578:
Data Structures 553 If the function
Page 579 and 580:
Data Structures 555 You can create
Page 581 and 582:
Using Objects 557 So if you created
Page 583 and 584:
Chapter 3: Perl and Python In This
Page 585 and 586:
Using Operators 561 You can write b
Page 587 and 588:
Using Operators 563 The relational
Page 589 and 590:
Page 591 and 592:
Looping Statements 567 In Python, t
Page 593 and 594:
Perl Data Structures 569 A typical
Page 595 and 596:
Python Data Structures 571 Creating
Page 597 and 598:
Using Objects 573 After you define
Page 599 and 600:
Chapter 4: Pascal and Delphi In Thi
Page 601 and 602:
Declaring Variables 577 Creating Co
Page 603 and 604:
Declaring Constants 579 Declaring d
Page 605 and 606:
Page 607 and 608:
Looping Statements 583 Looping Stat
Page 609 and 610:
Data Structures 585 FUNCTION Functi
Page 611 and 612:
Creating Objects 587 clear a dynami
Page 613 and 614:
Chapter 5: Visual Basic and REALbas
Page 615 and 616:
The Structure of a BASIC Program 59
Page 617 and 618:
Declaring Variables 593 Declaring i
Page 619 and 620:
Declaring Constants 595 Declaring B
Page 621 and 622:
Page 623 and 624:
Branching Statements 599 The preced
Page 625 and 626:
Creating Subprograms and Functions
Page 627 and 628:
Data Structures 603 Data Structures
Page 629 and 630:
Creating Objects 605 Creating Objec
Page 631 and 632:
Book VII Applications
Page 633 and 634:
Chapter 1: Database Management In T
Page 635 and 636:
The Basics of Databases 611 To retr
Page 637 and 638:
The Basics of Databases 613 Althoug
Page 639 and 640:
The Basics of Databases 615 Employe
Page 641 and 642:
Manipulating Data 617 Tables divide
Page 643 and 644:
Manipulating Data 619 The Join comm
Page 645 and 646:
Manipulating Data 621 SET PhoneNumb
Page 647 and 648:
Database Programming 623 Figure 1-1
Page 649 and 650:
Chapter 2: Bioinformatics In This C
Page 651 and 652:
The Basics of Bioinformatics 627 Un
Page 653 and 654:
Searching Databases 629 ✦ Swiss-P
Page 655 and 656:
Bioinformatics Programming 631 Alth
Page 657 and 658:
Chapter 3: Computer Security In Thi
Page 659 and 660:
Stopping Malware 635 Worms Similar
Page 661 and 662:
Stopping Hackers 637 Stopping Hacke
Page 663 and 664:
Secure Computing 639 Forensics If y
Page 665 and 666:
Secure Computing 641 start. The ide
Page 667 and 668:
Chapter 4: Artificial Intelligence
Page 669 and 670:
Problem Solving 645 Game-playing Be
Page 671 and 672:
Problem Solving 647 Expert System K
Page 673 and 674:
Problem Solving 649 Humans can unde
Page 675 and 676:
Problem Solving 651 Such speech rec
Page 677 and 678:
Machine Learning 653 With LISP, eve
Page 679 and 680:
Machine Learning 655 Robotics and a
Page 681 and 682:
`Chapter 5: The Future of Computer
Page 683 and 684:
Picking an Operating System 659 opt
Page 685 and 686:
Cross-Platform Programming 661 Unfo
Page 687 and 688:
Cross-Platform Programming 663 The
Page 689 and 690:
Cross-Platform Programming 665 Anot
Page 691 and 692:
The Programming Language of the Fut
Page 693 and 694:
The Programming Language of the Fut
Page 695 and 696:
Index Numerics 0 (zero) initializin
Page 697 and 698:
Index 673 blocks of commands in cur
Page 699 and 700:
Index 675 dictionaries versus, 352
Page 701 and 702:
Index 677 database management conne
Page 703 and 704:
Index 679 enumerated variables (C/C
Page 705 and 706:
Index 681 hybrid OOP languages, 246
Page 707 and 708:
Index 683 knowledge base, 646, 647
Page 709 and 710:
Index 685 modeling, 44-45 Modula-2
Page 711 and 712:
Index 687 advantages and disadvanta
Page 713 and 714:
Index 689 looping statements, 600-6
Page 715 and 716:
Index 691 extreme programming metho
Page 717 and 718:
Index 693 source code as, 264 tab-d
Page 719 and 720:
Index 695 as event-driven programmi
Page 721 and 722:
BUSINESS, CAREERS & PERSONAL FINANC
show all

programming-for-dummies

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?