Question for programmers?

Question

This is a question for my fellow programmers. I'm in college right now, I have been for 2 years and I'm about to graduate with my first degree in computer programming. Not quite sure what I'm going to do to celebrate but anyway, thought the time I've been studying my major, I've notice that the majority of programming languages I've come across are basically (yes I did not forget some key differences) the same. I'm actually starting to think that programming is simply a programming language and a state of mind, the same problems I've had with coding now I am getting better at. Mainly dealing with algorithms was my problem, and I am quickly getting much better because I refuse to give up.

To me, programming is a language, and a state of mind. My question is what is programming to YOU?

Answer 1

Programming languages do have a large common core. The literal fragment "a = b + c" could be from any one of twenty or more languages.

Languages differ in their DATA TYPES. I had used fifteen different languages before I learned 'C', and its "pointer-to" variable type made C more different from the previous fifteen than any of them had been from each other (except for assembler, of course).

Learning Prolog took me months, because it has *no destructive assignment*. I had to learn a completely new thinking style to construct a working program. Once learned, however, this style can be used in other languages, and I've found it very elegant.

In the end, programming has nothing to do with the language you program in. It is the conversion of a functional requirement into an unambiguous verifiable machine-executable form.

Answer 2

Programing is the aplication of mathematics to a computer. A basic processor can do these tasks: add, compare and inverse (NOT). Over this, every program is built, so from some point of view programing is like doing maths.
To go further, the first computer, existed only on the mind of a genius.

About what you say that programming languages are all the same and that programming is a language itself, you're right. An algorithm is the general solution of a problem (even if it is on a paper or in your mind). A program is that general solution applied to the computer and written in a specific programming language.

Answer 3

#include
#include

int main(void)
{
printf("I'm in high school still, and I learned Visual Basic in grade 9 and 10, and C (or C++, I forget lol) this year.");

printf("\n\nIt really is like learning a whole different language. Going form Visual Basic to C is quite a leap, I have found. They are very different, and yet many of the same rules still apply. As my teacher (same teacher for all 3 years) always says "don't pull a Britney". That phrase came form a music video where Britney Spears had underwear on over her jeans, and the lesson there is that you must alwyas remember to put things in the right order (don't use a variable before giving it a value, etc.) A good lesson, lol.");

int langNum;

printf("I do see what you mean about languages being similar even though I have only ever seen %d languages before. VB and C both have variables, and they work pretty much exactly the same way. Right now we are learning how to use the if function in C. It's the same concept as VB if statements, it's just done a little differently.", langNum);

getch();
return 0;
}

Answer 4

Programming is a discipline. College only teaches so much and my experience is that it focuses too much on the language aspects. Where it generally fails is on teaching the discipline of programming. Elements such as UI design, functional specifications, bug tracking/fixes, source management, release management, best practices, styles (Agile vs. Extreme, etc.), company or industry standards, database issues (not just DB structure), API's vs. frameworks, application servers, messaging subsystems and a host of other topics and techniques are either glossed over, or skipped compeletely in favor of teaching different languages. This is a huge disservice to developers learning the craft.

As you will likely found out later, there is much more to programming than simply writing code and putting yourself in a certain state-of-mind. Programming is often about fitting your application, or your piece of the application into a much larger pie that others are trying to make work. Coding and being in a certain state of mind have little to do with this. Communication, planning, recording the details, publishing it for other to see and understand, and implementation are much more important in this case.

Answer 5

To me, there are three kinds of programming:

1. Assembler ... the only way to get tight fast code
2. Interpretive/Compiler ... tries to get the computer and the programmer to meet 1/2 way. A lot of speed and efficiency is lost in run time because of dead code that is there "just in case". Perl and C are the best of these, Basic and Cobol are the worst. IMHO
3. Object Oriented, especially the "visual crap" versions ... tries to get the machine and groups of people to meet 1/2 way. Probably has advantages in code sharing and project planning. It has virtually no advantage for the machine, results in a lot of dead slow code. This programming technique is the root cause for BOD's and viruses, IMHO.

Algorithms and recursive techniques can be used in any and all of these programming styles and are truly the common ground between humans and machine.

Answer 6

I have an Associate's Degree in Computer-Aided Design. I am only fluent with Autolisp. It is a program writing software that is built in with AutoCad - a drafting software.

And I agree with you. It was like learning a foreign language with a state of mind. This is especially true when you write the language to draw a 3-D object.

Answer 7

Programming to me is the a written (typed) down flow of a thought process to solve a problem using a preset set of instructions (language) that involves logic (flow of code), creativity (effective code) and innovation (newest/best application). Personally, I never use a flow-chart and it helps me think "out-of-the-box". Its most exciting when there's something I've never done before, which makes it a personal challenge. Its fun, its addicting and those who don't program have no idea what its like to make a computer do anything you want it to.

Answer 8

{Background Information: I've taken 2 programming courses in Java 1 in pascal I took a game programming class and I learned QBasic by myself}

I believe that programming is a visual explantion of a mathematical problem of some sort.

The visual explanation is how intuitive you make the interface to the user to enable them to solve their version of the problem your program is overcoming. And the mathematical part is simply that every program uses sets of mathematical comparisons (which you as the programmer code) to solve the problem.

Answer 9

I tend to think like you, except that I wouldn't have asked the question in the first place. But if I had, I would have put it in the philosophy category ;P

Answer 10

programming is my life