Basic fundamentals of programming
We explain in a simple way, what are the types of programming languages and what is a programming language for. If you want to learn to program you should start by reading this page.
Every day we are continuously communicating with machines (computers, mobiles, tablets, etc.) and all of them have stored programming languages to be able to use them.
We are going to explain the Programming Languages so that you understand in an easy and simple way what they are and what they are for.
We will see what types of programming languages exist and what they are for and as always, in an easy way so that you can get a basic idea of their usefulness.
To give you an idea, all the applications (apps) that you have on your mobile and the computer programs that you have on your computer are designed with different programming languages, we will explain this later.
What are Programming Languages?
Before beginning to explain what programming languages are, we will begin by assuming that you understand what any “language” is, that it is nothing more than a structured communication system, such as human language that allows us to communicate with each other. others by means of signs (words, sounds, gestures ... etc).
Well, understanding this it is very easy to understand what a programming language is.
A programming language is a structured system designed primarily for machines and computers to understand each other and us humans. It contains a set of consecutive actions that the computer must perform.
These programming languages use different standards or bases and are used to control how a machine (for example, a computer) behaves, they can also be used to create computer programs, etc.
The term "programming" is defined as a process by which basic code for computers is designed, coded, written, tested, and debugged.
This code is what is called "source code" that characterizes each programming language. Each programming language has a characteristic and unique "source code" that is designed for a specific function or purpose and that helps us to make a machine or computer behave in a desired way.
If you want to start programming, regardless of the language you choose later, we recommend you learn the fundamentals of programming common to all languages. A very good and very cheap book is: Fundamentals of Programming for All Audiences
Types of Programming Languages
There are currently more than 100 different programming languages. We are not going to define all the programming languages that exist because there are many but we will talk about the most important ones and what they are used for. You can learn to program in any of them on this page: Computer Programming.
A computer does not understand a language like the one that humans use, but the language it understands is called "binary language" or "binary code" or "machine code" consisting of zeros and ones basically, that is, a machine only uses the numbers 0 and 1 to encode any action to take.If you want to know better this numbering system, we recommend this link: Binary System
They are classified into two types: Low Level Programming Languages: which are those used fundamentally to control the "hardware" of the computer and totally depend on the machine and cannot be used in other machines.
They are oriented exclusively for the machine. These languages are those that order the fundamental operations to the machine so that it can work.
It basically uses zeros, ones and letter abbreviations. These languages are also called machine code. They are the most complicated, but only practically used by the creators of the machines.
With this type of language they program the allocation and release of memory, the use of pointers, the power to use pass by value and by reference, the creation of data types, etc.
- High Level Programming Languages: These languages are more similar to human natural language and do not depend on the machine and are mainly used to create computer programs that solve different problems.
They are the most used by programmers and by everyone in the world who makes computer programs.
The fundamental difference can be explained with the following example:
In a high level language I just have to put sqt (x), which would be a default function, to calculate the square of x.
If it were low-level, I would have to create the function myself knowing how the square of a number works:
square (x) = x * x
As we can see, to learn to program with a high-level language we must know the language it uses and all its commands, in the example we must know that sqt makes the square of a number.
In order not to dwell on this, which is quite broad, we will explain some of the most used programming languages on the machines that we use the most.
Most Used Programming Languages
- "HTML" Programming Language: This language is the one with which web pages are created, for example, which is basically a set of tags that serve to define the text and other elements that you can see on web pages. HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language ("hypertext markup language") and it is very easy to learn. Then it depends on whether we want a more or less elaborate website, we can deepen this language.
- Programming Language "SQL": This language is created to make queries to databases mainly. SQL is the acronym for Structured Query Language and is used for web pages and also for computer applications, to handle data especially. (Enter data, update data, delete or select data)
- Programming Language "Java": Probably this could be the favorite of more than one since it is the language used for leading programs such as tools, games and applications. This programming language is used in billions of mobile devices and television sets and in more than 850 million personal computers around the world. Java is installed in a multitude of applications and websites.
- JavaScript: Surely JavaScript may also sound familiar to you, which is another language used to create small programs in charge of carrying out actions and providing interactivity within a website, for example to create special effects, to define interactivity with users, text effects.
Today it is almost the only language used in all web pages for compatibility with HTML5. If you want to learn to program in Javascript we recommend this link: JavaScript Basic Course.
- Programming Language "C": This programming language is oriented to Operating Systems and is very efficient and with it we can create Software for operating systems such as Windows or Linux and also for applications. It is also used for computer, physical, mathematical experiments ... etc. It is also widely used in robotics with which simulators are programmed, etc.
- Programming Language "XML": This language is also a tag language like HTML, but unlike this, the XML language separates the content from the presentation, that is, XML is concerned with the meaning of the text that defines the HTML . It gives you the data + the meaning of that data, while the HTML gives you the data nothing else. XML is a fundamental complement to HTML.
- Programming Language "PHP": PHP is a programming language similar to HTML that is used primarily for web pages and can be combined with the HTML language.
- The PHP language is based on "scripts" which is a script of commands or instructions that a web page server receives to read its source code.
- So we could continue to define multiple and varied programming languages. As you will see, they are truly useful and necessary and can be used for practically anything.
- Almost all programming languages have common foundations or bases, this makes it relatively easy to learn a new language if we already know another. In the following link you can learn these basic fundamentals: Programming Fundamentals.
- If you want to learn to program, we recommend a very simple first experience with Robomind, for children, but it is better to start here so as not to be disappointed from the beginning. It is very simple for children. Then you can continue with MSWLOGO. Both are free and easy.
- For example, the programming language CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are sheets that serve to give "style" to web pages such as their color, define their background, fonts ... etc
Date update on 2021-03-31. Date published on 2021-03-31. Category: Computer class Author: Oscar olg Fuente: areatecnologia