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Whether on the computer, tablet, mobile phone, in the car or in the coffee machine - computer programs determine our everyday life. Software is becoming increasingly important, hardly anything works without the mysterious power of algorithms. But how do programs work? And how do you develop them? This book teaches you the basics of programming. Using everyday examples, you will first learn the basic concepts of programming, which are similar in all programming languages. Based on these basic ideas, you will then learn two popular and very useful programming languages, Python and JavaScript, in a systematic way and with many practical exercises, which you can use for a wide range of different tasks. The book is aimed at novice programmers of all ages (from students to professionals) who have no previous programming experience.
If you talk to professional software developers, you will often hear that they know a range of languages in which computer programs are written. Some programmers list an impressively long list of languages with sometimes very strange names. How is that possible? How can they all speak two, three, four of these programming languages? Are they all geniuses?
Not at all. However, programmers take advantage of a simple fact, namely that programming languages are very similar in many aspects, much more similar than natural languages like English or Spanish are to each other. Many basic concepts are found in virtually all programming languages in one form or another. They may be called differently in each language, but in the end they are always just variants of the same idea implemented in different ways. If you understand these basic concepts, you can learn new programming languages quickly because you know exactly what to look for and only need to understand how the new programming language you’re learning implements each basic concept. This makes language learning much easier.
Most books that promise an introduction to programming cover one specific language—and only that one language. They start right away with that language and teach all the basic concepts using that one language as an example. The book before you now takes a different approach.
In Part I, we deal with the question of what programming is, why you should learn it, and what programming languages are all about.
Part II is dedicated exclusively to the basic concepts or programming. It explains them through 9 questions that you can ask yourself every time you learn a new programming language. The basic concepts covered in these 9 questions are the key to learning to program. Once you understand these basic concepts, you can learn any programming language. Even though dealing with the basic concepts, which are similar in all programming languages, may sound rather theoretical and dry at first, it is not: you will see countless examples from a whole range of programming languages, so that you can see for yourself how similar the languages are after all.
Armed with a good understanding of the basic concepts of programming, you will then be introduced to two of the most popular programming languages around—Python and JavaScript—in Parts III and IV of the book. Both parts follow the structure of our 9 questions from the basic concepts part. And it is the basic concepts that we will be looking at implementing in Python and JavaScript in these parts of the book. In doing so, we take a very pragmatic approach. We will not elaborate on every subtlety of our programming languages. You are not meant to become a connoisseur of theoretical language definition. We want you to learn how to program practically with Python and JavaScript. The goal is not for you to write the most efficient and elegant programs, but rather that you write understandable programs that work. That is the core of programming. Don’t let anyone tell you that something has to be a certain way. It’s right if it works. If your program is also nice to look at, all the better. But here, the first priority is to develop functioning code.
If you already have programming experience, you could also jump right into the Python or JavaScript parts. Both are structured in such a way that they can be read almost like their own books, even if you skipped the basic concepts part. Of course, you don’t necessarily have to learn both programming languages one after the other. Feel free to look at one first, work with it a bit, and then start with the second. Or learn a completely different language! After the basic concepts part, you will be very well prepared for it. It will be easier for you than if you had learned all the basic concepts using only one language as an example.
With numerous exercises, the two parts on Python and JavaScript offer many opportunities to practically apply your knowledge and thereby deepen it. Each exercise shows you the approximate time you should expect to need. Some tasks are easier, others (the ones with the exclamation mark in front) require the development of larger, coherent programs—but you will find a sample solution for all tasks equally.
Have fun with your first steps into the world of programming!