What is Computer Programming?

What is Computer Programming?

What is Computer Programming?

What is Computer Programming

Computers can do wonders, from basic laptops capable of simple word processing and computing functions to highly complex supercomputers completing millions of financial transactions per day and managing the infrastructure that makes modern life possible. However, no computer can do anything until a computer programmer tells it to act in specific ways. That is what computer programming is about.

At its most basic, computer programming is hardly more than a set of instructions to facilitate certain actions. Depending on the needs or functions of the instructions, computer programming can be as simple as adding two numbers. It can also be as complex as reading data from temperature sensors to adjust a thermostat, sorting information to complete complex scheduling or critical accounting, or taking players through multi-layered worlds and battles in games.

Cheryl Frederick, Senior Associate Dean of STEM Programs at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), said computer programming has become a collaborative process, with different developers contributing throughout the development of a piece of software. Some of this development will continue for years. For software like Microsoft Word released in 1983, for example, developers have been tweaking and improving it for several decades.

“The expectation is that the computer application will become such a widely adopted system that it requires long-term support, especially to expand its current functionality,” Frederick explained. “The terms computer software and computer programming are used interchangeably, except software can become quite large.”

 

𐌢