Programming Fundamentals

Introduction
▪ Purpose: A brief introduction to
Programming Fundamentals
▪ Lab: The laboratory experiments for
Programming Fundamentals are an integral
part of the course
▪ “A precise sequence of steps to solve a
particular problem”

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▪ Analysis
▪ Critical Thinking
▪ Attention to Detail
▪ To design a program properly, we must:
– Analyze a problem statement, typically
expressed as a word problem
– Express its essence, abstractly and with
examples
– Formulate statements and comments in a
precise language
– Evaluate and revise the activities in light of
checks and tests
▪ Objectives of this course are three fold
1. To appreciate the need for a programming
language
2. To introduce the concept and usability of
the structured programming methodology
3. To develop proficiency in making useful
software using the C language
▪ To achieve our first two objectives we will
be discussing
▪ Basic Programming constructs and building
blocks
▪ Structured programming
▪ Structured flowcharts, pseudo-code
▪ History of C Language
▪ Variables and expressions in C
▪ Control structures and functions
▪ Arrays and Pointers
▪ Characters and Strings
▪ Structures
▪ File handling
▪ Come to lectures on time and participate
▪ Keep up with reading material
▪ Complete assignments, projects, etc on time
▪ Submit clean, organized, and to the point
reports
▪ Attendance
– Pay attention to lectures and keep extra notes
– Ask questions
▪ Effort
– Do homework on your own. It’s ok to ask others
but make your own effort.
▪ Consistency
– Keep up with reading, and homework
▪ Computer
– Device capable of performing computations
and making logical decisions
– Computers process data under the control of sets
of instructions called computer programs
▪ Hardware
– Various devices comprising a computer Keyboard,
screen, mouse, disks, memory, CDROM, and
processing units.
▪ Software
– Programs that run on a computer
• System Software
• Application Software
▪ There are two main categories of
software

▪ System software
▪ Application software

▪ These software often called as computer

programs written by computer
programmers using programming
language.
▪ Program
– A set of rules for your computers to follow in
order to achieve a goal
▪ Programmer
– A person who produces the program
– A person who makes a living from producing
programs
▪ Programming language
– A way for a programmer to write about the set
of rules
Programmers write programs using
programming languages.
▪ A computer program is a collection of
instructions that performs a specific task
when executed by a computer.
▪ A computer program is usually written by
a computer programmer in a
programming language.
▪ A computer programmer, sometimes called a
coder (especially in more informal contexts), is
a person who creates computer programs.

▪ Computers are creatures from outer space

▪ They speak strange languages

▪ Programmers study their languages. Therefore,

they are able to tell the computers what to do
▪ A way to solve problems using a computer

▪ Computer programming is the process of designing

and building an executable computer program for
accomplishing a specific computing result.

▪ How?
– Through a sequence of very clear and defined steps
(algorithm) using a specific language (programming
language) that aim to solve the problem

▪ Algorithms are not only used for computer

programming, they are a general concept for problem
solving
▪ Programming languages are used in
computer programming to implement
algorithms.
▪ Programming languages categories
– Low-level languages
• Machine language
• Assembly language
– High-level languages
▪ Compilers
– Compile several machine instructions into short
sequences to simulate the activity requested by
a single high-level primitive
– Produce a machine-language copy of a
program that would be executed later
– Convert source code into object code
▪ Interpreters
– Execute the instructions as they were translated
▪ Source code is the list of human-readable
instructions that a programmer writes
▪ Object code is the output of a compiler
after it processes source code.
▪ A way to solve problems using a computer

▪ You are given a problem and asked to write a program

to solve that problem, e.g. decide whether a number
input by user is even or odd?

▪ Steps in developing a program

– Defining the problem
– Analyzing the problem statement
– Planning the solution
– Coding the program
– Testing the program

▪ Documenting the program (optional but important)

– Commenting
▪ A programming task can be divided into two
phases:
▪ 1. Problem solving
– Define : Clearly describe a problem
– Design its solution (Algorithm): Produce an ordered
sequence of steps that describe solution to the
problem;
▪ 2. Implementation phase
– Implement the program in some programming
language
– write code, compile, link, Test & Debug
▪ Defining a Problem:
– Break the definition of the problem down into manageable steps.
Example; input, Processing, Output:

▪ Program: Write a program which tells whether the

temperature entered by user in below freezing point or
not?
– Input ; Read the temperature from keyboard
– Processing; Test the Temperature below or above
– freezing
– Output; Display the result on Screen
▪ Design the solution (Algorithm):
▪ Algorithm
– A sequence of language independent steps
– which may be followed to solve a problem.
▪ The word Algorithm comes from the name of the
muslim author Abu Ja’far Mohammad ibn Musa
al-Khowarizmi.
▪ Good understanding of algorithms is essential for
a good programming
▪ Unlike a program, an algorithm is a mathematical
entity, which is independent of a specific
programming language, machine, or compiler.
▪ Algorithm design is all about the mathematical
theory behind the design of good programs
▪ An Algorithm can be developed with a:
▪ Pseudo Code
– Pseudo code is an informal high level description of the
operating principle of a computer program or other
algorithm
▪ Flowchart
– A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents a
workflow or process.
▪ Editor
▪ Interpreter and Compilers
▪ Debuggers
▪ It contains
– Editor
– Compilers
– Debugger
– Linkers
– Loaders