The Basic Coding Languages

Over the years, many “high-level” programming languages have been developed that allow the coder to compose instructions in more human-readable form. These modern high-level programs are automatically translated into the machine code that the computer can understand by a “compiler” or by an “interpreter”. In order to become a coder you must typically learn at least one of these high-level programming languages:

• C – a powerful compiled language that is closely mapped to machine code and used to develop operating systems
• C++ – an enhanced compiled language developing on C to provide classes for Object Oriented Programming (OOP)
• C# – a modern compiled language designed by Microsoft for the .NET framework and Common Language Infrastructure
• Java – a portable compiled language that is designed to run on any platform regardless of the hardware architecture
• Python – a dynamic interpreted language that allows both functional and Object Oriented Programming (OOP)

Just as human languages have similarities, such as verbs and nouns, these programming languages have certain similarities as they each possess “data structures”, in which to store information, and “control structures” that determine how the program proceeds.

The examples in this book (Coding for Beginners in easy steps) use the Python language to demonstrate how to code computer programs as it has a simple language syntax, requires no compilation, includes a large library of standard functions, and can be used to create both Console programs and windowed GUI (Graphical User Interface) apps.

 

Programs written in an interpreted language can be run immediately but those written in compiled languages must first be compiled before they can be run.

 

 

You can find all of our top Programming titles here, covering the languages mentioned above, as well as Arduino, Javascript, HTML5, Scratch, Android Apps, PHP, Linux, and many more!