The educational goal of this subchapter is to introduce the basic different kinds of programming in common use.
The two major kinds of programming are systems programming and applications programming.
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There are two basic kinds of programming: system and application.
System programming deals with the use of a computer system. This includes such things as the operating system, device drivers for input and output devices, and systems utilities.
Application programming deals with the programs directly used by most people.
Application programming is generally divided further into scientific and business programming.
Scientific programming is work in the scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields. Often the programmers are the researchers who use the programs.
Business programming is work in the data processing field, including large scale business systems, web-based businesses, and office applications. It is exceedingly rare for these kinds of programs to be created by the person who uses them.
Another large category of programming is programming for personal or home use. This includes games. Historically, many advances in computer science occurred in the development of computer and video games.
Embedded systems are programs that are built into specific hardware, such as the computer systems in an automobile or microwave oven. These programs combine features of operating systems and application program into a single monolithic system.
Scripting is a simplified version of programming originally intended for use primarily by non-programmers. In practice, most non-programmers have trouble with scripting languages. Some professional programmers have built very useful, sometimes intricate systems using scripting languages, especially those contained in office software (such as word processors or spreadsheets).
Coding example: I am making heavily documented and explained open source code for a method to play music for free — almost any song, no subscription fees, no download costs, no advertisements, all completely legal. This is done by building a front-end to YouTube (which checks the copyright permissions for you).
View music player in action: www.musicinpublic.com/.
Create your own copy from the original source code/ (presented for learning programming).
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free downloadable college text book
Because I no longer have the computer and software to make PDFs, the book is available as an HTML file, which you can convert into a PDF.
Building a free downloadable text book on computer programming for university, college, community college, and high school classes in computer programming.
If you like the idea of this project,
then please donate some money.
send donations to:
Milo
PO Box 1361
Tustin, California 92781
Supporting the entire project:
If you have a business or organization that can support the entire cost of this project, please contact Pr Ntr Kmt (my church)
This web site handcrafted on Macintosh computers using Tom Bender’s Tex-Edit Plus and served using FreeBSD .
†UNIX used as a generic term unless specifically used as a trademark (such as in the phrase “UNIX certified”). UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd.
Names and logos of various OSs are trademarks of their respective owners.
Copyright © 2007, 2011 Milo
Created: September 5, 2007
Last Updated: March 3, 2011
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