How to Build a Computer Program

A computer is an electronic piece of equipment that does nothing more than follow the instructions it's given, exactly. It can do no more than it's told, and no less. The sets of instructions that tell the computer what to do are called computer programs. These programs have to be written in a form the computer understands---and the computer only understands one and zero. A computer program is often written in one format for people to read and another format for computers to read.

Instructions

1. Learn to think logically. In order to write a computer program, you must first learn to think like a computer. You have to realize that you cannot tell the computer things such as "that thing" and "you know." You absolutely must think and write with exactness and clarity. Often, good computer programmers have difficulty communicating with people because programmers are so good at thinking and working logically that other people don't understand them---but computers do.

2. Determine what type of computer language you want to work with. There are two main categories of computer languages: compiled and interpreted. A compiled program requires you to write the entire program, then have a compiler convert the program into instructions a computer can understand so the computer can execute the instructions. An interpreted language may be easier for beginners because the interpreter allows the human to write some instructions for the computer and interprets those instructions one line at a time for the computer, stopping when the computer doesn't understand an instruction.

3. Select a specific programming language. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of computer languages. The most common compiled languages are C++ and Java. The most common interpreted languages are HTML and Visual Basic. For your first computer programming language, you may want to start with one of the easy interpreted languages, such as Visual Basic or HTML.

4. Determine what your program will do. You can write a computer program to do nearly anything you can dream up, given enough time. But before you start writing or creating your computer program, you need to carefully plan everything that the program will do. If you don't know exactly everything your computer program will do, you'll be unable to complete your program or even know when you're done.

5. Write your computer program in the language of your choice. Be sure you look up and follow the syntax of the programming language you've selected. Each programming language has its own specific syntax, rules and words that must be typed. Some allow you to write in Notepad or any text editor, while others require more complex interfaces.