CS99 Lecture 2 
- week of 8/28

Programming
+ automating problem solving
+ problems are physical and abstract
+ build models which are physical and abstract
+ models will solve the problem where we cannot/will not
+ use a computer! need to write software...

Computer Rudiments
+ hardware:     physical components of a computer
+ software:     "the intelligence" that runs the hardware
                 - create with programming (coming up!)
+ information:  bits and bytes -- sequences of 1s and 0s (digits) that 
                represent non-digital information
+ memory:       "space" inside a computer to store information
                - software can "borrow" a portion to use
                - programming involves using memory
+ file:         collection of information with a name
+ directory:    collection of files
+ folder:       same as directory
+ path:         location of file or directory starting from the 
                "uppermost" directory
+ ASCII/text:   characters found on the keyboard 
                - uses 8 bits to represent a character which is a byte
                - ASCII (or text) format is universal
                - can load into almost editor and wordprocessor
                - can edit files with programs called text editors
+ Program:      file composed of instructions using a computer language
                - usually text because we need to type those instructions!
                - the process of telling the computer to activate commands
                  in a program is called running or executing
                - information is passed from your text to the computer
                - computer activates each instruction in sequence
+ Interpreting: computer reads each line of code and acts up it before
                acting upon the next line
+ Compiling:    process of converting code into an unreadable format
                - more bits and bytes, but condensed
                - can create "runnable" (executable) files that quickly
                  run your programs
+ Input:        - any information you supply to a program
+ Output:       - any information reported by a program

Process of Programming
+ start with problem
+ look for solution
+ in-between step is called algorithm design
  - break solution down into sequence of steps
  - each step is an instruction
  - the model (or, performer of instructions)
    must be able to follow the instruction
  - may have to keep breaking down steps
  - final algorithm is a program in "words"
+ definition (from above): "Programming is automating problem solving"

Computer Language
+ need to translate English language algorithm
  into a computer language
+ many options: MATLAB, Maple, Java, C, C++, etc
+ Maple for CS99