Daily Archives: June 29, 2014

Programming Languages, Software Engineering Curriculum

Topic 3 – Introduction to Programming

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Why do I need to know a programming language?

Because you will develop your software using a programming language.
A programming language is a language that both you and a computer will understand.
It’s a tool for you to express what you want a computer to do.
It’s a tool for you to write instructions of your computer programs.
Without knowledge of a programming language, you cannot develop any software.

I hear that there are many programming languages such as C, C++, C#, Objective-C, Java, Swift, Ruby, Python, JavaScript, PHP, F#, Kotlin,  Clojure, Go, or Lisp.
How many programming languages should I know?

As many as possible. However, at this stage, you should learn about structure of a computer program and a procedure language (e.g. C or C++) first.

What can I do after finishing learning programming language?

You will be able to write a program to tell a computer
– to do a calculation, or
– to count for occurrence of a string, or
– to store and search for a string, or
– to sort a list of numbers, or
– to display an image.

What should I do now?

Please read this book, Stephen Prata (2011). C Primer Plus. Pearson, to learn programming using the C language.

Alternatively, you can read this book, Stephen Prata (2012). C++ Primer Plus. Pearson (from Chapter 1 to Chapter 9), to learn programming using the C++ language.

Alternatively, you can read these books, Eric Matthes (2023). Python Crash Course. No Starch Press,  Charles Severance (2013). Python for Informatics: Exploring Information (from Chapter 1 to Chapter 11), and John M. Zelle (2017). Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science. Franklin, Beedle & Associates book (from Chapter 1 to Chapter 9), to learn programming using the Python language.

Alternatively, you can read this book, Chris Pine (2013). Learn to Program: The Facets of Ruby Series. The Pragmatic Bookshelf (from Chapter 1 to Chapter 11), to learn programming using the Ruby language.

Alternatively, you can read these books, Alan A. A. Donovan and Brian W. Kernighan (2015). The Go Programming Language. Addison-Wesley Professional, and Nathan Youngman and Roger Peppe (2018). Get Programming with Go. Manning Publications, to learn programming using the Go language.

After that if you would like to study system programming in depth then please read this book, Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie (2016). The C Programming Language. Prentice Hall, or this book, Michael Kerrisk (2018). The Linux Programming Interface. No Starch Press.

After that if you would like to get vocabularies and in-depth knowledge about programming, especially the relationship between mathematics and programming, and ideas of functional programming and logic programming then please read this book, Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman (1996). Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. The MIT Press, or these Course Notes.

Terminology Review:

  • Computer Programs.
  • Compilers.
  • Just-In-Time Compilers.
  • Interpreters.
  • Structured Programming.
  • Procedural Programming.
  • Object-Oriented Programming.
  • Functional Programming.
  • Declarative Programming.
  • Logic Programming.
  • Primitive Types: int, float, double, string, date/time, null.
  • Basic Constructs: variables & assignments, pointers, declarations, functions, macro.
  • Control Flow: if/else, while, switch, for, break, continue, recursion, exception, parallelism, signal, jump.
  • User-defined Types: struct, class, type.
  • Data Structures: Arrays, Lists, Linked Lists.
  • Object-Oriented Programming: abstraction, encapsulation, class-based inheritance, prototype-based inheritance, polymorphism.
  • Functional Programming: first-class and higher-order functions, no side effects, recursion.
  • Modularity: files, packages, namespaces, libraries, modules.
  • Concurrency: processes, threads, locks, channels, timers, callbacks, events, promises, event loop.
  • Type system: static type, dynamic type.
  • Error handling: try/catch.
  • Metaprogramming: reflection, template programming, DSL.
    • Clojure.

    After finishing learning about programming languages please click Topic 4 – Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms to continue.

    Operating Systems, Software Engineering Curriculum

    Topic 1 – Operating Systems

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    Why do I need to learn about operating systems?

    Because you will develop your software using an operating system or for an operating system.

    What can I do after finishing learning operating systems?

    You will be prepared with skills that help you prepare environments for your your programming journey.

    You will be prepared with knowledge that helps you understand programming terminologies.

    You may even be inspired to learn programming to solve problems.

    How many operating systems should I know?

    As many as possible. We recommend that you learn how to work with Windows first. Then you learn about basic concepts of an operating system.

    How do I learn to use operating systems?

    Please read
    – this book, Andy Rathbone (2015). Windows 10 For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, to learn how to use Windos 10, or
    – this book, Andy Rathbone (2021). Windows 11 For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons and this book, Ciprian Adrian Rusen (2022). Windows 11 All-in-One For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, to learn how to use Windows 11.

    How about other operating systems such as macOS, Linux or Unix?

    If you have a Mac then you can read this book, Pogue David (2019). macOS Mojave: The Missing Manual. O’Reilly Media, to learn how to use macOS.

    If you have a PC with Ubuntu, or Linux, or Unix then you can read this book, Mark G. Sobell (2015). A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux. Prentice Hall, to learn how to use a Unix-based operating system.

    After that, please read these lecture notes, Introduction to Computing Principles.

    After that, please read this book, Abraham Silberschatz et al. (2018). Operating System Concepts. Wiley, to learn in depth about operating system concepts..

    Terminology Review:

    • Central Processing Unit (CPU).
    • Random-Access Memory (RAM).
    • Hard Disk Drive (HDD).
    • Solid-State Drive (SSD).
    • Programs.
    • Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)
    • Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).
    • Boot Loader.
    • Operating System (OS).
    • Monolithic Structure.
    • Microkernels.
    • User Mode.
    • System Calls.
    • Kernel.
    • Kernel Mode.
    • Processes.
    • Threads.
    • Process Synchronization.
    • Memory Management Unit.
    • Logical Address.
    • Physical Address.
    • Paging.
    • File System.
    • Security and Protection.
    • Networks.
    • Virtual Memory.
    • Virtualization.
    • Virtual Machines.

    Once you finish learning about operating systems please click Topic 2 – Introduction to Computer Networks to continue.