COMP 1010: Programming Languages

• The course is COMP 1010 Programming for All 1
• The class is in Spring 2025
• The instructor is Dr. Berny Alfonso Carrera Gordillo, berny.carrera@utah.edu

Programming Languages

• A programming language enables programmers to communicate with computers.
• Syntax refers to the precise form of a programming language's structure.
• Semantics refers to the precise meaning of a programming language's structure.
• Understanding both syntax and semantics is crucial for software development.
• Programming the process of creating software using a programming language.

Translation from High to Low Level Language

• Computer hardware understands binary language, which consists of 0s and 1s.
• High-level languages are used to write programs, while low-level languages are what machines understand.
• Translators are necessary to convert high-level languages into machine language.

Language Hierarchy

• High-level languages are easier for humans to read and understand but are slower.
• Examples of High Level languages are Python, Java, C/C++, and Fortran.
• Low-level languages are faster but harder for humans to read.
• Compilers or interpreters are needed to turn programs written in high-level languages into machine language.

Compilers

• Compilers are software that translates high-level language programs into machine language.

Interpreters

• Interpreters are software that analyzes and executes source code instruction by instruction.

Compiler vs Interpreter

• Compiling is static translation before execution, while interpreting is dynamic during execution.
• Compiled programs can run without the compiler or source code, interpreted programs need the interpreter and source code every time they run.
• Compiled programs tend to be faster, but interpreted ones offer more flexible programming environments.
• Python programs are portable.

Computing and Programming

• Programs solve problems by specifying input-output relationships
• Representation, abstraction and algorithms form the basis of computer programming

Representation

• Representation involves how different kinds of data are stored and accessed.

How Computers Understand Data

• Computers run computational recipes and understand binary numbers, using encodings of numbers
• Electronic devices react to voltages on wires
• Each wire is a bit. A voltage encodes a 1, no voltage encodes a 0.
• A set of 8 bits is a byte.
• Computers see everything in binary.

Data

• Number, text, image, audio, and video are all forms of data.
• Computer hardware only understands machine language

Main Memory

• A program's instructions must be stored in main memory for execution.
• Primary storage stores programs and data temporarily during processing.
• Computer memory is organized into addressable cells that can be accessed independently.
• An address is a unique name that identifies a cell in the computer's main memory.

Bytes and Bits

• A bit is a binary digit, and can be 0 or 1.
• Bit patterns represent information.
• A byte is the amount of storage needed for a single character.
• 1 Byte = 8 bits

Numeric Representation

• Hexadecimal is a shorthand for long bit patterns.
• Hexadecimal divides a pattern into groups of four bits each.
• Each group is represented by a single symbol.

Text Representation

• Character data consists of letters, symbols, and numerals not used in calculations and is referred to as 'text'.
• Each character has a unique bit pattern
• Digital devices use codes like ASCII, Unicode, and their variants to represent characters.
• ASCII requires seven bits per character for 128 characters.
• The ASCII code for an uppercase A is 1000001.

ASCII

• ASCII(American Standard Code for Information Interchange) requires seven bits for each character, providing codes for 128 characters

Abstraction

• Abstraction solves problems at an appropriate level of detail.
• Complex programs and computers work best when exposing relevant details while hiding unnecessary ones
• Abstraction is why many programming languages exist

Algorithm

• Algorithms consist of instructions carried out in a specific order for a certain task.
• It a step by step process
• Computers should be able to do the steps
• The algorithm is a procedure that can be followed until results are achieved
• Most problems have different algorithms to solve them and there are trade-offs between them

Algorithm Efficiency

• Algorithm efficiency is based on its computational resource utilization (CPU time and memory)
• Problems become intractable if they take up too much memory or time

History of Python

• Python was initially written by Guido van Rossum, and released in 1991
• It is an open-source project where people and contributors with experience guide development.
• The latest version is 3.12.5.

Core Python Details

• Python is an interpreted and dynamically typed language.
• Indentation is used to define blocks of code.
• Python programs run in the Python environment.

Python Setup

• Necessary components include Python, an interpreter, and an Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
• An IDE provides a GUI builder like VS Code, Spyder, Jupyter, and PyCharm.
• PyCharm will be used for this course.

Anaconda

• Anaconda is a distribution of Python and R for scientific computing

Python Interactive Shell

• Python comes with an interpreter, to run bits of Python without having to save and run an entire program.
• When Python shell is launched, the Python interpreter shows the ">>>" symbols
• The ">>>" symbols is called prompt, you can type python script or code and get immediate result.
• If there are multiplie statements to be executed, it may be better to create a python file and write python scripts.