Why You Should Learn to Program

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From the course by Duke University

Programming Fundamentals

348 ratings

Duke University

Programming Fundamentals

348 ratings

Course 1 of 4 in the Specialization Introduction to Programming in C

Programming is an increasingly important skill, whether you aspire to a career in software development, or in other fields. This course is the first in the specialization Introduction to Programming in C, but its lessons extend to any language you might want to learn. This is because programming is fundamentally about figuring out how to solve a class of problems and writing the algorithm, a clear set of steps to solve any problem in its class. This course will introduce you to a powerful problem-solving process—the Seven Steps—which you can use to solve any programming problem. In this course, you will learn how to develop an algorithm, then progress to reading code and understanding how programming concepts relate to algorithms.

From the lesson

Introduction

This module introduces a powerful process for solving any programming problem—the Seven Steps. You will learn how to approach a programming problem methodically, so you can formulate an algorithm that is specific and correct. You will work through examples with sequences of numbers and graphical patterns to develop the skill of algorithm development.

Why You Should Learn to Program3:51

Stepping Through An Algorithm4:19

Meet the Instructors

Andrew D. Hilton
Associate Professor of the Practice
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Genevieve M. Lipp
Adjunct Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering/Mechanical Engineering
Anne Bracy
Senior Lecturer
Computer Science, Cornell University

Hello and welcome to programming fundamentals,

the first course in an introduction to programming in C.

I'm Drew Hilton and I hope you're ready to learn a lot about programming.

>> And I'm Anne Bracy and I would like also to welcome you to this course and

specialization.

I'm excited that you have the chance to come learn to program with us.

>> And I'm Genevieve Lipp.

I learned to program in C from Drew and Ann's book that this specialization is

based on, and can tell you first hand that it is a great way to learn.

You don't need any prior background in programming,

just an eagerness to learn and excitement about thinking through problems.

>> As Genevieve just mentioned,

this specialization is great if you're new to programming.

You might be thinking bout learning for wide a variety of reasons.

Maybe you want to become a professional software developer, if so

this is a great starting point.

We're going to build solid fundamentals that will server you well in both C and

any other language.

>> Or maybe you want programming skills to use in some other discipline.

I know a lot of social scientists and

natural scientists who have found programming necessary,

to analyze the data that they have to explore the problems in their field.

>> Some of you may have already taken an intro course and

be looking to expand your skills.

This can be a great chance to both build your programming skills from solid

fundamentals And to learn a new language.

>> Another great reason to take this specialization is if you were taking

a computer organization class, either on Coursera, or

in school, and don't have the C programming background to excel.

This specialization is a great way to come up to speed on those topics.

>> So what's special about the way that we're going to teach you?

We're going to start from the very beginning.

A lot of programming courses assume you can just figure out how to write code from

seeing a few examples.

We aren't going to do that.

>> Instead,

we're going to teach you a step-by-step approach to solve programming problems.

This seven step approach is a great way to tackle any programming problem.

From smaller ones that you'll use as practice in this course,

to large complicated ones that you will use in real life situations.

>> We're also going to teach you how to read code as well as how to write it.

After all, how can you write if you can't read?

For every piece of syntax that we teach you,

we are also going to teach you the semantics, what exactly the code does.

For any code you write,

you will be able to execute it by hand, saying exactly what every line does.

>> Which goes hand in hand with the principle of no magic.

We're never going to tell you to write or do a thing just because.

Instead, we want you to learn that everything in programming is about well

defined rules, which you can understand and follow, or even execute yourself.

>> So, where do we go from here?

The rest of this course is all about computational thinking.

You'll learn a lot of important concepts,

how to design an algorithm to solve a problem,

how to execute a piece of code by hand, and the, Everything is a Number Principle.

These will lay the foundation for you to start writing programs in C in Course 2.

>> Speaking of Course 2, that is where you will learn to use

a variety of tools that are important to develop your code.

You'll learn things like how to turn your code into an actual program that

the computer can run, which is called compiling.

You'll also learn about testing and debugging, finding and

fixing mistakes in your program.

>> In Course 3, you will learn about ways to store more complex data using pointers,

arrays and strings.

If you don't know what these are now no problem we'll explain them

when we get there.

>> And in Course 4 we'll learn how to interact with the user and

the system, as well as how to dynamically allocate memory

when you don't know in advance how much data you have to work with.

So, let's get started.

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