What is programming?

Quotes about Programming

Programming is actually teach you how to think. -- Steve Jobs

Machine with intelligence could learn to see - and think - without the need to be programmed to do it. -- Afterward by Tomaso Poggio from Book "Vision"

Program a computer to do things for you, so you won't need to do it by yourself

Solve problems - Borrow the power of computer technology, write a program to solve problem which can't or take lot cost to solve in tradition ways.

Program a computer is to tell a computer to do things for you

All things are processed as information form in a computer system, information need to be organized/structured, not scattered at everywhere, and them are transform from one structure to another structure in a computer system, which is under the control of procedures. Here, we define data is binary number: 0, 1. Information can be text, image, audio, video, structured data. So the progress of information processing in a computing machine is:

• Input information (That will be the problem/question with a computer acceptable form)
• Store, Process information
• Output information (That will be the answer with computer form/human readable form)
  • In CLR age, you don't need to consider graphic interface, program the core model and write the logic, you are done.
  • In GUI age, a classic model to build a program is MVC (Model-View-Controler). Model charged for processing information. View charged for showing the result. Controler charged for controling the all part, such as: interact with model and view, get user's action from view and tell view how to reaction/represent itself, tell model the new information(updated from view/etc.) need to process, and get the result from model who have just finished process the new incoming information.

Algorithms and Data Structure

Problems can be solved by approrite Algorithms, Data Structure, and a good Design.

A good data structure may solve the problem directly, take less procedures (simpler algorithms) than the old way which is underdeveloped data structure with complex algorithms, I call this Architecture Evolution, just same principle with Intel CPU development stragety: use 18 month to modify the architecture and another 18 month to improve the process.

Is algorithms more important than data strcuture? or data strcut more important than algorithms?
I don't think so, they are both important, just like eye and ear, but in some specific area, one of them may have less influence than other one.

Programming and Logic

Programming need a clear logic, write down the thoughts/ideas in your mind will be a good way, because it reify thoughts/ideas.

Programming is a universal ability

Programming is a universal ability, it's abrove specific programming language.