Best programs - computer programming

What is a computer program?

    Computer program is a sequence of instructions executed by so called micro processor. This sequence is described using special rules called programming language. Programs are usually encoded in form that is directly executed by the processor (e.g. C++) or in a form that is interpreted (e.g. Java) by virtual machine. The formal representation of the calculation method in form that is understandable for a human being is called source code. The representation in form that is understandable for the micro-processor is called binary representation. The other name for computer programs are software or applications. Computer programs can be downloaded from websites like http://best-programs.net where users can read news about the latest software. Programs that are meant to be interpreted are usually called scripts.

What is the typical structure of a computer program?

    A computer program can usually by divided into two parts:

  • code - a sequence of micro-processor instructions,

  • data - a memory block that holds all data that the program uses.

    It is typical that a program can not modify its own code but it can only modify the data memory space.

What is the classification of computer programs?

    Computer programs can be classified according to their usage. The examples are:

  • Operating systems (e.g. Linux, Windows, Mac OS, BSD, Whitix etc.);

  • Games (e.g. Tomb Rider);

  • Compilators (e.g. Gcc, Microsoft Compiler, Intel Compiler);

  • User Applications (e.g. Open Office, Duplicate Files Searcher)

The process of launching the program.

    In the most simple model, the program code is loaded directly into computer memory space and pointing the processor to the first program instruction. After this the processor will continue to execute the program's code until the last instruction is reached or the execution is terminated by other factors (e.g. the operating system can send the kill signal to the program). The computer program that is currently executed is called the process or task.

What is the role of the operating system?

    The very specal kind of computer program is the operating system which is responsible for loading other programs and managing the whole computer. The operating system is the only program that directly controls the underlaying hardware. Operating system assigns the computer resources (e.g. memory, processor time, hardware access etc.) to programs.

What is programming?

    Programming is the process of creating the program usually by highly skilled programmers. This process usually consists of the following stages:

  • source code edition,

  • launching the program,

  • results analysis,

  • back to the first stage and making the necessary corrections.


    Computer programming has very strong theoretical background and is the subject of the following disciplines: algorithms, data structures, numerical calculations, cryptography, object oriented programming.