What is Programming: Definition and 1000 Discussions

Computer programming is the process of designing and building an executable computer program to accomplish a specific computing result or to perform a specific task. Programming involves tasks such as: analysis, generating algorithms, profiling algorithms' accuracy and resource consumption, and the implementation of algorithms in a chosen programming language (commonly referred to as coding). The source code of a program is written in one or more languages that are intelligible to programmers, rather than machine code, which is directly executed by the central processing unit. The purpose of programming is to find a sequence of instructions that will automate the performance of a task (which can be as complex as an operating system) on a computer, often for solving a given problem. Proficient programming thus often requires expertise in several different subjects, including knowledge of the application domain, specialized algorithms, and formal logic.
Tasks accompanying and related to programming include: testing, debugging, source code maintenance, implementation of build systems, and management of derived artifacts, such as the machine code of computer programs. These might be considered part of the programming process, but often the term software development is used for this larger process with the term programming, implementation, or coding reserved for the actual writing of code. Software engineering combines engineering techniques with software development practices. Reverse engineering is a related process used by designers, analysts and programmers to understand and re-create/re-implement.

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  1. A

    How to Effectively Learn Programming Through Real-World Applications

    Hi, I have some basic background in Python and was planning to self-learn more programming. I was wondering if people here that have self-learnt programming in C/C++ and now using it for "real world" purposes (such as image analysis for BEC or data processing in particle physics) can share...
  2. R

    MATLAB Programming B-spline curve in Matlab from scratch

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  3. A

    Engineering Programming useful in Electrical Engineering?

    Is it worth it to take an extra 10 courses (and thus a whole extra year) of computer science courses in university on top of my 4 year electrical engineering degree? If I want to work in the electrical engineering field, how useful will the knowledge gained from these courses be? I'm planning to...
  4. A

    Help with Intro Programming: Debugging Errors

    hey I am doing a intro programming class and I am running into some problems. would really appreciate some help to see where I went wrong. Been trying to figure it out for hours now. Someone please help me out These are my errors c: In function ‘main’: c:33:9: error: expected identifier or...
  5. Y

    How to Solve This Dynamic Programming Problem with Two Subsequences?

    I'm having problem to solve this problem in DP: Given 2 subsequences: X = {x1, x2,..., xm} and Y = {y1, y2, ... , yn} so `n <= m` and also `y1 <= y2 <= ... <= yn`. The goal is to find a sub-sequence of `X` (xi1, xi2, ... , xin) such that: sum(k is 1 to n) | xik - yk | is...
  6. R

    Programming Langauages for Research in Quantum Mechanics

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  7. S

    Programming languages that have statistical distributions

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  8. rcgldr

    Simple programming training puzzle (repeat)

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  9. K

    Programming in Assembly Language

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  10. L

    Linear Programming - Branch and Bound Method

    Homework Statement I'm trying to learn the Branch and Bound method. For that, I need to master the Dual Simplex Method (DSA). I have tried and tried and tried to google examples but can't find any. Does anyone know where I can find any? How do you know the LPP has become infeasible with...
  11. C

    Textbook for physics programming

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  12. L

    Linear Programming - Separation of points

    This semester while taking Linear Programming (Linear Optimization Models), we talked about using a linear program to separate two sets of points A and B. The general program is: Max d s.t. yA ≥ axA+b+d yB ≤ axB+b-d It can be expanded into finding a polynomial that passes between the...
  13. Y

    Dynamic Programming: Solving Optimization Problems with Infinite Horizon

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  14. M

    Lab view programming to drive motor

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  15. L

    Linear Programming - Separation of Points

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  16. H

    MATLAB Matlab programming using shooting method, Euler and Runge Ketta methods

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  17. F

    Sum of Multiples of 3 and 5 Below 1000 - Simple C++ Programming Question

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  18. S

    Fortran How are numbers stored in F2 and F3 matrix in Fortran programming?

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  19. Z

    Java A Guide to Programming in Java by Lawerenceville Press exercises?

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  20. E

    Degeneracy in Linear Programming

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  21. E

    Bisection algorith for Linear-fractional programming

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  22. M

    Physics Programming or EE with physics degree?

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  23. pairofstrings

    How programming languages are created?

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  24. R

    Having trouble reading input values in PIC assembly programming?

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  25. C

    Fortran How Can a Single READ Statement Handle Multiple Data Types in Programming?

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  26. D

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  27. M

    What are the most commonly used programming languages in industry?

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  28. W

    How much embedded programming in control/signal processing?

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  29. pairofstrings

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  30. S

    Astrophysics - Which Programming Language

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  31. J

    Late Dennis Ritchie: Creator of C Programming Language

    Dennis Ritchie died on the 8th, but I didn't find out until today. He created the C programming language. http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2011/10/dennis-ritchie/"
  32. P

    Counting characters in C language

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  33. A

    Java Learn Java Programming: UML Necessary?

    I want to start learning Java programming,by myself. I got some PDF books. In the introduction, it talks about UML, but I find it complicated. I want to know whether it is a must to read the theory part, or I can just start on the practical part.
  34. S

    Dynamic Programming to maximize profit

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  35. R

    Comp Sci How to Handle Duplicate Entries in a Java Array?

    Homework Statement Write an application that inputs ten numbers from the user, each number can be between 10 and 100, inclusive. As each number is read in determine if it is a number already entered. If it is a duplicate move on to the next number, if it is unique store the number in the...
  36. Y

    Which programming language should I use?

    I was wondering which programming language I should learn for general purpose calculations and physics simulations. I already know a bit java.
  37. R

    Sequence Alignment and Dynamic Programming

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  38. P

    What is EOF in C Programming Language?

    Can anyone please explain what is EOF in C programming language. Is it a value (numeric, character) or something else ?? While reading the book "The C programming language", by Ritchie I came across this term. The code was : #include <stdio.h> /* copy input to output; 1st version */...
  39. A

    Optimizing Mineral Extraction: How Can Linear Programming Help?

    Homework Statement Blacktop refining extracts minerals from ore mined at two different sites in Montana. Each ton of ore type 1 contains 20% copper, 20% zinc, and 15% magnesium. Each ton of ore type 2 contains 30% copper, 25% zinc, and 10% magnesium. Ore type 1 costs 90$ per ton, while ore...
  40. R

    Programming details on the computation of the Riemann zeta function using Aribas

    (1) Let s be a complex number like s = a + b i, then we define \zeta(s) = \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{1}{n^s} Our aim: to compute ζ(\frac{1}{2}+14.1347 i) with the help of the programming language Aribas (2) Web Links Aribas...
  41. M

    MATLAB Writing MATLAB Program to Construct D and Count Ones for N=100

    Hello, I need help with the following: "Let D be an N×N matrix. The element dij (i=1,…,N;j=1,…,N) of D is 1 if the sum of all the elements of the Pascal matrix of order i equals the sum of all the elements of Magic matrix of order j, and 0 otherwise. Write a Matlab programme that...
  42. K

    Fortran How can I fix issues with passing values between subroutines in FORTRAN?

    Hi all, Greetings. This could be a basic question, and if it is, pardon me for my ignorance as I am a newbie to FORTRAN. I am trying to modify a FORTRAN code where I have added a subroutine (say SUB1) to calculate a variable, say (QX). What I did is to call this subroutine in another one...
  43. F

    Why Linear Programming at all?

    I am taking Linear Programming and I haven't completed the course yet, but here is my question. I've notice that all these problems could have been solved just as easily with Lagrange multipliers. We got a bunch of linear inequality constraints and an obj function, we can use Lagrange...
  44. G

    Software for typing programming papers

    Just like there's LaTeX for writing math papers and LaTeX editors to parse it, is there anything for writing papers in programming? Specifically a nice way to automatically format code.
  45. Z

    Linear Programming degenerate case

    Homework Statement Choose the number \omega so that the following program has a solution. Then write down the optimal solution. \begin{bmatrix} -1 & 2 & 3 \\ 2 & 3 & 1 \\ -5 & -4 & 1 \end{bmatrix} x = \begin{bmatrix} 1 \\ 5 \\ \omega \end{bmatrix} min=x_2 x\geq 0 Homework...
  46. F

    Matrix theory question (to do with Linear Programming)

    Homework Statement Suppose we have a maximum LOP P max z = c^t x s.t. Ax \leq b x \geq 0 and the dual to P is min w = b^t y A^t y \geq c y \leq 0 Then the bounds are z = c^t x \leq y^t Ax \leq y^t b = b^t y = w question Okay where the heck did y^t Ax came...
  47. F

    More Linear Programming - help

    Homework Statement A small cargo ship leaving Hawaii for London has three holds for cargo. The forward hold has a capacity of 140 tons, and volume of 6,000 cubic feet; the central hold has a capacity of 800 tons, and a volume of 15,000 cubic feet; the aft hold has a capacity of 450tons and...
  48. F

    More Linear Programming - DUality

    Homework Statement Consider the following LOP P: Max z = 3x_1 + x_2 -\frac{1}{2}x_3 s.t. 2x_1 + x_2 + x_3 \leq 8 4x_1 + x_2 - x_3 \leq 10 x_1, x_2, x_3 \geq 0 1) Find a primal solution x and its objective value z = z(x) 2) What is the LOP D that is Dual to P? 3) Find a dual feasible...
  49. F

    Linear Programming - Feasible sets?

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  50. G

    Good software for programming animated physical simulations?

    I'm looking for what might be best for simulating various physical phenomena - some examples off the top of my head might be how to create an animation of a double-pendulum, or a system of 250 particles that are mutually interacting, confined within some box, in an arbitrary external field (like...
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