Introduction to programming


Programming is not too hard to start learning.  There are basic concepts that must be understood, but they are not too difficult.  You do not need to be a math expert, programming involves far less math than people think.  Entire programs can be written without any using mathematics knowledge.

Jerry will be teaching programming starting with the “C” language as used in EMBEDDED SYSTEMS. 

An Embedded System is one where a MICROCONTROLLER manages some device.  Often there is no display, keyboard, disks, or other things common to home computers.  A typical microwave oven will have a Microcontroller inside it to operate the controls and turn the oven on and off when needed.  A Microcontroller can be thought of as a self-contained computer, it is loaded once with a program (called FIRMWARE) and then just runs that same program from then on.

Description of an Embedded System: Embedded Systems Basics Primer

All programming students should get these two free books:

Logic for Computer Science

You will need to become very familiar with thinking logically.  Some people may find this very hard, others will see no problems.

The C Programming Language

This is the book that started the C programming language.  There’s a history behind these two men that is interesting and will be covered if there is interest.

The C programming language has been updated since then but not a lot, I still have and use an original paper copy of this book.  Students don’t need to understand all of it right now, the writing is not the most clear for beginners.  Students should look through it to start thinking in C.  This book is mandatory for programming students to have. There are extended versions of C used for desktop computers called C++ (plus plus means one higher in the C language), C# (sharp, another variation of C), OOP (Object Oriented Programming, a way of handling groups of data as if it were a single item).  We will NOT be using any of these. You will be learning ANSI (American National Standards Institute) C with minor special extensions for embedded systems.


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