Fundamentals of

Programming
CS-112 By Dr. Mir Yasir Umair
Associate Professor, MCS, NUST
• Computers
Computer Systems
o Devices for performing computations at high speeds with great accuracy
o A machine that can be programmed to manipulate symbols. Can perform complex & repetitive procedures quickly,
precisely and reliably. Can quickly store and retrieve large amounts of data.

• Program
o A set of instructions for a computer to follow, written in specific programming language

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 Computers and Computer Languages
• Computers are everywhere
o how many computers do you own?

• Computers are useful because they run programs

o program is simply a set of instructions to complete some task
o how many different programs do you use in a day?

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 Definitions
• program: A set of instructions that are to be carried out by a computer.

• program execution: The act of carrying out the instructions contained

in a program.
o this is done by feeding the instructions to the CPU

• programming language: A systematic set of rules used to describe

computations, generally in a format that is readable and editable by
humans.
o in this class we use Java

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 Computer Systems
• Hardware (HW)
oActual physical machines (equipment) that make up the
computer
• Software (SW)
oA collection of programs used by a computer
oA set of instructions provided by the programmer that the
computer follows.
oProgram instructions have to be stored in main memory
before they can be executed.

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 Computer Systems
• Computer Categories:
o Microcomputers (Personal computers / PCs)
• Used by a single person
o Workstations:
• Largest microcomputers
o Minicomputers:
• Can be used by many people simultaneously by using several terminals connected to the same
CPU
o Main frame computers:
• Faster & larger than minicomputers
o Super computers:
• Most powerful mainframe computers
• Of which category is you computer at home??

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 Hardware (HW): Organization
• Computer HW usually consists of:
o CPU
o Main memory (RAM & ROM)
o I/O Devices
o Secondary Memory
• CPU & main memory are the heart of the computer
• Usually the CPU, main memory and secondary memory are housed in a single cabinet

I/O Devices
CPU

Secondary Memory

Main Memory

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 Hardware (HW):
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
• Executes programs
• Performs calculations
o Arithmetic
• Add, subtract, divide, multiply, … etc.
o Logical
• Compare, test for true/false
• Controls & coordinates the other parts of the computer.
• The CPU controls just about everything else by executing instructions
o stores data in memory
o retrieves data from memory
o performs computations
o sends and gets data from other devices

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 Hardware (HW): Memory
• Main (Primary) Memory:
o Ordered sequence and specific number of memory locations (Bytes, words) that
have unique addresses indicating their relative positions
o Fast, expensive, short term memory
o Holds intermediate results and serves as “scratch paper”
o Needed to carry out program instructions
o Types:
• RAM: Random Access Memory
(vs. Sequential Access Memory)
• Volatile (i.e. contents disappear when the computer is switched off)
• Writable (except where forbidden by the software)
• ROM: Read Only Memory
• Non-volatile
• Also usually random access

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 Hardware (HW): Memory
• Secondary (auxiliary) memory
o Used for keeping a permanent records of information
o Holds programs and data between jobs
o Keeps data or program files for later use
o Slower, cheaper, long-term memory
o Common forms
• Diskettes, magnetic tapes, hard disk, CD-ROM’s, DVD
o Some types are removable

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 Hardware (HW)
• I/O (Input/Output) devices
o Allow the user to communicate with the computer.
o A single computer could be connected to more than one input or output device.
o Examples:
• Input: Keyboard, mouse, scanner, voice
• Output: Screen, printer, voice

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 Hardware Devices ( Examples)
• Input:
o Keyboard
o Mouse, Touchpad, Joystick
o Pen & tablet, Perforated cards
• Output:
o Printer
o Screen (monitor)
o Teletype
• Input & Output:
o Auxiliary Devices:
• disks (hard disk, floppies, DVDs/CDs, USB keys, Flash memories)
• tape drives
o Touch screen
o Network cards (intranet, internet)

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 Hardware Devices (3)
• Bus: A group of wires through which the other devices communicate.

I/O devices are controlled by drivers, which are very specialized kinds of programs

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 Hardware Trends
• Every year or two computer power approximately doubles
o Memory size (RAM)
• Memory used to execute programs
o Secondary storage (permanent storage)
• E.g. disk storage, used to to hold programs and data over time
o Processor speeds
• Speed at which computers execute their programs

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 Hardware/Software Trends
• Applications:
o Rapidly increasing hardware power allows applications to get bigger and more complex

• Costs
o Hardware costs dropping
o Software development costs rising
• Software development complexity
• Programmer salaries
• Cost of slipping schedules
o Unanticipated interactions in complex systems
o Unpredictability of software development times

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 Hardware/Software Architectures
• Mainframe Era
o 1940’s-70’s: mainframe computer, minicomputers
o Environments:
• Batch environments, batch processing
o Files are basis for I/O: fixed formats, minimal device I/O
o Error recovery
o Lack of timing constraints
• Interactive environments
o Terminal and file I/O:
o Interactive error handling
o Faster performance

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• Personal Computers Era
o 1978: the Apple II ran BASIC
• Educational use
o 1981: IBM released the first PC
o 1984: Macintosh
o Window environments:
• OO models are ideal (Smalltalk)
• Must interact with many I/O devices (file I/O is less important)
o Embedded systems
• Error handling
• Real-time response
• Distributed systems with concurrently running tasks

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• Networking Era:
o LANs (Local Area Networks):
client-server model
• Airline reservations, banking
o Internet
• 70’s: ARPANET: telnet, FTP, SMTP protocols
• late 80’s: HTML and HTTP added
o Issues and Effects:
• Static web pages with URLs for access
URL = Uniform Resource Locator
• Dynamic web pages for e-commerce (Perl, JAVA, etc.)
• Security
• Performance (multiple clients)
o Offloading work to client

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 Hardware/Software Concepts
• Computers manipulate instructions and data
o Represented in similar ways
o Used in different ways
o Representation is binary (digital hardware is binary)
• Numbers vs. symbols
o Computers represent everything as numbers
o But numbers can represent symbols
o Can perform “symbolic” computation
• Beginning of Artificial Intelligence

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 HW/SW Concepts: Data
· What is it?
- Numbers, characters, images, or other method of recording
- Can be assessed by a human or (especially) input into a computer, stored and processed there, or transmitted
on some digital channel.
- Nearly always represent data in binary.
- Has no meaning on its own.
- When interpreted by data processing system it takes on meaning and becomes information.
· Storage
o Setting of individual bits to specific values, destroying its previous contents
· Retrieval
o Copying the contents of a particular memory cell to another storage area.
o Original data remains unchanged

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 HW/SW Concepts: Representation
• Digit / Bit
o Smallest unit of information/storage, sufficient to hold one bit
o Can take one of two values
(true/false, 1/0, or yes/no)
o Corresponds to an input/output being on or off
• Byte
o Smallest addressable unit of storage
o Usually 8 bits
o Typically holds one character
o Can represent 256 different values

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 HW/SW Concepts: Representation
• Word
o Fundamental unit of storage in a computer
o Word size is one of its chief distinguishing characteristics of a computer
o Typical size in modern computers: 32 bits (4 bytes) or 64 bits (8 bytes)
o An instruction is usually one or more words long
o A word can be used to hold a whole number of characters

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Software Categories
 Software Categories
• System SW
o Programs written for computer systems
• Compilers, operating systems, …
• Application SW
o Programs written for computer users
• Word-processors, spreadsheets, & other application packages

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 A Layered View of the Computer
Application Programs
Word-Processors, Spreadsheets,
Database Software, IDEs,
etc…
System Software
Compilers, Interpreters,Preprocessors, etc.
Operating System, Device Drivers

Machine with all its hardware

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 Operating System (OS)
· Provides several essential services:
o Loading & running application programs
o Allocating memory & processor time
o Providing input & output facilities
o Managing files of information

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 Programs
• Programs are written in programming languages
o PL = programming language
o Pieces of the same program can be written in different PLs
• Languages closer to the machine can be more efficient
• As long as they agree on how to communicate
• A PL is
o A special purpose and limited language
o A set of rules and symbols used to construct a computer program
o A language used to interact with the computer

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 Computer Languages
– Machine Language
• Uses binary code
• Machine-dependent
• Not portable
• Assembly Language
o Uses mnemonics
o Machine-dependent
o Not usually portable
• High-Level Language (HLL)
o Uses English-like language
o Machine independent
o Portable (but must be compiled for different platforms)
o Examples: Pascal, C, C++, Java, Fortran, . . .

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 Machine Language
• The representation of a computer program which is actually read and understood by
the computer.
o A program in machine code consists of a sequence of machine instructions.
• Instructions:
o Machine instructions are in binary code
o Instructions specify operations and memory cells involved in the operation
Example:

Operation Address

0010 0000 0000 0100

0100 0000 0000 0101

0011 0000 0000 0110

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 Assembly Language
• A symbolic representation of the machine language of a specific processor.
• Is converted to machine code by an assembler.
• Usually, each line of assembly code produces one machine instruction (One-to-one
correspondence).
• Programming in assembly language is slow and error-prone but is more efficient in
terms of hardware performance.
• Mnemonic representation of the instructions and data
• Example:
Load Price
Add Tax
Store Cost

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 High-level language
• A programming language which use statements consisting of English-like keywords
such as "FOR", "PRINT" or “IF“, ... etc.
• Each statement corresponds to several machine language instructions (one-to-many
correspondence).
• Much easier to program than in assembly language.
• Data are referenced using descriptive names
• Operations can be described using familiar symbols
• Example:
Cost := Price + Tax

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 Syntax & Semantics
• Syntax:
o The structure of strings in some language. A language's syntax is described by a
grammar.
o Examples:
• Binary number
<binary_number> = <bit> | <bit> <binary_number>
<bit> =0|1
• Identifier
<identifier> = <letter> {<letter> | <digit> }
<letter> =a|b|...|z
<digit =0|1|...|9
• Semantics:
o The meaning of the language

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 Syntax & Grammars
• Syntax descriptions for a PL are themselves written in a formal language.
o E.g. Backus-Naur Form (BNF)

• The formal language is not a PL but it can be implemented by a compiler to enforce

grammar restrictions.
• Some PLs look more like grammar descriptions than like instructions.

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 Compilers & Programs
• Compiler
o A program that converts another program from some source language (or high-level programming language / HLL) to machine
language (object code).
o Some compilers output assembly language which is then converted to machine language by a separate assembler.
o Is distinguished from an assembler by the fact that each input statement, in general, correspond to more than one machine
instruction.

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 Compilation into Assembly L
Source Assembly
Program Compiler Language

Assembly Assembler Machine

Language Language

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 What is a Linker?
• A program that pulls other programs together so that they can run.
• Most programs are very large and consist of several modules.
• Even small programs use existing code provided by the programming
environment called libraries.
• The linker pulls everything together, makes sure that references to other
parts of the program (code) are resolved.

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 An Important Realization
• Computers are stupid.

• Computers can’t read minds.

• Computers seldom make mistakes.

• If the computer is not doing what we want, it’s because WE made a mistake.
• Users are not always very intelligent

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A Simple C++ Program
• Preprocess directives are not
statements (no semi-colon ;)

• Extra space in < >

• Case Sensitive
o Main vs main

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 Listing 1.2

• Output?

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 Listing 1.3

• Output?

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Output?

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 C++ Program

Development Cycle

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 Programming Style and
Documentation
• Appropriate Comments
• Comment Styles
• Proper Indentation and Spacing

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Errors?

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 Programming Errors
• Syntax Errors

• Runtime Errors

• Logic Errors

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 Programming Errors
• Syntax Errors
;

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 Programming Errors
• Syntax Errors

• Runtime Errors

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 Programming Errors
• Syntax Errors

• Runtime Errors

• Logic Errors

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 Common Errors

Missing Braces, Semicolons, Quotation Marks and Misspelling Names

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Work…

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. Homework
• Think of 3 tasks you have encountered in your studies that you would
like to write a program for.
• Deadline.. Next class

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 Thanks
Questions ???

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