Alice Notes

    A computer is a device that follows instructions for manipulating and storing data. It doesn't know how to do anything on it's own, it just follows instructions. It can't understand just any instructions, it only understands instructions in it's own language. A computer program is a set of instructions that a computer follows to perform a task. When creating a program, the programmer develops an algorithm which is used to perform a task. An algorithm is a set of well-defined logical steps that must be taken in order to perform a task. The programmer then translates the algorithm into a programming language. The instructions have to be translated into machine language, which is the only language that computers understand.

    In machine language, instructions are represented by binary numbers. A binary number is a number that has only 1s and 0s. Programming languages were invented to make the task of translating algorithms into machine language easier. Programming languages use words instead of numbers to represent instructions, and are therefore much easier for humans to read, write, and understand. Software called compilers or interpreters then translate programming language into machine language, for the computer to understand and execute.