Skills Are Needed in Programming
Programming is an important activity as people life and living depends on the programs
one make. Hence while programming one should
- Paying attention to detail
- Think about the reusability.
- Think about user interface
- Understand the fact the computers are stupid
- Comment the code liberally
Paying attention to detail
In programming, the details matter. This is a very important skill. A good programmer always analyzes the problem statement very carefully and in detail. You should pay attention to all the aspects of the problem. You can't be vague. You can't describe your program 3/4th of the way, then say, "You know what I mean?'', and have the compiler figure out the rest. Furthermore you should pay attention to the calculations involved in the program, its flow, and most importantly, the logic of the program. Sometimes, a grammatically correct sentence does not make any sense. For example, here is a verse from poem "Through the Looking Glass" written by Lewis Carol:
“Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe “
The grammar is correct but there is no meaning. Similarly, the sentence, "Mr. ABC sleeps thirty hours every day", is grammatically correct but it is illogical. So it may happen that a program is grammatically correct. It compiles and runs but produces incorrect or absurd results and does not solve the problem. It is very important to pay attention to the logic of the program.
Think about the reusability
When ever you are writing a program, always keep in mind that it could be reused at some other time. Also, try to write in a way that it can be used to solve some other related problem.
Suppose we have to calculate the area of a given circle. We know the area of a circle is (Pi * r2). Now we have written a program which calculates the area of a circle with given radius. At some later time we are given a problem to find out the area of a ring. The area of the ring can be calculated by subtracting the area of outer circle from the area of the inner circle. Hence we can use the program that calculates the area of a circle to calculate the area of the ring.users know a lot of things, this is a big mistake. So never assume that the user of your program is computer literate. Always provide an easy to understand and easy to use interface that is self explanatory.
Understand the fact that computers are stupid
Computers are incredibly stupid. They do exactly what you tell them to do: no more, no less-- unlike human beings. Computers can't think by themselves. In this sense, they differ from human beings. For example, if someone asks you, “What is the time?”, “Time please?” or just, “Time?” you understand anyway that he is asking the time but computer is different. Instructions to the computer should be explicitly stated. Computer will tell you the time only if you ask it in the way you have programmed it. When you're programming, it helps to be able to "think'' as stupidly as the computer does, so that you are in the right frame of mind for specifying everything in minute detail, and not assuming that the right thing will happen by itself.
Comment the code liberally
Always comment the code liberally. The comment statements do not affect the performance of the program as these are ignored by the compiler and do not take any memory in the computer. Comments are used to explain the functioning of the programs. It helps the other programmers as well as the creator of the program to understand the code.
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