10 Part I: Programming a Computer
program known as Comedy Writer, which prods users into creating funny ideas. A stand-up comedian wrote the program in BASIC for his own amusement, using a program known as CA-Realizer. Then he decided to sell the program to others.
✔ To fill a need: Many people learn programming with no intention of
becoming a full-time, professional programmer. They just want a pro- gram that solves a particular problem, but they can't find a program that does it, so they write the program themselves. A psychologist who spe- cialized in dream interpretation used his knowledge and a program known as ToolBook to create and sell DreamScape, a program that inter- prets the meaning of dreams, as shown in Figure 1-2. Whatever your interests, you can write a program to solve a specific problem that others may find useful as well.
✔ For a new or second career: With computers taking over the world,
you're never unemployed for long if you know how to program a com- puter. Companies are always looking to create new programs, but you also find a growing market for programmers who can maintain and modify the millions of existing programs that do everything from storing hotel reser- vations to transferring bank deposits electronically. If you know how to program a computer, you're in a much better position to earn a lot of money and live wherever you want. You may still want to keep your cur- rent job, but programming gives you a new way to expand and share your knowledge. A group of alternative health-care practitioners, for example, wrote IBIS, a program that provides information for treating a variety of ailments by using acupuncture, massage, diet, and homeopathy (see Figure 1-3). They wrote IBIS by using a program known as MetaCard.
✔ As an intellectual challenge: Many people find the sheer complexity of computers as fascinating as studying a mathematical puzzle. Not sur- prisingly, computers tend to attract people of above-average intelligence who enjoy programming a computer to pry into the thought processes of their own minds. To help turn a computer into a thinking tool, one programmer created the Axon Idea Processor (see Figure 1-4) by using Prolog, a popular programming language used for researching artificial intelligence. The goal was to create a program to help people manipulate ideas, concepts, and facts so that they can devise a variety of possible solutions while better understanding their own way of thinking in the process. If using a computer normally seems boring, try writing your own program to help you use your brain more effectively.
Although you can make a decent living programming computers, you can also make a decent living selling paper clips, fixing leaky toilets, or raising farm animals. If you aren't doing what you truly enjoy, all the money in the world isn't going to make your life better. Choose to learn programming because you want to — not because you think that it's going to make you rich.
Figure 1-2: Dream Scape enables your computer to analyze your dreams for hidden meanings.
Figure 1-1: Comedy Writer is a program that can help you create funny ideas.
11 Chapter 1: Learning Computer Programming for the First Time
12 Part I: Programming a Computer
Figure 1-4: The Axon Idea Processor turns your computer screen into a canvas for organizing and manipu- lating ideas.
Figure 1-3: IBIS harnesses the power of your computer to help health- care practi- tioners find a variety of alternate health-care procedures for curing different diseases.
How Does a Computer Program Work?
Computers don't do anything without someone telling them what to do, much like the average teenager. To make the computer do something useful, you must give it instructions in either of the following two ways:
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