I’m a computer programmer, Computer programming (often shortened to programming) “is a process that leads from an original formulation of a computing problem… The purpose of programming is to find a sequence of instructions that will automate performing a specific task or solving a given problem.” (Yes, taken from Wikipedia), in a few words we are dedicated to solving problems, first in a logical way and then transcribing that analysis into a language that computers can interpret and execute, Whether you work or not in the computer area anyone can feel identified with the action of solving a problem, because everyone at some time in our lives has faced the task of solving a problem either in our personal lives or in our professional life, especially as leaders we have in our day to day the action of solving problems in our organizations, from small problems to very large and complex, in this blog I try to explain what computer programming consists of comparing it with life daily, trying to make an analogy and leave a positive message when you facing a problem.
Let’s start by exploring the word “programming”, devise and order actions, programming is something necessary to solve day-to-day problems, in programming we start defining (or identifying) the problem, the clear definition of the problem is vital to be able to find , not only a solution but the most efficient solution, in the process of defining the problem we set one or several objectives and then begin the design stage, a stage where we define necessary procedures to achieve the objectives. I think we can all feel identified with these processes to solve problems, regardless of the area where you work. The work of a computer programmer starts here by defining the input and output information, variables, constants, functions, procedures, methods, conditional structures, etc. (using only what we need)
Input: what information you have available, what you need to start working.
Outputs: what information or result will be presented after the entire process.
Variables: what values change in the programming process.
Constants: what values do not change and remain constant.
Functions: a specific section that performs an operation to calculate some value and return it to be used in another part of the program.
Conditional structures: how to react if something happens, what to do in a specific case.
(if () then {} Else)
Very often we use external help packages that other developers have created, because somehow others have already gone through similar situations, do not feel afraid to seek help because in computer science we usually hear the phrase “Why reinvent the wheel, when you don’t have to”, use the resources available to make your task easier.
At the end of everything when we managed to solve the problem we must to document it, that means save all the relevant information to help someone else who goes through to the same problem else understand what we did and why we did it.
The process may seem too mechanical, but often you have to improvise, be creative or just try, it’s usually frustrating when you get to that point where your code doesn’t work and you have to start over, go back to the design stage and redo everything, we deal with frustration, but we keep trying, learning from what we did before … Something that we all must to do in our daily live.
