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Discussion on: A Complete Beginner's Guide to Programming

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esternin profile image
esternin

I like your style. One point: "A computer is a machine that processes and stores information" is a rather limited view of what computers are, and is not even true. Strictly speaking, a computer is a device for coherent manipulation of logical levels, but that's just being formal. Note how every one of your examples is about i/o. While I belong to the time when 95% of computing was calculation, you are of the time where 95% of [programming] time is devoted to UI, and computing is all about communication, mostly with the user, but also with the physical world.

Thanks for introducing me to repl.it, and a very cool use for it.

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karlredman profile image
Karl N. Redman

I appreciate your perspective but I believe you've conflated the various aspects of programming, and furthermore, the functions of a computer.

Computers have three fundamental functions: input, processing, and output. The concept of storage is a bonus.

I think that your statement about computing being all about communication does make sense in the context of modern day application programming Enterprise goals. It's certainly a valid perspective relative to context but it is not the definition as a whole.