How do I create my own computer program?

Note: Creating a computer program requires knowledge of one or more

programming languages, as well as other considerations. This page does

not provide step by step instructions for creating a program, as the

steps differ depending on the type of program being created and the

programming language.





Anyone interested in developing software, such as a program, game, or

online service, must start by learning a programming language . There

are many different programming languages and creating a new software

program requires more training and more time than one page can

provide. Therefore, this page is meant as a general overview to help

point you in the direction to get started. An important beginning step

is to have a plan for what program you want to develop. For instance,

a plan would include the purpose of the program, game, or service, and

the features you want to include. Be thinking of what your plan is as

you continue reading.

Picking the Language

As we noted above, there are many different programming languages.

Deciding which language to learn can be a challenge by itself.

Creating a program with many features and functions often requires you

to be fairly proficient in one or more programming languages.

That being said, basic understanding of the concepts of pretty much

any programming language can help to get you started. Our listing of

programming languages includes examples of the various types of

software each language can create. Here are a few of our

recommendations.

Computer Hope Recommendations

Deciding on your programming language depends on what type of program

or script you would like to create. For example, Java and Visual Basic

are both popular because of their relative ease and because both are a

good way to learn programming fundamentals. Other popular languages

include C , C++ , and C# , which are used to create games , apps,

drivers , operating systems , as well as many of the software programs

that run on a computer.

If you are interested in developing scripts and programs, like online

forums and services, Perl,

PHP , and Python are all popular choices, in addition to HTML.

Deciding on an editor

An editor is any program that allows you to write

computer code . They range from simple (like any basic text editor )

to advanced software, such as

Adobe Dreamweaver , Eclipse, JDeveloper, or

Microsoft Visual Studio . Fortunately, any program can be written in a

text editor, which means you can get started for free. As you get more

comfortable with a programming language, using a more advanced editor

is recommended, as it can make coding and testing the code more

efficient.

Computer Hope Recommendations

For Windows users, we suggest an editor such as

Notepad ++ because it is free and supports

syntax highlighting . If you're on a Mac, you can use their free

editor named TextEdit . Also, it is good to keep in mind that visual

programming languages, like Visual Basic, include the editor and

compiler in the same tool used to create programs.

Compiler

Most computer programming languages are high-level programming

languages, meaning they are easy for you to understand but impossible

for a computer to understand. For the computer to "read" your program,

it must be compiled or have an interpreter . Your programming language

is the deciding factor on whether or not you'll need a third-party

program to compile or interpret it.

For example, Eclipse is an interpreter that takes a program written in

Java and "translates" it into code that can be run on and understood

by a computer. Other languages, like Perl, are interpreted, meaning

they do not need to be compiled. These languages only require that

they are installed on the computer or the server that is running the

script.

Learning the language

After you have decided on a programming language, editor, and

compiler, you are ready to program. For most users, the easiest way to

start is with the infamous Hello World! program. After you have been

able to run your program that prints "Hello World!" to the screen, the

next step is to learn the language's syntax. To do so, you need to

understand the following concepts:

Understand how to declare variables

Create conditional statements (e.g. if , elsif , and

else)

Perform loops (e.g. do , for , foreach , goto , and

while)

Understand escape sequences

How to make comments or temporarily disable parts of the code

Understand regular expressions

As you run into questions, an Internet search can answer most of them.

Books written for your programming language or programming courses are

great ways to develop your skills further.