LEVEL II

PROGRAMMING
UNIT 8 - Reading 1

Skills: THE PIONEERS OF COMPUTER

PROGRAMMING
Unlike some inventions, like the airplane (Wright
Brothers) and telephone (Alexander Graham Bell), the
- Details creation of computer programs isn’t tied to any single
- Make associations name in history. Instead, it was a halting, stop and go
- Vocabulary in context progress that led to what we think of as computer
- Understand vocabulary programming today, which is the ability to write
- Insert words in a

instructions for a machine in near-English language.

sentence
- Understand negative
Here we' ll look at some of the pioneers in this field.
facts.
Babbage and Lovelace
_________ mathematics and algorithms are vital to
Getting started: computer programming, we will start with the duo that
is widely credited for the concept of computer
programs and the creation of the first one . Charles
Babbage is considered the father of the programmed
computer. As a mathematician, he understood how
Do you know anything

about the origins of

calculations consisted of smaller parts that could be
programming? mechanized. To do this, the machine would need an
input device, a processor, a control unit, and an output
device. Babbage conceptualized such a machine and
named it the Analytical Engine .
The conceptual Analytical Engine became more important in computing history when
Babbage’s friend, Augusta Ada King, wrote the first computer program for it. The program she
wrote for the Analytical Engine was intended to calculate Bernoulli numbers and would have
worked if the machine had been built. So, this is why Augusta Ada King is regarded as the
world’s first computer programmer.

Herman Hollerith
The first step toward a programmed computer was taken by Herman Hollerith. Hollerith, and the
Tabulating Machine Company he founded in 1896, has a connection with computing history.
Hollerith’s punch-card machines were a step in the direction of a programmed and automated
computer, but they also marked the birth of data processing. His company also became part of
the iconic IBM in the 1920s. As far as programming, the Hollerith Machines provided a medium
by which programming could take place.

The War Trio

A German, a Brit and a Hungarian greatly contributed to the field of computer programing. The
Brit, Alan Turing, created the Universal Turing Machine, a conceptual machine that could be
programmed and reprogrammed to do different tasks. During the war, he also designed many
single-purpose computers for cracking codes. The Hungarian, John von Neumann, added a
description of the architecture that would be needed to create a stored-program computer,
giving scientists and academics a to-do list. Then, Konrad Zuse built the first programmable
computer using a language of his own called Plankalkul, which was written in binary. The
potential of his computers was largely overlooked by the German military, and Zuse’s
prominence in the history of computing has suffered for this reason. The fact that his pioneering
work was done in Nazi-era Germany also didn't help his popularity.

Grace Hopper
American Captain Grace Hopper is the last stop in the story of computer programming. Hopper
ended her career in the Navy with the rank of admiral, but she’s best remembered for her work
in computer programming. Hopper created the first compiler, which allowed programmers to
use near-English instead of machine code, freeing them up from having to convert every
command into lines of binary code.

She also pioneered the concept of a library of subroutines that different programs could use
_____ than coding these again and again with each program. After Hopper, computer
programming became a story of higher-level languages that allowed computer programmers to
focus more on creating new applications than on learning and composing in machine code.

*Adapted from https://www.techopedia.com/2/27836/development/programming-tools/the-pioneers-of-computer-

programming
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1. What is stated about the history of computer programs in paragraph 1?

a. Alexander Graham Bell helped developed the first ideas of computer programming.
b. The initial instructions for a computer program were not written in English.
c. The invention of the airplane is associated with programming.
d. It is not connected with a particular person.

2. In paragraph 1, what does the author mean with the sentence “it was a halting, stop
and go progress”?

a. A big pause interfered with any progress.

b. Programmers often found obstacles.
c. It implied a gradual development.
d. The process had to stop for a long time.

3. What word can be inserted in the gap (____) in paragraph 2?

a. But
b. Although
c. However
d. In spite of

4. The word one in paragraph 2 refers to

a. programs
b. creation
c. computer
d. algorithms
5. What is stated about the Analytical Engine in paragraph 3?

a. It is a historical machine.
b. It was never made.
c. It has no significance at all.
d. It helps people calculate algorithms.

6. The word regarded in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to

a. admired
b. respected
c. considered
d. beloved

7. What is stated about Herman Hollerith in paragraph 4?

a. IBM took over his company in the early 20th century.

b. Hollerith bought the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896.
c. He processed data using an IBM device he designed.
d. Hollerith’s machines used the first computer programs.

9. What is stated about Turing, von Neumann and Zuse in paragraph 5?

a. Turing created devices to intercept information.

b. Konrad Zuse’s work is really popular nowadays.
c. They all worked together on the design of a machine.
d. Von Neumann also worked as an architect at that time.
9. What is NOT stated about Grace Hopper in paragraph 6?

a. She is more famous for her role in programming than for being in the Navy.
b. Her last rank in the navy was captain.
c. She was born in the United States.
d. Her work enabled people to use a different language to program.

10. What word can be inserted in the gap (____) in paragraph 7?

a. sooner
b. apart
c. instead
d. rather

What do you think?

Why is programming so important in this

modern world?

 LEVEL II

PROGRAMMING
UNIT 8 - Reading 2

3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

Skills:
THAT BUILT THE INTERNET

Lisp
- Details This language isn’t widely used today but is responsible
- Vocabulary in context for building the internet in many ways. Invented in the
- Understand negative facts late 1950s, Lisp offered some modern features for the first
time, such as conditionals. However, it made no
distinction between code and data. Lisp extended the
language in ways that its designers never intended, giving
rise to the term "programmable programming language."
Lisp became the lingua franca of the artificial intelligence
community, the community that helped build what
Getting started: eventually became the internet in the late 1960s.

C
The single most influential programming language today
might be C. Invented in the 70s, it was one of the first
What programming

languages do you know?

high-level programming languages to have an operating
What are some of their
system written in it, which happens to be Unix. Because it
characteristics? was written in C, it was possible to move Unix to different
platforms. Thus, Unix was one of the first portable
operating systems.
C had a lot of success outside Unix. For instance, Microsoft Windows is coded in C. C satisfied a
need for a system implementation language efficient enough to displace assembly language,
yet sufficiently abstract and fluent to describe algorithms and interactions in different
environments.

Perl
Perl is still a major part of the internet. Perl was invented in the late 80s by Larry Wall when he
was working for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Wall needed to set up a management system
to talk to several Unix computers on opposite coasts. None of the Unix tools could do the job, so
he considered inventing a whole new programming language. Wall released it in 1987, and it
attracted a community of developers across the growing internet, one of the first major open-
source projects before Linux.

*Adapted from https://www.techopedia.com/2/25666/internet/the-6-programming-languages-that-built-the-internet

Complete the following chart with information about the three languages
described above.
Language Note – Gerunds and Infinitives II

- Wall needed to set up a management system to talk to several Unix computers.

- He considered inventing a whole new programming language.

When there are two verbs together, the first one is conjugated (present, past, future) and
the second one takes a gerund or infinitive form:
Verb1 + Verb2 I want to drink some coffee. / I enjoy working out on weekends.

To know which verb is followed by which form, use the next chart as reference:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- I can’t stand talking to someone who speaks while they chew their food.
- Lena is planning to go abroad to study.
- I love to listen to pop music / I love listening to pop music.
- I stopped playing soccer three years ago after a harsh injury.
- We were driving when we saw this beautiful sunset, so we stopped to take a photo.
- Don refuses to listen to our suggestions, so I’m convinced he won’t last so long in his job.
- Kate regrets buying that car. It has only given her trouble.
 What do you think?

Which programming language do you prefer?

Why?

 LEVEL II

PROGRAMMING
UNIT 8 - Reading 3

Skills: THE DATA SCIENCE DEBATE

BETWEEN R AND PYTHON

R and Python
R is an open-source language developed during the 90s
- Details as a variation of the S language . It was developed by
- Make associations two statisticians, Canadian Robert Gentleman and New
- Establish comparisons Zealand Ross Ihaka. It was designed to update the
programming experience. Nowadays, it’s being used for
research, enterprise, and academics. Due to its usage in
many fields, it is one of the most popular statistical
programming languages. It’s quite simple to use, but it
can be a little difficult for those completely new to
programming. However, they can learn more from the
Getting started: different resources available on the internet.

Python was created during the early 1990s by Dutch

programmer Guido Van Rossum. It focuses on ease of
coding and more adaptability. Python is used by those
Have you used Python?

What are some

programmers who want to have greater control over the
characteristics of this
codes they make for faster and more efficient data
programming language? analysis. The programming language is easy to use and
learn, it’s flexible, and it generates what the user wants
to create.
R, Python, and other languages
Data analysis is very important, and the process must be flexible. For this reason, the process
must be interactive so that it remains efficient. However, the language must also be very flexible,
interactive and easy to use. R is a very flexible language. While other languages are used for
some exact purpose and cannot work for anything else, R can work for a wide range of
purposes, especially in the scientific fields. Another thing that differentiates R from other
statistical programming languages is its interactivity. R has a very powerful mechanism that is
used for quickly creating data structures. R is also a very powerful graphics medium, unlike
textual programming languages, which is an important feature since graphics are very useful,
especially for statistics and data analysis. Thus, R can be used to produce many different types
of graphs easily.

Python is also an excellent choice for data analysis. It’s very adjustable compared to languages
like Perl or Ruby, as it can be customized by the use of modules. It has many features too. It’s a
graphical language, which allows it to have visual libraries, and that helps to visualize graphs
and statistical data easily. Another thing that differentiates it from other languages is its easy-to-
use syntax.

Use cases
There are many use cases of both R and Python for data analysis. For example,
ForecastWatch.com collects data from different weather forecast sites and rates the sites
according to their accuracy. This allows better weather forecasting and allows forecasters to
compare their accuracy with others. Python was used for every component of this service due to
its flexibility, which comes from its ability to use many standard libraries. Python has also been
used to power tourist social networks that require a system to help their customers report on
their journeys while improving their online booking system. While their existing booking system
already worked quite well, it couldn’t handle multiple requests efficiently. However, since
Python was used, it became much faster due to better data analysis and management facilities.
This helped them create a better user interface based on the user’s queries.

R is also used in social networking sites and crowdfunding sites. R’s visualization ability makes
it the favorite of many data analytics organizations, too. R is currently used in the ANZ Bank for
analyzing the risks of crediting, and Facebook also uses R to analyze status updates. Both
languages have an active community that is always happy to help, and both are constantly
updated to adjust new features and technologies.

*Adapted from https://www.techopedia.com/2/32005/trends/

big-data/the-debate-between-r-and-python
Glossary:

- S language : S is a statistical programming language developed in the 70s. The aim of the

language is to turn ideas into software quickly.

Read the following descriptions. Write R if they apply to R, P if they apply to Python,

or B if they apply to both.

1. It is not a complex language

2. It provides interactive functions.
3. It is perfect for graphic inputs.
4. It was created as the alternative to another language.
5. It is especially used for statistics and data analysis.
6. It was developed first.
7. It allows programmers to have more command of the code.
8. It is very adaptable.
9. Its linguistic structure is easy to use.
10. It was created by someone from the Netherlands.

What do you think?

From your own experience, what are some

important aspects that must be taken into account

when programming?