Introduction to

Programming
Inst. Nguyễn Minh Huy

Fundamentals of Programming - Nguyễn Minh Huy 1

Contents
■ Computer programming.
■ Computer algorithm.

Fundamentals of Programming - Nguyễn Minh Huy 2

Contents
■ Computer programming.
■ Computer algorithm.

Fundamentals of Programming - Nguyễn Minh Huy 3

Computer programming
■ Programming concepts:
■ Problem:
Teach a kid to find sum of max and min among 7, 1, 9.
Rules:
The kid knows addition and comparison between two numbers.
Write solution in step-by-step.
■ Programming ~ teaching:
From what computer knows.
Step-by-step.

Computer Programming Program

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Computer programming
■ Programming concepts:
■ Computer has a set of hard-wired instructions.
■ Programming: write instructions for computer.
■ Computer program:
Written organized instructions.
Follow step-by-step.
To solve problem.

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Computer programming
■ Programmer:
■ Person who writes the program.
■ Programmer, coder, developer.
■ To become a good programmer:
Logical thinking.
Analytical and careful.
Hands-on and explore.
■ The first programmer?

Ada Lovelace

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Computer programming
■ Instruction code:
■ Machine code:
Binary sequence of ‘0’ and ‘1’.
Computer can execute directly.
■ Pseudo-code:
Natural language. Step 1: add a, b.
Human can understand. Step 2: compare a, c.
■ Source code: Step 3: output a.
…
Intermediate language.
Easy to read, not too vague.
Can be translated to machine code.
Compiler vs. Interpreter.
Who wrote the first compiler?

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Computer programming
■ Programming cycle:
■ Edit: write source code.
■ Compile: source code 🡺 machine code.
■ Run: execute machine code to perform tasks.
■ Debug: review source code to fix errors.
🡺 Debug takes the most time!

Edit / Debug Compile Run

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Computer programming
■ Programming language:
■ Intermediate language between human and computer.
■ Concise and precise.
■ There are thousands of programming languages!
■ Learning programming thinking is more important than
learning programming language.

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Computer programming
■ Programming language:
■ Low-level language:
1st generation: machine code.
2nd generation: assembly language.
■ High-level language:
Procedural: Fortran, Pascal, C.
Functional: Lisp, Haskell, F#.
Object oriented: C++, Java, C#.
■ Trends:
Scripting languages: JavaScript, Python.
AI prompts: ask AI to generate source code.

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Computer programming
■ Programming environment:
■ A platform of tools supporting programming tasks.
■ Source code editor:
Edit text, syntax highlight, code completion.
■ Compiler:
Translate source code to machine code.
■ Terminal:
Command-line tool to run program and shell commands.
■ Debugger:
Run program step-by-step.
Monitor computer memory.

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Computer programming
■ Programming environment:
■ IDE – Integrated Development Environment:
A single application combining programming tools all-in-one.
User friendly, configuration-free, add-in features.
Cons:
Heavy memory and storage usage.
Limit configuration skill.
Require license.
Track user data.

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Computer programming
■ C/C++ programming environment:
Tools Windows MacOS Linux
Editor Notepad++ TextMate Vim, Emacs
VS Code (*) VS Code (*) VS Code (*)
Sublime Text (*) Sublime Text (*) Sublime Text (*)
Compiler MSVC (*)
GCC (+) Clang GCC
Clang (+) GCC Clang
Debugger MSVC (*) LLDB GDB
GDB GDB LLDB
IDE Visual Studio (*) Xcode (*)
Code::Blocks Code::Blocks Code::Blocks
CodeLite CodeLite CodeLite
(*): Proprietary software and track user data.
(+): Run on Linux simulated environment like MinGW64, WSL.

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Computer programming
■ C/C++ programming environment:
■ Set up loosely-coupled environment:
Windows: MinGW64, GCC, GDB.
Project WinLibs: light-weight, not extensible, https://winlibs.com
Project MSYS2: get MSYS2 and toolchain, https://www.msys2.org
Linux (Ubuntu/Debian): GCC, GDB.
Install package build-essential.
MacOS: Clang, LLDB.
Terminal command: xcode-select --install.
■ Set up IDE:
Visual Studio (Windows): https://visualstudio.microsoft.com
Xcode (MacOS): xcode-select --install, then Get Xcode.
Code::Blocks: https://www.codeblocks.org
CodeLite: https://codelite.org

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Contents
■ Computer programming.
■ Computer algorithm.

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Computer algorithm
■ Algorithm concepts:
■ Different machines have different instruction code.
■ Turing machine: abstract machine and instructions.
■ Algorithm ~ program on Turing machine:
Finite steps to solve problem on Turing machine.
Does not depend on specific machine.
Is more abstract than program.

Alan Turing
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Computer algorithm
■ Algorithm basic instructions:
■ Read input, write output.
■ Arithmetic operations: +, -, *, /, =.
■ Comparisons: >, <, >=, <=, ==, !=.
■ Condition: if-else.
■ Loop: while.
■ Can machines think?
■ The Imitation game - Turing test.

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Computer algorithm
■ Algorithm representations:
■ Pseudo-code:
Use natural language.
Notations:
Instructions Notations Example
Read input Input -Step 1: Input a, b, c.
Write output Output -Step 2: Output a + b + c.
-Step 1: a = 5.
Arithmetic operations +, -, *, /, %, =
-Step 2: b = (a + 5) / (a – 3).
-Step 1: Input a.
If <condition> …
Condition -Step 2: If a < 0 Output “Negative”
Else …
Else Output “Positive”.
-Step 1: a = 0.
-Step 2: While a < 10
Loop While <condition> ...
Output a.
a = a + 1.

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Computer algorithm
■ Algorithm representations:
■ Pseudo-code:

* Find max among 3 numbers: * Compute factorial of N:

-Step 1: Input a, b, c. -Step 1: Input N.
-Step 2: max = a. -Step 2: S = 1.
-Step 3: If b > max -Step 3: While N > 1
max = b. S = S * N.
-Step 4: If c > max N = N – 1.
max = c. -Step 4: Output S.
-Step 5: Output max.

Fundamentals of Programming - Nguyễn Minh Huy 19

Computer algorithm
■ Algorithm representations:
■ Flowchart:
Use diagram.
Visualize flow of process.
Notations:
Intrustions Notations Example
Read input
a, b, c x, y
Write output

Arithmetic operations a=a+b

Condition a<0

Transition

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Computer algorithm
■ Algorithm representations:

a, b, c N

max = a S=1

true false
b > max max = b N>1
false true
true S=S*N
c > max max = c
false
N=N-1
max

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Computer algorithm
■ Algorithm efficiency:
■ Complexity:
Algorithm performance varies with different inputs.
Big-O notation: O(), growth rate.
Time complexity: input ~ instructions.
Space complexity: input ~ memory.
Classes of complexity:
Constant: O(1).
Logarithmic: O(log(n)).
Linear: O(n).
Polynomial: O(n^2), O(n^3), …
Exponential: O(2^n).
Factorial: O(n!).

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Computer algorithm
■ Algorithm efficiency:
■ Popular algorithm complexities:
Algorithm Complexity Form
Finding max (3 numbers) O( 1 ) Constant
Binary Search(N elements) O( log(n) ) Logarithmic
Factorial N! O(n) Linear
Sorting Bubblesort: O( n2 )
Polynomial
(N elements) Quicksort: O( n*log(n) )
Traveling Salesman O (Kn ) Exponential
(N city) O( n! ) Factorial
■ Simplicity:
Easier to understand and implement.
Reduce cost in debugging and maintenance.

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Summary
■ Computer programming:
■ Write instructions for computer to solve problem.
■ Programming cycle: edit, compile, run, debug.
■ Programming language:
Intermediate language to communicate with computer.
Low-level vs high-level.
Trends: scripting languages, AI prompts.
■ Programming environment:
Platform of tools supporting programming tasks.
Editor, compiler, terminal, debugger.
IDE: Integrated Development Environment.

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Summary
■ Computer algorithm:
■ Finite steps to solve a problem on Turing machine.
■ Turing machine: abstract machine and instructions.
■ Basic instructions:
Input, output.
Arithmetic operations, comparisons.
Condition, loop.
■ Representations: pseudo-code, flowchart.
■ Efficiency:
Complexity: Big-O notation, growth rate.
Simplicity: easy to understand or implement.

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Practice
■ Practice 1.1:
Write algorithm to compute person age as follow:
- Input person birth-year.
- Compute and output person age.

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Practice
■ Practice 1.2:
Write algorithm to compute lucky number of a car as follow:
- Input car registration number (a 5-digit number).
- Compute and output the lucky number.

Fundamentals of Programming - Nguyễn Minh Huy 27

Practice
■ Practice 1.3:
Write algorithm to simulate a calculator as follow:
- Input two integers.
- Input an operation (+, -, *, /).
- Perform the operation on two integers and output result.

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Practice
■ Practice 1.4:
Write algorithm to rank a student as follow:
- Input literature, math, physics points.
- Calculate student GPA.
- Rank student based on GPA:
+ Excellent: GPA >= 8.5.
+ Good: GPA >= 7.0.
+ Fair: GPA >= 5.0.
+ Failed: GPA < 5.0.
- Output GPA and rank.

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Practice
■ Practice 1.5:
Write algorithm to count number of days in a month as follow:
- Input a month and a year.
- Count number of days in that month and output result.

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Practice
■ Practice 1.6:
Write algorithm to compute exponentiation of an integer as follow:
- Input x and n.
- Compute xn and output result.

Fundamentals of Programming - Nguyễn Minh Huy 31

Practice
■ Practice 1.7:
Write algorithm to do the following:
- Input 2 integers x, n (n > 0).
- Calculate and output S = x + x2 + … + xn.

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Practice
■ Practice 1.8:
Set up a C/C++ programming environment on your computer.

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Practice
■ Practice 1.9:
Edit, compile and run the following C/C++ program.
What does the program ask for?
What does the program print to screen?
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
int a, b, c, max;
printf(“Enter 3 integers = “);
scanf(“%d %d %d”, &a, &b, &c);
max = a;
if (b > max) max = b;
if (c > max) max = c;
printf(“max = %d”, max);
}

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Practice
■ Practice 1.10:
Edit, compile, run and debug the following C/C++ program.
a) What does the program ask for and print to screen?
b) When enter n = 10, list the values of s when n = 3.
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
int n;
long long s;
printf(“Enter an integer = “);
scanf(“%d”, &n);
for (s = 1; n > 0; n--)
s = s * n;
printf(“Factorial = %lld “, s);
}

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