Programming
Computer System
A computer is a system.
It is a combination of two very different parts.
Neither part is any use without the other.
Hardware
These are the bits of the computer you can see and touch. The consist of electrical components wired together.
The hardware is NOT clever or intelligent. In fact it can only do what the software tells it to.
Software
The software makes the hardware work.
The software tells the computer what to do. It is a computer program. A program is a lot of simple instructions written by a programmer in a language or code which can control the computer's circuits to make carry out a specific task or tasks.
This website contains some questions for you to keep track of your progress.
Use your Programming Progress Record to answer the questions.
Hardware + SOFTWARE = computer system
Answer all of the questions on your Progress Record as you complete each lesson.
Q1. What is one of the components that make up a computer system?
Q2. What is the other component that makes up a computer system?
Programming
Where do all the apps that you download onto your phones, chromebooks, PCs and tablets come from?
Software applications are coded by people known of as programmers.
So who are the programmers?
Computer programming can be a very well paid job but few programmers get to be as rich as Bill Gates.
Bill Gates (Mircosoft's CEO)
Is programming difficult?
At this beginner level we will aim to keep the work simple.
So simple in fact that Homer Simpson could probably do it.
The great thing is that you will be able to work at your own pace, experimenting with the things you have learnt and steadily building on your knowledge and understanding.
Are programmers geeks and nerds?
Watch this video to meet a programmer - he calls himself the 'QBasic Nerd', but programmers are not geeks or nerds.
Of course, they are perfectly normal people who are lucky enough to do a creative job which fascinates them.
Q3. The QBasic nerd lost a whole week's work.
What important lesson did he teach you through his song to prevent it happening again?
Scratch
Each computer software, application or program is written in a computer language. These languages are more like a series of instructions in code.
You are going to program in a language called Scratch.
There are a number of skills or techniques known as constructs which all computer programmers use when they are creating their programs.
This course will teach you these constructs lesson by lessonon. Learn about the constructs in the order they appear on this website.
Q4. What is a computer programming construct?
You will use Scratch 3 to create or to see inside and remix programs that will help you to understand what these constructs do and how they are used in programming.
Click this link and sign into your Scratch 3 account
Remember, if you don't sign in you cannot save your work.
If you are already a confident Scratch programmer you can move quickly through the first three or four lessons.