Chapter 1 - Terms of Endearment
Algorithms and Programs
Simply put, an algorithm is a specific way in which a problem can be solved using a systematic method. Algorithms derive from simple arithmetic equations such as multiplication, addition and subtraction, or even the process of sending a letter in the mail or finding a file within your documents. Every algorithm's instructions have to be very precisely written as precision is very important.
A program is also an algorithm however, within a program the algorithm is written in a programming language such as 'HTML' or 'JavaScript', with an explicit set of conditions.
- Execute
'Execute' is a term used when a computer program performs instructions, also known as executing a program. The word in computing means to follow a set of instructions exactly as they are written. A computer will follow all the instructions as they are put in without any extra processing power going into how it will do it; it will simply carry out the instructions as it is told.
- Boot
'Booting' means starting up the computer, where 'rebooting' means to restart the computer. Originally the term 'Boot' comes from the word 'Bootstrap', this is because originally an operator had to input instructions into a computer via push buttons into the computers empty memory console.
These set of instructions told the computer to read the next set of instructions which were inserted into the computer by punch cards. Due to this, the computer could then start reading the instructions of the real operating system of a magnetic tape. Once the magnetic tape was read, the computer could finally start doing work.
From this entire process came the term of endearment which we now use to start up a computer, because when all these processes had to be carried out before the computer could start doing real work, it was commonly said that it pulled itself up by the bootstraps.
- Abstract
The word abstract has many different meanings, within 'British Mysteries' it is commonly used as another word for steal. Within I.T, to abstract also means to remove however, what is being removed within the I.T aspect is not physical. It is instead a process or an idea that is being removed or extracted from some form of information.
An abstraction is describing the removed information or idea from a concept or situation in a more concise form.
When abstracting information, it is important to know what needs to be abstracted and what can be left out. For example, in a computer problem, when a series of HTML code does not work and the problem is found then fixed, it is important to abstract the information of how that specific problem was fixed in order to use that information should similar kinds of problems be encountered.