Concepts

• File
• Directory
• Folder
• Programs
• Machine Language
• Programming Languages
• Source Code
• Compiled Language
• Scripting Language
• Interpreter

File

• A file is linear arrangement of data on some electronic device
• Linear means it is one dimensional
• It has a beginning and an end
• Files live on hardware like
  • Hard drives
  • Servers
  • Thumb Drives
  • SSD Devices
  • CDs

Directory

• A directory is a container that holds files and other directories
• It is used to organize data on an electronic device
• Directories are sometimes called folders

Folder

• Another name for a directory

Programs

• A series of instructions given to a computer to make it perform a task

Machine Language

• Instructions written in binary, a series of 1s and 0s
• Computers only understand programs written in machine language

Programming Languages

• A computer executes instruction written in a machine language of 1s and 0s
• People find it very hard to program in a machine language
• Programming languages are designed to be easier for humans to use
• The use all the symbols found on the keyboard ...
• and contain the logic needed to make a program work
• Other programs take a file written in a programming language ...
• and turn it into the machine language the computer understands
• There are two kinds of programming languages
  • Compiled languages
  • Scripting languages

Source Code

• A text file containing a program written in a programming language
• A source code file is written by humans and can be understood by them
• This file cannot be run directly on an computer because it only understands machine language

Compiled Language

• A programming language where a special program, a compiler, takes the source code and turns it into machine language
• These languages are designed for large projects where many people work together
• To make this possible, these languages are very fussy
• The machine language produced by a compiler is very fast

Scripting Language

• A programming language that does not use a compiler to create source code
• Instead is uses a program called an interpreter
• These languages are designed to be used to create short programs
• They are much less fussy than compiled languages
• They are designed to be used by people who have not studied computer science

Interpreter

• A program that runs the source code file created by a scripting language
• The program reads each line in the program starting at the top
• It creates machine language code that represent this line
• And then gives it to the computer to run