Computer Programming - Some terms

From the link:

"Programming: Computer programming is the process of telling a computer to do certain things by giving it instructions. These instructions are called programs. A person who writes instructions is a computer programmer. The instructions come in different languages; they are called programming languages. There are many programming languages. Sometimes, programmers use special software, such as integrated development environments (IDEs), which have many special parts, including a text editor, to help them to type and edit programs. 

Computers understand instructions directly if those instructions are written in machine code, special characters that can be processed by the computer but are difficult for humans to read. Writing these instructions directly in machine code takes a long time and is difficult, so instructions are written in a language easier for people to use, which the computer converts into "computer form" instructions (in other words, machine code) so the computer can follow them. The simplest of these is assembly language. Programs written in a language more like English are converted by a compiler. Some languages, called interpreted languages, use interpreters instead of assemblers or compilers.

Once a program has been compiled the instructions in it are written into a file that contains a series of numbers that the computer can understand. These machine-instructions will be loaded into the memory computer's so that the can run them when the executable is opened.

Variables: A variable is a piece of the program that can be changed. Variables can include information added by the user, or answers that are found as a result of a calculation.

Conditionals: Conditionals are parts of the program that work if something the program can check to see whether it is true. If that part is not true, then the program won't make it happen. A conditional is often done with an "If Statement". Some words used are: "if", "else", "else if", 

Comments: In the program, a comment is information that is meant to be read by people who are reading the program. Comments have a special symbol in front of them that tells the computer that they are comments and should not be read as code. Comments are used to explain how a certain part of a program works. This is helpful when multiple people are working on the same program, and if they need to work on a section where someone else was working on. If the programmer that was working on it first left behind comments for any other programmer that works on it later, it will help them know faster what is going on in the program.

Debugging: Computer programmers make mistakes when writing codes. The mistakes are called bugs and cause the program to follow the wrong instructions. Debugging is the process of finding and fixing the mistakes. To debug code is to find such mistakes. There are many debugging methods. Software such as text editors and IDEs have tools that can detect specific mistakes in the codes before the program is executed. Programmers can also use programs called debuggers. A debugger can run a program step by step and track how values of specific variables change when the program is running. Programmers can use a debugger to find where the mistake happened in the code

IDE (Integrated Development Environment): It is a computer program that makes it easier to write other computer programs. They are used by computer programmers to edit source code, and can be easier to use than other text editors for new programmers. They can have compilers so programmers don't have to open other programs to compile the source code. They also often have syntax highlighting. A feature of an IDE is to check the syntax, and libraries can be added to increase functionality. It also may have predictive coding that can finish lines with syntax such as brackets or semicolons and can suggest variables to be used. It also may have debuggers that can step through lines, take breaks and inspect variables. An IDE often comes with an interpreter and a compiler. Certain IDEs can allow multi-language which means that functions can be written in different languages"