1. Introduction

Computers, to be useful, need instructions to tell them what to do.

A software application consists of a set of instructions that the computer will run ('execute') when loaded.

Each application will do something different for example:

• Computer games
• Word Processing
• Play Music
• Calculate Results

They all share something in common - they need someone to write the instructions using a programming language to make them useful and to perform the tasks they are meant to.

Over the next few pages, we will be introducing you to programming languages. Use the menu on the left hand side to navigate to the other pages.