Programming a computer means telling a computer what to do and when to do it. Unfortunately computers don’t understand English so we can’t communicate directly with them. Instead, we use something called a compiler. The job of a compiler is to translate instructions that humans can understand into instructions that a computer can understand. The type of instructions we use tells the computer what to do, the order of these instructions tells the computer the sequence in which to do them.
The box at the bottom of this page is a type of compiler. It compiles a language which is quite similar to C++, Java, and C#. Therefore by using the compiler to complete the tasks on the following pages you will learn skills which are directly applicable to these languages, and gain knowledge about programming in general.
To operate the compiler, we type the instructions we want to be translated into the text box, edit them as necessary, and then click the button marked ‘Compile’. The box below will then either indicate that what we have written makes sense and as such is translatable, or attempt to explain the error we made that causes the program not to be translatable. Assuming that there was no error (we say the program compiled), clicking the button marked ‘Run’ will tell the computer to carry out the instructions we gave it. If the program is running and we want to stop it so that we can change the program or start again, use the ‘Break’ button.
There is already a program typed in for us to compile and run.
If you’ve already played around with the compiler or changed the text in the box just reload this page to set things back the way they were.
Click the compile button.
Note the box below will indicate that there are no errors in the program.
Click the run button.
Note how the instructions are highlighted as they are carried out.