Programming has been a fundamental part of my time doing Computer Science and exploring different technologies. I have used a variety of languages when coding different machines, anything from BASIC (used on the 1982 computer ZX Spectrum) to Swift (used on all Apple Products and Apps).
From the start of year 7 and with the help of external sources such as YouTube and online courses I started to teach myself the basics of coding. The first language I explored was JAVA. This was taught by a sixth former at the time and it was a good experience and introduction into programming. However this was a bit too difficult for the computer novice I was then, so I explored and found other solutions to the problem and found some easier languages to understand. The one I came across the most was Python and this was available on the school’s system.
Python was available to me through both the school’s system and on their raspberry pi’s they had installed. This was a great starter for me as it was simple, relatively self explanatory and it gave quick results. Of course the first line of code I wrote was:
print("Hello World")
Seeing this work and feeling a sense of accomplishment, I explored other features of Python and its IDE, IDLE. This came with a fun feature called turtle graphics which allows you to draw pictures on the screen, code where they go, when the pen touches the paper and so on. This provided some interesting results and helped build my confidence. I carried on and started to develop more advanced programs such as a calculator with built in inputs and multiple options. To see more on Python, click HERE.
HTML was the next language I explored as it was introduced to me by my dad who had previously built his business’ website through notepad and in HTML. This was also good fun and showed me another side to programming that I had not seen before and how it is used in so many ways across the technology industry. The first webpage I created was:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1>This is my first webpage!</h1>
</body>
</html>After completing this very simple website, it was nice to see what you could do with 6 lines of code. I then started to explore what else I could accomplish with it, such as adding pictures, hyperlinks and using CSS to style. Formatting was more difficult to learn however it makes every page look at lot better. An example of one of the website I have designed and created using HTML and CSS is: www.moonraker.org.uk. To see more on HTML, click HERE.
poms ict 