CMPS 162: Introduction to Programming
Introduction
Variables, values, and expressions form the basic components of all computer programs. A variable is a storage location in the memory of the computer that is identified by a name and can store values. Values are expressions that cannot be reduced to something simpler, such as a number or a string (i.e., text). In general, expressions can be more complex than values, such as the following expression that captures a computation, 1+2+3, and which would result in the value 6 when it is evaluated. Note that expressions can also contain variables. For example, let’s assume there is a variable x that has been assigned value 10, then the expression 2*x will result in the value 20. While it would be impossible to write programs without values and expressions, variables make the life of a programmer much easier. Hard coding a value in each location it is used would make changing programs very difficult, but variables allow us to make such a change in only one location.
Module Objectives
- Illustrate how to alert information to the user
- Describe variables for Strings
- Describe variables for Numbers
- Identify legal and illegal variable names
- Apply familiar operators in math expressions
- Apply unfamiliar operators in math Expressions
- Eliminate ambiguity from math expressions
Learning Resources
- Module 1 Readings: Chapters 1 thru 7 from Myers
Learning Activities
- Module 1 Assignment: Interactive Coding Exercises 1 thru 7
- Set up your local coding environment
- Set up your remote jail environment (if you have not done so yet)
- Use FileZilla to upload files
Video
How to get started:
For Further Study
- Read more about JavaScript on Wikipedia
- Read more about variables on Wikipedia
- Read more about values on Wikipedia
- Read more about expressions on Wikipedia