1.1 Introduction¶

Computers play a very important role in the digital world, and in our daily lives. They are central to smart TVs, phones, homes cars, metros, airplanes, robots, factories and many other digital systems. We use computers through these systems every day.

At work, computers have become an indispensible tool to more and more people. Fund managers use computers for analytical trading; architects use computers to make and verify building design; linguists use computers to study and annotate text corpora; natural scientists use computers to simulate large experiments in physics and chemistry; supermarkets use computers to plan and schedule the most efficient home delivery times and routes. As a result, fundamental knowledge on effectively utilizing computers is useful for all industries and disciplines.

Computers integrate hardware and software. Hardware refers to physical components, such as chips, keyboards and monitors, while software refers to operating systems and application programs, such as Office, Firefox and iTunes. Software operates on hardware to provide useful functionalities to users, such as text editing, Internet browsing and gaming. On the other hand, hardware provides fundamental support to software, by offering a set of basic instructions, which software combines to achieve complex functionality.

Programming is the design of software using a set of basic instructions. Programming languages abstract hardware instructions into basic statements, which are much easier to understand and handle. Using a programming language, one can write complex software, achieving tailored functionalities by combination of basic statements. This is the ultimate way of utilizing a computer, and is necessary when existing software fails to satisfy the requirement, such as the need to compute novel equations, or simulate specific experiments in an engineering discipline.