Introduction

 

 

Computers are an essential part of our daily lives. Almost every appliance we use has some kind of computer capable of performing certain tasks: washing machines with different washing modes, game consoles for moments of entertainment, super-powerful calculators, personal computers used for a host of purposes, cell phones with endless applications and thousands of other things.

All these devices with computers of different types have something in common: someone "tells" them how to work, that is, tells them what steps they must follow to accomplish a task. That's what programming is all about: it's the activity by which people give a computer a set of instructions so that, when executed, it can solve a problem. Those who perform this activity are called programmers. Without the people who program them, computers are useless, no matter how complex these devices are. The sets of instructions that computers receive are called programs.

Programming is a creative process: on many occasions the task in question can be accomplished by following different paths and the programmer is the one who must imagine what they are and choose one. Some of these paths may be better than others, but in any case, the computer will simply follow the instructions devised by the programmer.

Unfortunately, computers do not understand Spanish or any other human language. Instructions must be given to them in a language they are able to understand. For that we must learn some programming language, which is nothing more than an artificial language made up of a series of expressions that the computer can interpret. Computers interpret our instructions very literally, so when programming you have to be very specific. It is necessary to respect the rules of the programming language and be clear in the indications provided.

Now, why should we study programming in the Bachelor of Statistics? The activity of statisticians is completely crossed by the need to handle computer tools with ease that assist us in the different stages of our work, from the collection and purification of data sets, through the application of different analysis methodologies. , to the effective communication of the results. For this reason, in the Introduction to Programming course we will study the basic concepts of this discipline, promoting the exercise of abstract and logical thinking necessary to be able to understand ourselves skillfully with the computer and make it perform the tasks we need.