programming

Programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, and maintaining instructions that a computer can execute. These instructions are written in programming languages that provide syntax, semantics, and abstractions for expressing algorithms and data manipulation. A program may run on a single device or across many environments.

Historically, computers first executed binary machine code. Higher-level languages emerged in the 1950s and 1960s to increase productivity, with Fortran, Lisp, and COBOL among the early widely used examples. Subsequent decades saw the growth of structured and object-oriented programming, alongside interactive development environments and expanded software ecosystems.

Programming paradigms include imperative, functional, object-oriented, and declarative styles. Languages embody these approaches to varying degrees; C and assembly are procedural or low-level, Lisp, Haskell, and Scheme emphasize functional programming, while Java, C++, and Python support object-oriented design. JavaScript is widely used for web programming.

Software is created with text editors or integrated development environments, and built using compilers or interpreters. Compilers translate high-level code into executable machine code; interpreters execute code directly; many languages employ just-in-time compilation to combine both approaches. Version control, testing, debugging, and documentation are essential practices.

Applications span operating systems, web services, data analysis, scientific computing, simulations, and embedded systems. The field emphasizes correctness, performance, maintainability, and security. Open-source communities, standards bodies, and educational institutions contribute to shared languages, libraries, and tools, shaping how programming evolves and is taught.