QA Friday 2016-Feb-19

What is syntax and what does it mean for somebody learning a new programming language? Syntax really is just the basic rules of how the language is structured. Does it use special characters to end each line or each expression? Does it use indentation levels and empty spaces to mean something special? Does it reserve special words for its own use? These are called keywords and most programming languages have them. Programming languages need these special and very specific rules in order to avoid any misunderstanding about what we want the computer to do. Languages also provide extra capability in the form of standard libraries and frameworks. Because these libraries are so useful and common, it’s easy to confuse them with the syntax of the language itself. Listen to the full episode or you can also read the full transcript below. Transcript Thank you for your review and comments. The thing I liked about this review was the encouragement to others to learn how to program. It really is becoming a basic skill that we’re all going to need. If you know anybody who would like to learn how to program, then let them know about this podcast. I put a lot of effort into producing each episode so that you can get the most benefit from an organized and information packed 10 to 15 minutes. Okay on to the question this week. This actually came up in the live class last week. One of the new students was thinking that the language syntax included a lot more than it really does. I don’t always know what you’re struggling to understand. There’s something called the curse of knowledge that makes it very difficult for any of us to remember the things we struggled with once we finally understand a topic. Given enough time, those early challenges will be completely forgotten. If you’re having difficulty with something, then others are probably having the same trouble. Taking the time to ask a question is a great way to get an answer to your situation and help others too. Let’s start with the reason why syntax is important. Computers are very precise and do exactly what we tell them even if that’s not at all what we meant. This means we need a way of expressing our intentions that’s just as precise. Each programming language is different and best suited for some tasks more than others but they all share one thing in common – they are precise. Imagine coming home one day with your hands full and asking a family member, “Can you help me for a second?” The other person just smiles and says, “Yes.” You get irritated and revise your statement to, “Would you please help me for a second?” The other person says , “Sure,” and starts walking toward you, then stops and says, “Sorry, the second’s over.” You may be getting quite mad by now. We’ve all encountered this situation and probably from both sides at some point. What I’m trying to say is that our spoken language is so full of opportunities to misunderstand each other accidentally or on purpose that it’s a wonder we can communicate at all. There’s no way a computer will ever understand this without some major advancements that still have a long way to go before being widely available. Until then, we have to be extra careful when programming computers and that means that we have to follow a language that’s been carefully designed to remove all traces of misunderstanding. Learning a language like this can sometimes be more difficult than learning a new spoken language because we’re not used to needing to be so specific. Programming languages have all developed rules for exactly what characters are allowed and what they mean. This is the language syntax. I’ll explain more about this and another topic that’s often confused with syntax right after this message from our sponsor. ( Message from Sponsor ) Programming languages are different b