Programs

Etymology

French programme agenda, public notice, from Greek programma, from prographein to write before, from pro- before + graphein to write —

• Date: 1633

Definitions

• 1 [Late Latin programma, from Greek] : a public notice
• 2 a : a brief usually printed outline of the order to be followed, of the features to be presented, and the persons participating (as in a public performance)

b : the performance of a program; especially : a performance broadcast on radio or television

• 3 : a plan or system under which action may be taken toward a goal
• 4 : curriculum
• 5 : prospectus, syllabus
• 6 a : a plan for the programming of a mechanism (as a computer)

b : a sequence of coded instructions that can be inserted into a mechanism (as a computer)

c : a sequence of coded instructions (as genes or behavioral responses) that is part of an organism

Computer Program

A computer program (also a software program, or just a program) is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task for a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute the instructions. The same program in its human-readable source code form, from which executable programs are derived (e.g., compiled), enables a programmer to study and develop its algorithms.

Computer source code is often written by professional computer programmers. Source code is written in a programming language that usually follows one of two main paradigms: imperative or declarative programming. Source code may be converted into an executable file (sometimes called an executable program or a binary) by a compiler and later executed by a central processing unit. Alternatively, computer programs may be executed with the aid of an interpreter, or may be embedded directly into hardware.

Many computer programs may run simultaneously on a single computer, a process known as multitasking.[1]