Award-winning computer designer and engineer W. Daniel Hillis captured the essence of programming when he said: "The magic of a computer lies in its ability to become almost anything you can imagine, as long as you can explain exactly what that is. The hitch is in explaining exactly what you want. With the right programming a computer can become a theater, a musical instrument, a reference book, a chess opponent. No other entity in the world except a human being has such an adaptable, universal nature."

Computer programming has many facets: It is like engineering because computer programs must be carefully designed to be reliable and inexpensive to maintain. It is an art because good programs require that the programmer use intuition and a personal sense of style. It is a literary effort because programs must be understood by computers, and this requires mastery...