CSCA08H3 Chapter 2: Chapter 2.docx
20 Jan 2015
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Document Summary
Programs are made up of commands that a computer can understand. These commands are called statements, which the computer executes. The computer itself is assembled from pieces of hardware, including a processor that can execute instructions and do arithmetic, a place to store data such as a hard drive, and various other pieces. Every computer runs on some kind of operating system. The operating system is the only program on the computer that"s allowed direct access to the hard-ware. When you write a program in python it doesn"t run directly on top of the os. Instead, another program, called an interpreter or virtual machine, takes your program and runs it for you, translating your commands into a language the os understands. Sometimes you might need a shell that reads commands from the keyboard, does what they ask, and shows their output as text, all in one window.
