Sams Teach Yourself Programming in 24 Hours explains the basics of programming in the successful 24 Hours format. Greg uses his proven techniques from many years of college programming instruction and his best-selling programming books. The book begins with the absolute basics of programming: Why program? What tools? How does a program tell the computer what to do? It then moves on to teach you how to program the computer, pointing you in the direction of the best programming tools for your needs. The text covers computers as tools, their history, and the hardware unmasked. It also covers programs from definition through design and process. You'll learn techniques, programming languages, and much more.