If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

Main content

Course: Computer programming - JavaScript and the web > Unit 1

Lesson 1: Intro to programming
Computing
Computer programming - JavaScript and the web
Intro to JS: Drawing & Animation
Intro to programming
© 2024 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice

What is Programming?

Google Classroom

Programming is the process of creating a set of instructions that tell a computer how to perform a task. We can program using a variety of computer programming languages, such as JavaScript, Python, and C++.  Those programs can be applied to problems like controlling Mars rovers, to processing medical data, to producing special effects in movies. Learning JavaScript on Khan Academy is a great starting point because the basic concepts apply across different programming languages!

. Created by Pamela Fox.

Want to join the conversation?

Log in
  • primosaur sapling style avatar for user Strider
    Posted 9 years ago. Direct link to Strider's post “how do you find other peo...”
    This post is pinned
    how do you find other people's spin-offs?
    (724 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • duskpin seedling style avatar for user alexandra.gomez
    Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to alexandra.gomez's post “How would you use the pro...”
    How would you use the programming in something like a fridge?
    (138 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • hopper cool style avatar for user Bryce Steuer
      Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Bryce Steuer's post “Good question. Some moder...”
      Incredible Answer
      Great Answer
      Good Answer
      Good question.
      Some modern fridges by Samsung are "smart", which means they have a touch screen and can keep track of the contents of the fridge. They depend on an operating system, like your computer does. This operating system controls its tasks and is usually programmed using C or C++. In fact, some fridge companies have begun to incorporate Windows 10 operating systems in its touch screens.
      The fridge's software would be programmed like a computer software is programmed.
      JavaScript or other object-oriented programming languages are also occasionally used to make 3D models of the different components, so manufacturers know exactly how to make them.
      As you can see, programming plays an indispensable role in our lives. From fridges to rovers on Mars, programming has it covered. Even cross-continental missiles.
      (312 votes)
  • leafers ultimate style avatar for user Vincent Duong
    Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Vincent Duong's post “How long does it usually ...”
    How long does it usually take to master the art of computer programming?
    (84 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • winston default style avatar for user Mark L
    Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Mark L's post “Hi, I'm new to programmin...”
    Hi, I'm new to programming. I was just wondering if all of this programming in Khan Academy is really worth it for programming outside of what we do here. Does it help, and if so, how?
    (58 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • piceratops ultimate style avatar for user Owen S
      Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Owen S's post “If you're new to programm...”
      Incredible Answer
      Great Answer
      Good Answer
      If you're new to programming, definitely. While the processingjs library of JavaScript that Khan Academy teaches is not necessarily widely used, the concepts you'd learn are fundamental to all programming languages and would serve as a great launching point into a whole world of computer programming. You'll learn about variables, arrays, loops, functions, objects, etc -- all of which are used across all languages. You can also learn HTML/CSS here, as well as SQL, which are widely used for websites and databases, respectively.
      (69 votes)
  • starky ultimate style avatar for user Alix Wolf ♥
    Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Alix Wolf ♥'s post “How do you find other peo...”
    How do you find other people's programs and projects?
    (33 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • starky sapling style avatar for user Ramirez Acosta Dayra
    Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to Ramirez Acosta Dayra's post “can i do this”
    can i do this
    (24 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • hopper cool style avatar for user Dilan
    Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Dilan's post “What is Ruby?”
    What is Ruby?
    (20 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • starky seedling style avatar for user The Last Legend
      Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to The Last Legend's post “Ruby is a dynamic, interp...”
      Great Answer
      Good Answer
      Ruby is a dynamic, interpreted, reflective, object-oriented, general-purpose programming language. It was designed and developed in the mid-1990s by Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto in Japan. According to the creator, Ruby was influenced by Perl, Smalltalk, Eiffel, Ada, and Lisp.
      (39 votes)
  • duskpin sapling style avatar for user rin
    Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to rin's post “How would computer progra...”
    How would computer programming be useful in health and medicine?
    (25 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • hopper cool style avatar for user Bryce Steuer
      Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to Bryce Steuer's post “If you look at the corona...”
      Great Answer
      Good Answer
      If you look at the coronavirus breaking out now, you can thank computers and programming that it has not spread around the world yet. Scientists found out its genetic coding using sophisticated programming techniques, and sent this around the world via methods made possible by programming. Programming is used by doctors when they diagnose diseases; they put the symptoms into a database and the database comes up with possible diagnoses and treatment. AI may even replace doctors in the next few decades, as programmed computers are generally better doctors than are humans, as they make less errors.
      (27 votes)
  • blobby green style avatar for user aurelianyamburakamami
    Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to aurelianyamburakamami's post “Why is the C programming ...”
    Why is the C programming not included?
    (14 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
  • leafers seedling style avatar for user David Hong
    Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to David Hong's post “What is javascript most u...”
    What is javascript most useful for? Also when would you use other programming languages?
    (6 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user
    • piceratops ultimate style avatar for user Dan Fletcher
      Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Dan Fletcher's post “JavaScript is useful for ...”
      Good Answer
      JavaScript is useful for a lot of things. Traditionally it's mostly used for apps that run in a web browser. But it is also used to program web servers too. You can even use JavaScript to program robots and desktop/mobile applications.

      When and why you would use other languages is a hot topic, and debated about constantly. Developers rage wars over this stuff.

      But a few examples: C++ is the main language of choice for game development, Java is big in large corporations, PHP is very popular for web applications, and Python is used a lot for data sciences, deep learning etc.

      JavaScript has become a "full-stack" language in that you can write both your back-end and front-end code with, and even use JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) in your database (MongoDB for example). Because of this, and it's gradual increase in performance over the years, it has become a very popular language to build web, mobile and desktop applications with.
      (13 votes)

Video transcript

Hi, welcome to programming! If you've never learned to program before, you might be wondering what programming actually is. Well, when we write a program, we're giving the computer a series of commands that kind of look like a weird form of English. You can think of a computer as a very obedient dog, listening to your every command, and doing whatever you tell it to do. So what's so cool about programming? Well, it really depends on what you think is cool. Because as it turns out, you can use programming for almost everything. Programs control robots that can take care of patients, and my favorite, robots that can roam around Mars and look for water on the surface. Programs help self-driving cars know which way to turn-- which is pretty important! Programs help doctors cure diseases by processing huge amounts of medical data. Programs can be really fun games, like Doodle Jump, Angry Birds, Minecraft. Programs make it possible for Pixar to put out their awesome 3-D animated movies, and for movies like Harry Potter to have such cool special effects. What's your favorite movie? I bet that a computer helped make it somehow. Programs are behind the websites and the apps that you use every day, all the time, like Google Maps, and Wikipedia, and YouTube, and of course, where you are now, Khan Academy. Here, on Khan Academy, you'll learn how to write JavaScript programs to make drawings, animations, and games. And that will be a great start towards creating whatever you're imagining in your head. I know, it might be hard to see how a drawing program relates to programs for robots, or curing diseases. But believe it or not, the same basic concepts are used by pretty much every programmer in every program. Once you learn to program JavaScript, you'll be able to learn other programming languages much more easily. Now you just gotta keep going!