Coffee break #67. What is the difference between coding and programming? Java 16 Features Every Java Developer Should Know

What is the difference between coding and programming?

Source: Free Code Camp It took me a long time to understand what the terms “programming” and “coding” actually mean. And I am sure that many newcomers to IT, like me, were initially confused by these two terms. For a while I thought they were the same thing. It took me some time to understand that there are still differences between these two concepts. In this article, I will try to explain the difference between coding and programming, and how the two terms work together when developing apps and websites.

What is coding?

Coding is the translation of code from human language to machine language. To become a coder, you need to be able to write code in different programming languages ​​such as Java, Python, C and so on. With this knowledge, you can provide instructions and information to the computer so it can execute programs that you or your team create. Coding involves writing code to create software. Any application, website or game is a program.

What is programming?

Programming is the development of an executable program that runs without errors. The programmer's job is to analyze the problem in the code and propose solutions. To create an application, you need to follow several steps, including:

• plan the application;
• create a design;
• test its functions;
• perform deployment;
• provide support after the application is completed.

So it would be fair to say that programming concerns not only the coding process itself, but also the implementation of algorithms and much more.

Differences between coding and programming

Main Difference

Coding is a part of programming that involves writing code. Programming is the process of creating a program that follows certain standards and performs a specific task.

Tools

Coding does not require a lot of software tools as it is just a process of translating the code into a machine-readable form. A simple text editor is enough. But as a coder, you must know the syntax of your programming language. Programming requires you to perform code reviews and documentation analysis. This may require additional tools. These include code analysis tools, code generators, databases, test environments, compilers, graphical user interface designers, assemblers, debuggers, and simulation algorithms. It takes time for a programmer to master the skills of working with these tools. He also needs to understand and create complex data structures.

Expertise

Coders must have a basic knowledge of programming languages, their syntax and terminology. Programmers have experience creating algorithms, modeling problems, processing data, and managing projects. And these are just some of the practical skills required. Programmers also use their imagination and analytical skills to solve specific problems.

Result

The expected result when coding is a simple solution or a small part of the project. Code acts as a set of instructions given to the computer. On the other hand, programming produces a ready-to-use application, software products or website.

How Coding and Programming Work Together

You probably already understand the difference between these two terms. Now let's look at how coding and programming work together to accomplish various tasks. To make it easier to understand, I will explain this with an example. Imagine that we are creating an application to track something like our daily life. How will these two areas work together? To begin with, the programmer must:

• plan the application structure;
• describe functionality;
• create an application design;
• think about additional features that should be included in the application.

After the programmer completes these first steps, he passes them on to the coder. Now it's his turn: he converts these ideas into code that the computer can understand. After this magical process is completed, the finished code is again transferred to the programmer. The programmer reviews the code, debugs it, checks for errors, and runs tests before releasing the final product. As you can see, these two areas came together to collaborate on the idea of ​​creating an application.

Conclusion

If you are interested in logic and algorithms, you can try focusing on programming, but if you prefer to work only with code, you can choose coding. It all depends on what area you want to explore. Computer science is a vast field and has huge potential for development in the future. So enjoy the journey along your chosen path!

Java 16 Features Every Java Developer Should Know

Source: Fullstackdeveloper Java 16 has just been released. Many new features have been added to it, and at least six of them are necessary for every Java developer to know. Here is the list:

1. Records.
2. Pattern matching for instanceof .
3. Sealed classes (second preview).
4. jpackage packaging tool.
5. Stream.toList() method .
6. Added Day Period support to java.time Formats.

Posts

If you want to create a Java Bean class to act as a data carrier, you need to write a lot of code:

• declare object attributes;
• create getters and setters;
• override the equals() , hashCode() and toString() methods ;
• create constructors (if necessary).

Now all this can be avoided with the help of Records! With them, the developer can save time and simplify the code.

Pattern matching for instanceof

If you need to check the class type of an object type and then perform some operation on it based on the type, you need to use the instanceof operator to check the type of the instance and then cast it to the required object type before performing any required operation. You can now ignore the cast operation using pattern matching introduced in Java 16.

Sealed classes

Can you tell which classes can inherit the class you created? This is now very easy to do using sealed classes in Java. This feature is not yet permanent in Java (it is in second preview). Most likely, it will become permanent in the next release - Java 17.

Packing tool

Have you ever wanted to create your own Java application? An application that can be installed on a Windows or Unix computer by simply running an exe file? Now Java has a packaging tool called jpackage that does just that. Until recently it was in incubator mode, but has now become a permanent feature in the current version of Java 16.

Stream.toList method

How to convert a stream of objects to a list? Before Java 16, you did this using the Stream.collect() method and passing the Collectors.toList() method as a parameter to the collect() method :

Stream.collect (Collectors.toList())

As of Java 16, you can do this with the even simpler Stream.toList() method . Also, the list you get from the Stream.toList() method is immutable, whereas the list you get from the Stream.collect() method is mutable.

Day Period support

Can you print exactly what period of the day Java is used? For example, in the morning, evening or night. As of Java 16, you can do this by simply using the letter "B" in the datetime formatting pattern. For example, the code below prints the data and time along with the time of day:

String theTimeNow = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("h m B").format(LocalTime.now());

I checked it at 22:19 and it printed the following result: The pattern codes are as follows:

• h for hours
• m for minutes
• B for period

You can see the full set of innovations in Java 16 in the notes for this version .