The history of computers

If someone asked you what a ‘computer’ was, what would you say? The word computer is derived from the Latin word ‘putare’, meaning (in this context) ‘to think’, and the prefix ‘com’, meaning ‘together’. The word ‘computare’, meaning ‘to calculate’ also existed in Latin, and the word ‘compute’ has been used in English language for centuries to mean ‘calculate’. The first ‘Computers’ then, were people, who were ‘good at calculating’.

Our modern day understanding of computers generally refers to a piece of technology, capable of carrying out complex tasks. However, essentially computers are still calculators that are able to process numbers very well. How then, do these calculators manage to do much more complex tasks, such as creating images, interacting with users, and predicting patterns in weather and other data?

Read this article, from the Science Museum in London, to find out about the key figures who contributed to developing our modern understanding of computers, and how they paved the way to adapt the calculating function of computers into something far more complex.

What is computer code?

Simply put, computer code (or ‘code’) is the language that people use to communicate with computers. This allows us to turn our ‘human language’ (such as ‘draw a shape’) into ‘computer language’ (which is a series of binary commands, using ‘0’s and ‘1’s). Just like human languages, there are many forms of computer language, such as C, C++, Python, Java, Perl and more! A computer language is a way to input the code, using set commands which are pre-programmed into the computer. This makes it much easier to programme the computer to do what you need it to.

Almost everything that uses a computer will use some kind of ‘code’ in order to function: from a house thermostat, to a navigation system in a car, to ‘advanced computers’ such as a mobile phone or laptop.

Watch the short video below to discover 15 key facts about code:

Drawing with code

Now that you have been introduced to some of the concepts and applications of computer coding, your challenge is to use computer coding to create some art! Using a free coding programme from Khan Academy, you will be guided through a series of talk-throughs. In a talk-through a video will play, showing you how to code a particular feature of the art you are creating. Unlike a video however, you can pause the talk-through at any time, and click on it to change the code, interact and try out your ideas!

After each talk-through there is a challenge task for you to complete. These range from drawing a picture, to animating a short clip. Don’t worry if you have no experience of coding – Khan Academy uses a high-level coding language, which uses user friendly words like ‘rectangle’ to draw a rectangle.

If you have not coded before, we suggest you follow the ‘Beginner’ challenge set below. However, if you have experience coding then you might want to try the ‘Medium’ or ‘Advanced’ challenge set below. For both the ‘Medium’ and ‘Advanced’ challenges, we have suggested that you try some activities in early lessons to familiarise yourself with the coding language used in this programme, and then given you some harder challenges.

Select your experience level below, and then follow the set of activities for that challenge set. You do not need to finish all of the challenges in your set, we suggest you work on these challenges for 30 – 40 minutes. If you complete a challenge, why not take a photo of your work and share this with us (instructions to ‘Share with us’ are at the bottom of this page).

Beginner Challenge Set

You should use this challenge set if you are new to computer coding, or would like to refresh your knowledge of drawing in computer code, using parameters and colours to create shapes.

• Read the talk-through guide from Khan Academy
• Complete the ‘Drawing Basics’ lesson, including the following challenges:
  • Simple snowman
  • Waving snowman
• Complete the ‘Colouring’ lesson, including the following challenges:
  • Sunny Snowy Day
  • Project: What’s for dinner?

If you have extra time, why not try the ‘Variables’ lesson, from the Medium challenge set?

Medium Challenge Set

You should use this challenge set if you have some knowledge of drawing in computer code, using parameters and colours to create shapes. In this challenge set you will learn how to set variables and use functions to make animations.

• Familiarise yourself with the coding language of Khan Academy
  • Read the talk-through guide from Khan Academy
  • Watch the ‘The Power of the Docs’ video
  • Attempt the ‘Project: What’s for dinner?’ challenge.

If you get stuck with this challenge, go back and look at the ‘Drawing basics’ and ‘Colouring’ lessons, found in the Beginner challenge set.

• Complete the ‘Variables’ lesson, including the following challenges:
  • Bucktooth Bunny
  • Funky Frog
• Begin the ‘Animation Basics’ lesson, including the following challenges:
  • Exploding Sun
  • Parting Clouds
  • Project: Shooting star (optional)

If you have extra time, why not try the ‘Interactive Programs’ lesson, from the Advanced challenge set?

Advanced Challenge Set

You should use this challenge set if you are confident drawing in computer code, and also have some knowledge of variables and functions. In this challenge set you will learn how to set variables and use functions to make animations.

• Familiarise yourself with the coding language of Khan Academy
  • Read the talk-through guide from Khan Academy
  • Watch the ‘The Power of the Docs’ video
  • Attempt the ‘Project: What’s for dinner?’ challenge.

If you get stuck with this challenge, go back and look at the ‘Drawing basics’ and ‘Colouring’ lessons, found in the Beginner challenge set.

• Attempt the ‘Project: Shooting star’ challenge.

If you get stuck with this challenge, go back and look at the ‘Variables’ and ‘Animation Basics’ lessons, found in the Medium challenge set.

• Complete the ‘Interactive Programs’ lesson, including the following challenges:
  • Tasty Tomato
  • Mouse movement mania
• Complete the ‘Resizing with variables’ lesson, including the following challenges:
  • Brown Bear
  • Project: Animal attack

Animating with code

All of the colours, movements and textures you see in animated films have to be coded. Advanced computer programmes build on the concepts that you have learned today to create hugely complex animated scenes, such as trees with leaves that blow in the wind, water that ripples when something disturbs it, and creatures that can walk around in the animated world.

Often, an animated film might come across a new type of animation challenge, for example if the film is underwater, or in space. Then, computer programmers will work with animators to create a new set of code instructions. These code instructions might be new variables for gravity simulation to show the weightlessness of space, or creating a series of animated movements for swimming.

Watch the video below to hear about some of the animation challenges that Danielle Feinberg, Pixar’s director of photography, has come across in her career.

Another way to code?

When we save a computer file, such as an essay or a photo, computer code is used to convert our human information into the binary system of ‘0’s and ‘1’s. Scientists are now hoping that we might be able to use other simple systems to store information.

One option being investigated is DNA – the genetic code of living organisms! DNA is made of four kinds of base: A, G, C and T. In theory, therefore, we should be able to use a system similar to computer code to store images or computer files in a DNA sequence. The advantage of this is that DNA is much more long-lived than most memory sticks or computers that we currently have, and quite a lot smaller too! Read this article from Scientific American to find out more about ‘DNA Data Storage’.