1a. Introduction for Non Programmers

OK, so I'm going to be real with you. If you don't have any programming experience, this will probably be quite difficult for you. Even most programmers go years before they really understand how things work below the surface and you're going to have to jump head first into that. The good news? If you put your mind to it, you will learn a lot very quickly.

The key to success here is not looking to be spoon-fed information. If you need more information, start making a habit of googling everything you don't understand. Even if that information doesn't immediately click, you will absorb at least part of it and it will help you out later. To push this further, you will likely need to get a bit better at googling efficiently if you want to find your answers. I know this will sound obvious, but you need to think about what key words you will need to add to your search to get a desired result.

If I search "How do you add a variable?"—I will very likely not get a result that is helpful to me personally (from a quick glance it seems to be math, JavaScript, Python, and an introductory CS course, in that order). First off, think about if your question is language-specific. "Is this a general-purpose Rust question?" (it is) I should probably google "add a variable Rust" then.

Terms you absolutely need to know

• Variable - a name which stores a value for later access.
• Reference/pointer/address - a value which represents a location in memory where a variable is stored. Think of this like your home address. If you go to the location of your address, you find your apartment/home. If you go to a memory address, you'll find a value.
• Function - a function is a reusable series of instructions telling the computer how to do something. I might have a function called get_keyboard_input which lets a user type something in.
• Return value - a value produced when a function is run. For example a get_random_number function returns a number.
• if/else statements - This is a way of describing instructions that are only run if a certain condition is met.
• Loop statements - A type of statement which allow a part of the code to run multiple times.

Do any of these terms confuse you? Maybe consider reading through the Rust book. It's a lot more gradual of an introduction to programming.

Next: Introduction (cont.)