09/25/2024

Exploring Programming to Understand AI

In a previous post, I mentioned my journey into learning about AI. To truly grasp how AI works, it’s essential to first understand how a computer operates and processes information. The best way to do this is by learning to code or program.

What is Programming?

Programming is essentially the process of instructing a computer on what tasks to perform. We give computers a set of instructions, known as a program, to make complex tasks easier. To communicate with a computer in a language it can understand, we use something called "code." This is simply a way of speaking to the computer in terms it recognizes.

There are many coding languages out there. Some popular ones you may have heard of include Python, Java, JavaScript, C++, C#, Ruby, and many others. These coding languages allow us to communicate with machines, enabling everything from browsing the web to solving complex problems. As we’ve advanced, AI has been introduced to help address even more complex challenges, and today we have AI models that can perform impressive tasks.

To better understand AI, it’s beneficial to start by working through a popular programming language and completing simple coding problems and projects. In this blog series, we’ll dive into Python and cover topics such as:

  • Understanding the basics of code, like variables, syntax, functions, and classes.

  • Building websites.

  • Creating desktop applications.

  • Developing mobile applications.

  • Writing a web scraper.

  • Using libraries like Pandas and others for AI model creation.

Getting Started

We’ll be using Visual Studio Code as our code editor. You can download it here. We'll also be using Python, so you’ll need to download the latest version of Python from this link. As of this writing, the latest version is Python 3.12.6.

To ensure Python is correctly installed on your system, follow these steps depending on your operating system:

  • Windows: Open the Command Prompt and type python --version. You should see the version number displayed.

  • Mac: Open the Terminal and type python3 --version.

  • Linux: Open the Terminal and type python3 --version.

Finally, install the Python extension for Visual Studio Code to enable helpful features like IntelliSense, linting, and debugging.