What is Computation?

<aside> 💡 A computation is a set of instructions to complete a particular task

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(Many tasks are mathematical!)

Programming language design:

• Programming languages fall into “families” with common characteristics.

Imperative: based on frequent changes to data

functional: based on the computation of new values rather than the transformation of old ones.

Racket:

• A functional programming language
• Minimal but powerful syntax

Values → number or other mathematical objects

Expressions → combine values with operators and functions

Functions → Generalize similar expressions

Functions in mathematics:

f(x) = x^2, g(x, y) = x + y

these definitions consist of: