VirtualBox is an hypervisor which allows one to run other Operating Systems (OS) (guests) under a single operating system (host). Meaning If a windows Operating System user needs to use Linux/Unix OS, he or she can do that on his or her windows OS with the aid of a VirtualBox rather than purchasing a separate system with installed Linux/Unix OS or Dual booting.

VirtualBox is an Open source software for virtualizing x86 computing archtecture. Click HERE to read more about VirtualBox.

WHY VIRTUALBOX ?

VirtualBox is important because it allows one to:

• Explore and experiment other operating systems with more ease. This can be an interesting way to learn more about other OS.
• Clone a system to another machine.
• "Tear" apart your system.
• Run old or incompatible softwares.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DUAL BOOTING AND USING VIRTUALBOX

• Using VirtualBox requires less memory space because it is being "virtualized" while when you set up partitions for dual-booting, the size you create for the secondary OS is set from the start therefore more memory space is required.
• Dual booting gives more performance than virtualBox because it allows more access to your hardware while the latter is sandboxed and depends on the configuration your system.

DOWNLOADING VIRTUALBOX

• Visit HERE to download VirtualBox
• Based on your present OS, choose a host OS i.e if you’re running Windows operating system, download the Windows version at the top by clicking “x86/amd64”. If you're running Linux/Unix download the Linux distribution and so on.
• After downloading completely, go to DOWNLOAD folder at your desktop and run the VirtualBox-4.3.16-95972-Win.exe file. Oracle VM Virtual Box Installation Window will appear.

INSTALLING VIRTUALBOX

• Click next
• Click next
• Click next
• Click Yes
• Click Install....
• Click Finish

After the completion of Installation process, the VirtualBox Window gets opened.

congratulations!!! your virtualbox is ready for further virtual machines and OS installations.

Next Ubuntu installation through VirtualBox

- Definition of programming:

Programming is the act of giving a computer a set of precise instructions. Instructions are programs(ordered agendas) fed into the computer to get an expected output or outcome. Without instructions, the computer is useless...without instructions, the computer sits and does nothing because it doesn't know what to do on its own.

- Brief history of programming languages: Programming's origin is traced to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage when they worked together on a primitive mechanical computer (The Analytical Engine). Ada figured that numbers could represent more than just numerical values of things. She wrote an algorithm for the Analytical Engine, the first computer program, to compute Bernoulli Numbers.YES! a female originated it--ADA LOVELACE.

- Why Programming?? : As you know, the brain of a computer is the central processing unit (CPU). Some computers may have more than one CPU inside. A CPU has millions of transistors that make use of electronic switches. The electronic switches have only two states: off and on.

(Symbolically, 0 and 1 are used to represent the two states.) Therefore, a computer can only understand instructions consisting of a series of 0s and 1s. In other words, machine-readable instructions have to be in binary format.

Programming languages(compiled/interpreted) serve as the knot "linking" human-understandable language and binary language.

Programmes vs Programs:

Homophones!! One great difference is that Programme is a British English word while Program is an American English word. They can be used interchangeably because they have similar meaning, but in coding, PROGRAM is used. To highlight the difference, two sentences would be used.

1-She asked the Tech geek to program the computer tomorrow.

2-My father watches this TV programme on repeat mode.

Programming vs Coding:

Let's settle this by knowing their meaning:

• Coding:Computer coding is the use of computer programming languages to give computers and machines a set of instructions on what actions to perform. Coding is the initial step of developing any software and thus it is much easier and simpler to analyze and understand than Programming.
• Programming:Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation, usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as analysis, generating algorithms, profiling algorithms' accuracy and resource consumption, and the implementation of algorithms. Wikipedia... Programming deals with different types of complex scenarios and programs to ensure the proper implementation of the product.

To keep it simple...

1-What is a programming Language?

A programming language is that which follows some rules or syntax; made by man(artificially made); to control or send instructions to the computer. Programming languages are used to communicate with the computer. Don't worry, you'll understand better as we move!! :)

2-Why programming languages?

Making an analogy--let's say an English man has a business meeting with a Chinese man, but they both can't understand each other. The options for a solution is either one learns the other's language, or they hire a translator who understands both languages.

Similarly, the computer only understands 0s and 1s. Therefore to communicate and give instructions to it, you'll either learn its language(binary language) or you use a translator to convey your English-related code into what the computer understands better (either way, using programming languages).

3- Types of Programming languages:

There are two types of programming languages:

• Low level languages: Low level languages are programming languages the computer understands and languages closer to the computer understanding i.e Binary language- 1s & 0s and Assembly languages e.g RISC, DSP e.t.c respectively.Click here to understand more.
• High level languages: High level languages are programming languages closer to the human language. They are divided into two- Procedural programming(e.g BASIC, C, FORTRAN e.t.c) and Object Oriented Programming ((OOP)- e.g Java, C++, python e.t.c ).Click here to understand more.

4- Languages required for different sectors in coding and programming:

• WEB DEVELOPMENT: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, etc
• GAME DEVELOPMENT: C++, JaVa, C#, etc
• APP DEVELOPMENT: Java, Swift, Dart, Python, etc
• CYBER-SECURITY: Bash, Python, C, etc
• AI, ML & Data science: Python, Java, Lisp, etc
• SOFTWARE ENGINEERING: C, Python, SQL, etc

What programming language should I begin with?

Knowing what language to begin with will be made much easier if you know your interest in programming. Finding your interest (e.g Game development, web development E.T.C) would make your beginning in programming a little less stressful!.

YES-You can also be a programmer.