🤖 How Do Computers Follow Instructions?

📚 5 Sections

⏱️ ~6 Minutes

🎯 Level: Beginner

Programming Computational Thinking

Computers are amazing machines, but they can’t think for themselves. They follow instructions step by step, exactly as we give them.

These instructions are written in a programming language, and must be clear, exact, and in the right order.

📋 Computers Need Clear Steps

Imagine telling a robot to make a sandwich. If you say “put peanut butter,” it won’t know where, how much, or when.

You’d need to say:

💡 Tip: Computers don’t guess — they only do what they are told, exactly.

An algorithm is a list of steps to solve a problem or complete a task. It’s like a recipe!

When you follow a recipe to bake a cake, that’s an algorithm. Computers use algorithms all the time.

📚 Did you know? Even brushing your teeth can be described as an algorithm!

Code is how we write these instructions for computers. The computer reads the code and follows it exactly — no skipping, no guessing.

If the code has a mistake, the computer will follow it anyway… and that’s called a bug.

⚠️ Watch out: Even small mistakes in code can cause big problems!

To complete this lesson, you must score at least 80%. Read carefully and take your time!