First Steps

You make a computer do things by giving it instructions. The computer will read the instructions one step at a time and do what they say. But not all instructions will work. They need to be words the computer understands and with the proper punctuation.

Try typing this into the box at the end of the post:

Now click on the Run button. Notice what appears in the box.

A computer can also do math:

Try to make it say hello. It doesn't know the word hello. You need to tell the computer that you want it to print the word instead of trying to figure out what the word is.
You tell the computer that a word is something you want it to say by putting the word in "quotes":