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Programming is often introduced through code and syntax. *Principles of Computer Programs* begins one level deeper: How does a static set of rules become a physical, continuing process? What must a machine preserve, arrange, and sequence for human intention to become executable?

Starting with computers, hardware, and software, the book develops a unified view of the structures behind programs. Data structures organize spatial relationships; functions establish bounded wholes; algorithms impose temporal order; abstraction selects the differences a system preserves; domains divide scope; and refactoring changes an existing order. Recurring library examples make these ideas concrete, while each chapter uses explanations, examples, common misconceptions, and summaries to clarify the argument.

Rather than teaching a particular language or framework, this book provides a conceptual foundation for reasoning about programs as a whole. It shows how programs help finite human beings establish, maintain, and remake order under constraints of time, space, cost, and change—and why responsibility for the rules and their consequences remains human.

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