An application (or "app") is a computer program designed to make a device—like a phone, tablet or computer—perform a specific task. Sending messages, watching videos, playing games or doing calculations: each of these actions happens thanks to an application. The word comes from "apply," because the program applies instructions to solve something the user needs.
Types of Applications
There are three main types of applications depending on where they run. Mobile applications are installed on phones and tablets, like the games or messaging apps a child uses every day. Web applications run inside a browser and don't need to be installed, like an online document editor. Desktop applications are installed on a computer, like a drawing program or a calculator. They all share one thing: they are created by programming them, that is, writing instructions in a language the machine understands. To give a sense of scale, the major stores offer more than 3 million applications to download.
Why It Matters for Kids
Understanding what an application is helps children move from simply using technology to creating it. When a child discovers that their favorite game is a set of instructions someone wrote, they start to see coding as something possible for them. In Algonova's coding courses kids build their first simple applications and learn the logic behind them, a good next step after learning what programming is.
Want your child to build their first app? You can book a free trial class to give it a try.
