At this point we see that there are choices to be made--such as whether to create a native or interpreted application--even before the first line of source code is written. If we turn back to our initial definition of programming--Programming is the process of designing a sequence of instructions to be interpreted and executed by some processing unit--, one will notice that the word "designing" is used instead of "writing" or "coding." While coding is the act of writing source code, programming is much more. Programming encompasses both the well-conceived planning and the writing of code. The planning or designing stage is absolutely critical. Pictures should be drawn. Notes should be made. Contingencies should be anticipated before a single line of code is written. This process is iterative. That means that one designs, then codes, then designs more, rewrites the code, etc. One of the most common mistakes made by new programmers (and even experienced programmers occasionally) is the failure to think thouroughly through a problem before writing code. Of course, don't panic. We begin in this book with simple instructions that if followed will lead to success much like a recipe on box of brownies. But by the end of the first unit, you will hopefully begin to develop an intuition for what works and what doesn't. You should also know that this is not a traditional textbook. While you might learn the more dry aspects of programming first (such as data structures and common algorithms) in a traditional curriculum, we feel that these concepts are useless when taught out of a practical context. Therefore in Unit I, we introduce the minimum number of concepts necessary to dive into graphics programming and from there we move as quickly as possible into gaming design. Though we do our best to get to the exciting material early on, one should remember that anything truly worthwhile in programming will take many hours of trial-and-error attempts. Programming is not pure mathematics or pure science. It is more of an art like creative writing and thus requires many revisions and much creative thought in order to be mastered. With that said, we wish you the best of luck with the first unit.