In a nutshell, programming means writing down a series of instructions that tell a computer what you want it to do. A set of instructions that perform some action or solve some problem is called an algorithm .
Algorithms are common in the real world.
A cooking recipe is an algorithm and so is a set of instructions that explains how to build a bookcase or establish an account with America Online. The instructions might tell the computer to add up a set of numbers, or compare two numbers and make a decision based on the result, or whatever. But all that a computer program is is a set of instructions, like a recipe is a set of instructions for a cook or musical notes are a set of instructions for a musician. The computer follows your instructions exactly and in the process does something useful like balancing a checkbook or displaying a game on the screen or implementing a word processor. They all express approximately the same concepts in different ways.