1.

Understanding the Problem

• The program needs to compare two numbers, a and b.
• If a is greater than b, the program should print a**2.
• If b is greater than or equal to a, the program should print b**2.
2. Planning the Solution
• Get inputs for a and b from the user.
• Convert these inputs to integers.
• Use an if-else statement to compare a and b.
• If a is greater than b, calculate and print a**2.
• Otherwise, calculate and print b**2.
3. Writing the Code
# Step 1: Get inputs for a and b from the user
a = int(input("Enter the value of a: "))
b = int(input("Enter the value of b: "))

# Step 2: Compare a and b, then print the square of the greater

value
if a > b:
print(f"a is greater. a^2 = {a**2}")
else:
print(f"b is greater or equal. b^2 = {b**2}")

4. Consider Edge Cases

• What if the user enters non-numeric input? Adding input validation
might be necessary.
• If a and b are equal, the program will print b**2, but in this case, a**2
and b**2 are the same, so it doesn’t matter which one is printed.
try:
# Step 1: Get inputs for a and b from the user
a = int(input("Enter the value of a: "))
b = int(input("Enter the value of b: "))

# Step 2: Compare a and b, then print the square of the

greater value
if a > b:
print(f"a is greater. a^2 = {a**2}")
else:
print(f"b is greater or equal. b^2 = {b**2}")
except ValueError:
print("Please enter valid integer values for a and b.")

Demerits of the Code Solution

1. Limited User Feedback
– Issue: If we enter an invalid integer, the program only notifies us
with the message “Please enter valid integer values for a and b.”
– Improvement: We could enhance user experience by providing
more context or allowing us to re-enter values without restarting
the program.
2. No Handling of Equal Values
– Issue: The current logic states that if a is greater than b, it squares
a; otherwise, it squares b. This means that when a and b are equal,
we will always see the square of b, even though both values are
the same.
– Improvement: We could add a condition to explicitly handle the
scenario where a equals b and inform us that both values are the
same.
3. No Looping for Continuous Input
– Issue: After receiving the input once, the program terminates. If
we want to compare more pairs of numbers, we must restart the
program.
– Improvement: We could introduce a loop to allow us to continue
entering new values for comparison until we decide to exit.
4. Potential for Unintended Input Handling
– Issue: The program assumes that we will always input valid
integers. If special characters or extremely large numbers are
inputted, the program may not behave as expected.
– Improvement: We could add further validation and perhaps also
handle edge cases like extremely large integers or non-integer
inputs more gracefully.
5. No Logging or Debug Information
– Issue: If the program were part of a larger application, the lack of
logging could make it difficult for us to track inputs and outputs
for debugging purposes.
– Improvement: We could incorporate logging to keep track of
operations, which would be helpful for debugging and monitoring.
6. Limited Scalability
 – Issue: The program is specific and simple, comparing only two
numbers. If we wanted to extend this logic to compare more
values or perform additional operations, significant restructuring
would be required.
– Improvement: We could refactor the code to make it more
modular and flexible for future expansions, such as comparing
multiple values or adding additional operations.
7. No Support for Edge Cases
– Issue: The code does not explicitly handle edge cases, such as
comparing negative numbers or zero. These cases might not be
problematic here, but they could be in other contexts.
– Improvement: We could consider adding checks for such edge
cases and informing us appropriately about the results.
8. Lack of Unit Tests
– Issue: The code is currently untested, and there are no automated
tests to verify that it behaves as expected under different
conditions.
– Improvement: We could implement unit tests to verify the
functionality and ensure that the code works correctly across a
variety of scenarios.
import logging

# Configure logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format='%(asctime)s - %
(levelname)s - %(message)s')

def compare_and_square(a, b):

"""
Compare two numbers and return the square of the greater.
If they are equal, return the square of either and inform
the user.
"""
if a > b:
logging.info(f"a ({a}) is greater. a^2 = {a**2}")
return f"a is greater. a^2 = {a**2}"
elif a < b:
logging.info(f"b ({b}) is greater. b^2 = {b**2}")
return f"b is greater. b^2 = {b**2}"
else:
logging.info(f"a and b are equal. a^2 = b^2 = {a**2}")
return f"a and b are equal. a^2 = b^2 = {a**2}"
def main():
while True:
try:
# Step 1: Get inputs for a and b from the user
a_input = input("Enter the value of a (or type
'exit' to quit): ")
if a_input.lower() == 'exit':
print("Goodbye!")
break

b_input = input("Enter the value of b (or type

'exit' to quit): ")
if b_input.lower() == 'exit':
print("Goodbye!")
break

a = int(a_input)
b = int(b_input)

# Step 2: Compare a and b, then print the square of

the greater value
result = compare_and_square(a, b)
print(result)

except ValueError:
logging.warning("Invalid input. Please enter valid
integer values for a and b.")
print("Please enter valid integer values for a and
b.")

# Run the main function

if __name__ == "__main__":
main()

Improvements Made:
1. Enhanced User Feedback:
– Added logging to track inputs and outputs. Users are prompted to
re-enter values if invalid input is detected, rather than just
receiving a simple error message.
2. Handling Equal Values:
– Added an explicit condition to handle when a and b are equal,
providing clear feedback to the user.
 3. Looping for Continuous Input:
– Introduced a loop allowing users to compare multiple pairs of
numbers without restarting the program. Users can exit by typing
“exit”.
4. Improved Input Validation:
– Enhanced the program’s robustness by handling non-integer
inputs and preventing crashes due to invalid input.
5. Logging for Debugging and Monitoring:
– Incorporated logging to help track operations and facilitate
debugging, especially useful if the code is part of a larger
application.
6. Modular Code Structure:
– Refactored the comparison logic into a separate function
(compare_and_square), making the code more modular and
easier to extend.
7. Edge Case Handling:
– While the basic program logic naturally handles zero and negative
numbers, the code could be further extended to handle other
specific edge cases if needed.
8. Unit Testing:
– To ensure that the code works as expected under various
conditions, unit tests could be added. Here’s an example of how
unit tests might be structured:
import unittest

class TestCompareAndSquare(unittest.TestCase):

def test_a_greater_than_b(self):
self.assertEqual(compare_and_square(5, 3), "a is
greater. a^2 = 25")

def test_b_greater_than_a(self):
self.assertEqual(compare_and_square(2, 4), "b is
greater. b^2 = 16")

def test_a_equals_b(self):
self.assertEqual(compare_and_square(6, 6), "a and b are
equal. a^2 = b^2 = 36")

def test_negative_numbers(self):
 self.assertEqual(compare_and_square(-3, -5), "a is
greater. a^2 = 9")

def test_zero_values(self):
self.assertEqual(compare_and_square(0, 0), "a and b are
equal. a^2 = b^2 = 0")

if __name__ == '__main__':
unittest.main()

These changes make the code more robust and flexible, addressing the
potential issues you identified while also providing a better user experience.