Programming Logic and Design

Seventh Edition
Chapter 2
Elements of High-Quality Programs
 Objectives
In this chapter, you will learn about:
• Declaring and using variables and constants
• Assigning values to variables [assignment statement]
• Initializing a variable
• Performing arithmetic operations
• The advantages of modularization
• Hierarchy charts [aka structure charts]
• Features of good program design

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 Declaring and Using Variables
and Constants
• Data items
– All the text, numbers, and other information that are
processed by a computer
– Stored in variables in memory

• Different forms
– Variables
– Literals ( unnamed constants )
– Named constants ( cannot be modified )
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 Working with Variables
• A variable is a named location in RAM where data is stored for use by a running
program.
• Contents can vary or differ over time
• Declaration
– Statement that provides a data type and an identifier for a variable.
– Most programming languages require you to declare a variable before you try to use it in
your program.

• Identifier
– Something you provide a name for:
• variable

• named constant

• module name

• Assignment
– A variable gets a value as the result of an assignment statement
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 Working with Variables (continued)
A later example will show declarations

What are the names of the

variables?

Figure 2-1 Flowchart and pseudocode for the number-doubling program

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 Working with Variables (continued)
• Data type
– Classification that describes:
• What values can be held by the item
• How the item is stored in computer memory
• What operations can be performed on the data item

• Initializing a variable
– Providing a starting value for any variable
– Can be done as part of the declaration e.g. num count = 0

• Variable’s value before initialization depends on the computer language used.

– garbage
– zero (0) or Null

• Type Safety
– a feature of most languages that prevents assigning values of an incorrect data type

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 Mainline Logic
Top-level flowchart for Java

Start

Declare global variables here

main( )

Stop

Variables can be global or local

Figure 2-2 Flowchart and pseudocode of number-doubling program

with variable declarations
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 Naming Variables
• Programmers should choose reasonable and descriptive names for
variables

• Rules for creating identifiers

– Most languages allow letters and digits
• but… you cannot start with a digit

– Some languages allow underscores ( _ )

– You may not have spaces in a variable name in any language
• Some languages allow dollar signs ( $ ) or other special characters
[Java allows a $]

• Different limits on the length of variable names

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 Naming Variables (continued)
• Camel casing
– Variable names such as hourlyWage have a “hump” in the middle
• Pascal Casing
– first letter in first word of identifier is capitalized, for example:
NumberDoubler

• Using “_”
– hourly_wage, number_doubler, total_cost
• Variable names used throughout book
– Must be one word (no spaces)
– Should have a name which conveys meaning!
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 Understanding Literals and their Data Types

• literal - an unnamed constant value [magic number]

– Numeric:
• Specific numeric value
– Examples: 43 -3 1415 2.35486 e8 .6 5. 0

– String:
• String of characters enclosed within quotation marks
– Examples: "Hello World", "Sum is ", "" (empty string)

– Character:
• A single character ( usually enclosed in single quotes )
– Examples: ‘A’, ‘c’, ‘\n’ [newline character in Java]
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 Understanding the Data Types of Variables

• Numeric variable
– Usually signed (may be negative or positive)
– Integer ( whole numbers only )
– Real ( may contain decimal digits )

• String variable
– Can hold any sequence of 0 or more characters
– Letters of the alphabet (upper- and lower-case), digits 0-9
– Special characters such as punctuation marks

• Character variable
– Can hold a single character

• To assign a value to a variable, it must be of the same type

( numeric, string, character, etc. ) [Type Safety]
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 Declaring Named Constants
• Named constant
– Similar to a variable
– Can be assigned a value only once
– Assign a useful name to a value that will never be changed during a
program’s execution
– By convention, a named constant identifier uses all capital letters

• Magic number
– A literal
– Purpose is not immediately apparent
– Avoid this! Use a named constant instead

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 Assigning Values to Variables
• Assignment statement
– [set] myAnswer = myNumber * 2 [ flowchart or pseudocode ]

• Assignment operator
– Usually an Equal sign ( = ). Some languages use ( := )
– Association is from right to left a = b = c = 0;

• Valid
– set someNumber = 2 [ Note: Basic allows use of let ]
• someNumber = 2
– set someNumber = someOtherNumber
• someNumber = someOtherNumber

• Not valid
– set 2 + 4 = someNumber [ variable must be on left side of assignment operator ]

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 Performing Arithmetic Operations
• Standard arithmetic operators:

+ plus sign addition

− minus sign subtraction
* asterisk multiplication
/ slash division
% percent sign remainder of integer division
aka modulus

The type of division may be floating-point or integer depending on the operands:

Integer Division: 3/5→0 5/3→1
Floating-point Division: 3.0 / 5 → .6 5 / 3.0 → 1.6666667

7 / 5 → 1 (quotient) 7 % 5 → 2 (remainder) 3%5→ 3

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 Performing Arithmetic Operations
• Rules of precedence
– Also called the order of operations
– Dictates the order in which operations in the same statement are
carried out

1. Expressions within parentheses are evaluated first

2. Multiplication and division are evaluated next [precedence]
– From left to right [associativity]

3. Addition and subtraction are evaluated next [precedence]

– From left to right [associativity]

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 Performing Arithmetic Operations (continued)

• Associativity
– Operations with the same precedence are usually
evaluated from left to right.

x = 5 * (7 / 3) + 6 – 2 + 3 * 5

To evaluate this, you use the the rules of precedence and

associativity.

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 Performing Arithmetic Operations
(continued)

Table 2-1 Precedence and associativity of five common operators

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 Understanding the Advantages of Modularization

• Module
– Subunit of a programming problem
– Also called subroutine, procedure, function, or method

• Modularization
– Breaking down a large program into modules [functional decomposition]
– Reasons:
• Divide and conquer strategy, aka stepwise refinement
• Abstraction ( focus on mainline logic first )
• Allows multiple programmers to work on a problem
• Reuse your work more easily

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 Modularization Provides Abstraction
• Abstraction
– Determine what tasks are to be performed
• this will be the basis for your modules

– Determine the sequence the modules should be performed in

• this will determine the sequence of your mainline logic

– Develop mainline program logic [ method main() ]

– Develop the logic of the modules ( statements that complete some task )
• Create an algorithm (logic for a task)
• Implement the algorithm

• Newer high-level programming languages

– Use English-like vocabulary
– One broad statement corresponds to dozens of machine language instructions

• Modules provide the primary way to achieve abstraction

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 Modularization Allows
Multiple Programmers to Work on a Problem

• More easily divide the task among various people

• Rarely does a single programmer write a commercial

program
– Professional software developers can write new programs
quickly by dividing large programs into modules

– Assign each module to an individual programmer or team

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 Modularization Allows You to
Reuse Your Work
• Reusability
– Feature of modular programs
– Allows individual modules to be used in a variety of
applications
– Many real-world examples of reusability

• Reliability
– Feature of programs that assures you a module has been
tested and proven to function correctly

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 Modularizing a Program
• Main program
– Basic steps (mainline logic) of the program
– Java method main()

• Parts of a module
– Header <return type> <module name> <module parameter list>
– Body statements return statement

• Naming a module
– A module name is an identifier
– Similar to naming a variable
– Module names are usually followed by a set of parentheses

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 Modularizing a Program (continued)
• When a main program wants to use a module
– it “calls” the module [ more formally, it invokes it ]

• Flowchart
– Symbol used to call a module is a rectangle with a line
across the top or along the sides
– Place the name of the module you are calling inside the
rectangle
– Draw each module separately with its own terminal
symbols ( module name / return )
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 Figure 2-3 Program that produces a bill using only main program logic
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 Modularizing a Program
(continued)
• Determine when to break down any particular
program into modules
– Does not depend on a fixed set of rules
– Programmers do follow some guidelines
– Part of the process of abstraction
– Statements should contribute to the same job (task)
• Functional cohesion

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 Declaring Variables and Constants within Modules

• Place any statements within modules

– input, processing, and output statements
– variable and constant declarations

• Variables and constants declared in a module are

usable only within that module [ local variables ]
– Visibility
– Scope
– Lifetime

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 What are the
variables ?

What are the named

constants ?

Figure 2-5 The billing program with a module and constants

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Seventh Edition
 Declaring Variables and Constants
within Modules (continued)

• Global variables and named constants

– Declared at the program level
• Not declared inside of a module
• This is the problem with declarations in the “Mainline Logic”
– Visible to and usable in all the modules called by the
program

• Local variables and named constants

– Declared at the module level
– Visible only within the module
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 Understanding the Most Common
Configuration for Mainline Logic

• Mainline logic of almost every procedural computer program follows a

general structure

– Declaration of global variables and constants

– Declaration of modules
• Housekeeping tasks [ initialization ]

• Detail loop tasks [ processing loop ]

• End-of-job tasks [ finalization ]

• Most newer languages require you to create a module for the mainline
logic with a specific name, such as main. [Java – main()]
• Some languages do not have a “named” mainline logic module.
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 Understanding the Most Common
Configuration for Mainline Logic (continued)

Here is another
flowchart symbol
used to represent
a module.

This is the symbol

you use in Visio.

Figure 2-6 Flowchart and pseudocode of mainline logic for a typical procedural program

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 Creating Hierarchy Charts
• Hierarchy chart
– Shows the overall picture of how modules are related to one another
– Tells you:
• which modules exist within a program
• which modules call other modules

– Specific module may be called from several locations within a program

– A useful abstraction planning tool
• Planning tool
– Develop the overall relationship of program modules before you write
them
• Documentation tool
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 Example Hierarchy Chart

module used in multiple

locations

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 Features of Good Program Design
• Use program comments where appropriate
• Identifiers should be well-chosen
• Strive to design clear statements within your
programs and modules
• Write clear prompts and echo input
• Continue to maintain good programming habits as
you develop your programming skills

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 Using Program Comments
• Program comments // /* … */ --
– Written explanations
– Not part of the program logic
– Serve as documentation for readers of the program

• Syntax used differs among programming languages

• Flowchart
– Use an annotation symbol to hold information that
expands on what is stored within another flowchart symbol

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 Using Program Comments
(continued)

Figure 2-12 Pseudocode that declares some variables and includes comments

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An assumption in
this book is that
variables declared
in the "mainline"
module will be
global variables,
accessible by all
other modules.

This is NOT the

case in most
programming
languages, such as
Java, C++, C#, and
Visual Basic.

Figure 2-13 Flowchart that includes some annotation symbols

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 Choosing Identifiers
• General guidelines:
– Give a variable or a named constant a name that is a noun
• quantity, cost, count, rate

– Give a module an identifier that is a verb

• getRecord, processRecord, printDetailLine

– Use meaningful names

• Self-documenting

– Use pronounceable names

– Be judicious in your use of abbreviations
– Avoid digits in a name

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 Choosing Identifiers (continued)
• General guidelines (continued)
– Use the convention in your language to name identifiers with
names composed of multiple words.
• printDetailLine
• Print_Detail_Line
– Name named constants using all uppercase letters separated by
underscores ( _ )
• Organizations sometimes enforce different rules for
programmers to follow when naming variables
– Hungarian notation
• strName, intCount, dblRate
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 Avoiding Confusing Line Breaks
• Most modern programming languages are free-form

• Take care to make sure your meaning is clear

• Generally, you should not combine multiple

statements on one line

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 Designing Clear Statements
Use temporary variables and write multiple
statements rather than one long complex
statement

Figure 2-14 Two ways of achieving the same salespersonCommission result

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 Using Temporary Variables to Clarify Long Statements

• Temporary variable
– Work variable
– Not used for input or output
– Working variable that you use during a program’s
execution

• Consider using a series of temporary variables to

hold intermediate results

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 Using Temporary Variables to Clarify
Long Statements (continued)

Figure 2-14 Two ways of achieving the same salespersonCommission result

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 Writing Clear Prompts and Echoing Input

• Prompt
– Message displayed on a monitor to ask the user for a
response
– Used both in command-line and GUI interactive programs

• Echo input
– Repeat input back to a user either in a subsequent prompt
or in output.

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 Writing Clear Prompts and Echoing
Input (continued)

Figure 2-15 Beginning of a program that accepts a name

and balance as input

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 Figure 2-16 Beginning of a program that accepts a name and balance as
input and uses a separate prompt for each item

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 Maintaining Good Programming
Habits
• Every program you write will be better if you:
– PLAN BEFORE YOU CODE !!!
– Maintain the habit of first drawing flowcharts or writing
pseudocode
– Desk-check your program logic on paper
– Think carefully about the variable and module names you
use
– Design your program statements to be easy to read and
use
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 Summary
• Variables
– Named memory locations with variable contents
• Equal sign is the assignment operator
• Break down programming problems into reasonable units
called modules
– Include a header, a body, and a return statement

• Mainline logic of almost every procedural computer program

can follow a general structure
• As your programs become more complicated:
– Need for good planning and design increases

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Seventh Edition