CSM 157 INTRODUCTION TO STRUCTURED
PROGRAM DESIGN
BY
J. B. HAYFRON-ACQUAH
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
KNUST
KUMASI
Aim of the Course
• Intended for those without any prior knowledge of programming or
absolute beginners
• To help learners write set of instructions for solving problems
Course Outline
Software Development Cycle Input Statements
Algorithms Input and Output Statements
Properties of Algorithms Operators – Mathematical, Relational, Logical and
Unary
Classification of Algorithms Precedence Rules of Arithmetic Operators
Types of Programming Errors Mathematical Expressions and rules for writing
expressions
Components of an Algorithms Control Structures – Sequence, Decision making and
looping
Variables and their naming Examples of Algorithms
Variable Declarations Flowcharts
Variable declarations Subprograms or subroutines or functions
Variable Initialisation Arrays
Course Outline
Program Translators :-
Interpreters
Assemblers
and Compilers
Sorting –
Bubble
Selection
Insertion
and Radix Sort
Searching –
Linear
Binary Search
Learning objectives
After reading this unit you should be able to
• Explain what programming is and what is a program
• The software development cycle
• Explain what an algorithm is
• Explain what the properties of an algorithm are
• Different types of programming errors
• Understand what is a variable and how they named
• Explain what goes into writing an algorithm
- Input and output statement
- Operators (Arithmetic, Relational and Logic)
- Expressions
- Control Structures (Sequence, Looping and Decision making)
Learning Objectives
• Writing algorithms
• Flowcharts
• Drawing flowcharts
• Subprograms
• Use of subprograms in an algorithm
• Different types of programming languages
• Programs translators and their functions
• How a program is converted to executable file
Learning Objectives
• The use of Arrays
• Understand sorting and some sorting techniques
• Understand searching and some searching techniques
Computer Programming
• Programming is the act of writing a set of instructions in solving
problems. Thus, Computer programmers write instructions for a
computer to execute.
• The instructions for the computer to execute are written in a
programming language
• The language can be either Machine, Assembler or High level
language
• The one who writes a computer program is called a programmer
Software Development Cycle
• Defines the various processes involved in software development and
maintenance
• The objective is to produce software product for a customer (user)
• There are four major steps
STEP 1: SOFTWARE SPECIFICATION
(PROGRAM DEFINITION)
i. Program Objectives – What exactly does the user want
ii. Output - What kind of results is the program expected to generate
or produce
iii. Input Data - What inputs can generate the expected output
iii. Processing – What instructions can generate the expected output
from the input data
iv. Specification document – all the above must be document for
reference
STEP 2: SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
This involves using the software specification to develop the required
software for the client
- Program Design : Deals with the design of the solution using any of the
following:
-Top-Down design (use of modules/subprograms)
-Pseudocode/Algorithms (Using English and Mathematical expressions
in writing the logical set of instructions)
-Flowcharts (A graphical/pictorial representation of the logical set of
instructions)
- Program code – Conversion of the algorithm/flowchart into a language that
the computer can understand (programming languages)
- Development documentation
STEP 3: SOFTWARE VALIDATION
The main aim of this step is to validate the software to see if it does exactly
what the customer wants. To do this basically involved two things namely:
• Program testing : Using sample input data to see if the output generated is
what is expected. The sample data must be a data whose manual output is
known.
• Debugging: Usually carried out if the testing produce wrong output. It
involves locating the error and correcting it.
• Validation documentation
STEP 4: SOFTWARE EVOLUTION
- Maintenance : Is done to ensure that the software meets the
changing need of the customers. This is because customer needs do
change over time.
- Documentation: To provide description of the program and the
procedures used.
