Algorithm and Flowchart
Logic programming
• Logic programming
is a computer programming paradigm in
which program statements express facts and rules
about problems within a system of formal logic. Rules
are written as logical clauses with a head and a body;
for instance, "H is true if B1, B2, and B3 are true." Facts
are expressed similar to rules, but without a body; for
instance, "H is true."
• A typical programming task can be divided
into two phases:
• Problem solving phase-
produce an ordered sequence of steps that
describe solution of problem
this sequence of steps is called an algorithm
• Implementation phase-
implement the program in some programming
language
Algorithm
• The term algorithm originally referred to any
computation performed via a set of rules applied to
numbers written in decimal form.
• The word is derived from the phonetic pronunciation
of the last name of Abu Ja'far Mohammed ibn Musa
al-Khowarizmi, who was an Arabic mathematician
who invented a set of rules for performing the four
basic arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division) on decimal numbers.
• Definition: A procedure of a finite sequence of well-
defined instructions, each of which can be
mechanically carried out in a finite amount of time.
• Definition: An algorithm is procedure consisting of a
finite set of unambiguous rules (instructions) which
specify a finite sequence of operations that provides
the solution to a problem, or to a specific class of
problems for any allowable set of input quantities (if
there are inputs). In other word, an algorithm is a
step-by-step procedure to solve a given problem
Algorithm
Algorithm has the following characteristics:
• Input: An algorithm may or may not require input
• Output: Each algorithm is expected to produce at least
one result
• Definiteness: Each instruction must be clear and
unambiguous.
• Finiteness: If the instructions of an algorithm are
executed, the algorithm should terminate after finite
number of steps
• Independent to any programming language
• The algorithm and flowchart include following
three types of control structures.
1. Sequence: In the sequence structure, statements
are placed one after the other and the execution
takes place starting from up to down.
2. Branching (Selection): In branch control, there is
a condition and according to a condition, a
decision of either TRUE or FALSE is achieved.
3. Loop (Repetition): The Loop or Repetition allows
a statement(s) to be executed repeatedly based
on certain loop condition e.g. WHILE, FOR loops.
HOW TO WRITE ALGORITHMS
Step 1: Define your algorithms input: Many algorithms
take in data to be processed, e.g. to calculate the
area of rectangle input may be the rectangle height
and rectangle width.
Step 2: Define the variables: Algorithm's variables allow
you to use it for more than one place. We can define
two variables for rectangle height and rectangle
width as HEIGHT and WIDTH (or H & W). We should
use meaningful variable name e.g. instead of using H
& W use HEIGHT and WIDTH as variable name.
Step-3: Outline the algorithm's operations: Use input
variable for computation purpose, e.g. to find area of
rectangle multiply the HEIGHT and WIDTH variable
and store the value in new variable (say) AREA. An
algorithm's operations can take the form of multiple
steps and even branch, depending on the value of
the input variables.
Step-4: Output the results of your algorithm's
operations: In case of area of rectangle output will be
the value stored in variable AREA. if the input
variables described a rectangle with a HEIGHT of 2
and a WIDTH of 3, the algorithm would output the
value of 6.
STEPS IN PROBLEM SOLVING
• First produce a general algorithm (one can use
pseudo code)
• Refine the algorithm successively to get step by step
detailed algorithm that is very close to a computer
language.
• Pseudo code is an artificial and informal language
that helps programmers develop algorithms. Pseudo
code is very similar to everyday English
Example 1:
• Write an algorithm to determine a student’s final grade and
indicate whether it is passing or failing. The final grade is
calculated as t
Pseudo code:
• Input a set of 4 marks
• Calculate their average by summing and dividing by 4
• if average is below 50
Print “FAIL”
• else
Print “PASS”
Detailed Algorithm
• Step 1: Input M1,M2,M3,M4
• Step 2: GRADE (M1+M2+M3+M4)/4
• Step 3: if (GRADE < 50) then
Print “FAIL”
else
Print “PASS” endif
Advantages of algorithm
• It is a step-wise representation of a solution to a given
problem, which makes it easy to understand.
• An algorithm uses a definite procedure.
• It is not dependent on any programming language, so it
is easy to understand for anyone even without
programming knowledge.
• Every step in an algorithm has its own logical sequence
so it is easy to debug
Example-2
Design an algorithm and the corresponding
flowchart for adding the test scores as given
below:
26, 49, 98, 87, 62, 75
Algorithm
• 1. Start
• 2. Sum = 0
• 3. Get the first testscore
• 4. Add first testscore to sum
• 5. Get the second testscore
• 6. Add to sum
• 7. Get the third testscore
• 8. Add to sum
• 9. Get the Forth testscore
• 10. Add to sum
• 11. Get the fifth testscore
• 12. Add to sum
• 13. Get the sixth testscore
• 14. Add to sum
• 15. Output the sum 16. Stop
Example-3
• Write an algorithm to find the largest among three different
numbers entered by the user
• Step 1: Start
• Step 2: Declare variables a,b and c.
• Step 3: Read variables a,b and c.
• Step 4: If a > b
If a > c
Display a is the largest number.
Else
Display c is the largest number.
Else
If b > c
Display b is the largest number.
Else
Display c is the greatest number. Step 5: Stop
Problems for Practices and file
1. Write an algorithm to find all roots of a quadratic
equation ax2+bx+c=0.
2. Write an algorithm to find the factorial of a number
entered by the user.
3. Write an algorithm to check whether a number
entered by the user is prime or not.
• 4. Write an algorithm to find the Fibonacci series till
term≤1000.
