Lecture 1

Introduction to Computer
Programming
BY

Frederick Edem
Broni
Dpt. Of Computer Science and Engineering

Contact Information: [email protected]

UNIVERSITY OF MINES AND

TECHNOLOGY

Course Code: CE 163

 Course Outline

•Introduction
•Algorithms and Flowcharts

•Basic Syntax

•Control Flow

•Functions and Modules

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 2

 Course Outline

•Data Structures

•File Input and Output

•Advanced Topics

• Python Libraries

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 3

 Evaluation Methods

• Assignments
• Quizzes
• Lab
• Projects
• Final Exam

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 4

 What Is a Program?

• Program
– A list of instructions written in a special code, or
language.
– The program tells the computer which operations to
perform,
– and in what sequence to perform them.
– Garbage In, Garbage Out (G.I.G.O.)
– Get what you asked for, not necessarily what you
want.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 5

 Computer Programs

• Software refers to programs that make the

computer perform some task.
• A program is a set of instructions that tells the
computer what to do.
• When you have written a program, the computer
will behave exactly as you have instructed it. It will
do no more or no less than what is contained in
your specific instructions.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 6

 Writing Programs

• Learning to write programs requires two

skills.

– You need to use specific terminology and

punctuation that can be understood by the
machine; that is, you need to learn a
programming language.
– You need to develop a plan for solving a
particular problem. This planor algorithmis a
sequence of steps that, when followed, will
lead to a solution of the problem.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 7

 Solving Problems

• Initially, you may think that learning a

language is the more difficult task because
your problems will have relatively easy
solutions. Nothing could be further from the
truth!
• The single most important thing you can
do as a student of computer science is to
develop the skill to solve problems.
• Once you have this skill, you can learn to write
programs in several different languages.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 8

 What Is a Computer Language?

• A microprocessor is designed to “understand” a

set of commands called an “instruction set”
• All instructions must be provided to the CPU in
its native language, called machine language.
• All data transmission, manipulation, storage,
and retrieval is done by the machine using
electrical pulses representing sequences of
binary digits.
• If eight-digit binary codes are used, there are
256 numbered instructions from 00000000 to
11111111.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 9
 Machine Language

• Instructions for adding two numbers would

consist of a sequence of these eight-digit
codes from 00000000 to 11111111.
• Instructions written in this form are referred to
as machine language.
• It is the native language that the CPU
“speaks” and “understands”.
• It is possible to write an entire program in
machine language. However, this is very time
consuming and difficult to read and
understand.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 10
 Why Programming?

• To Develop Problem Solving Skills

– It is very important to develop problem
solving skills. Programming is all about solving
problems.
– Requires creativity and careful thought.
– Analyze the problem and break it down into
manageable parts (modules, procedures, functions)
• It’s also rewarding!

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 What is a Programming Language?

• A programming language is a notational

system for describing computation in
machine-readable and human-readable form.
• Most of these forms are high-level
languages, which is the subject of the course.
• Assembly languages and other languages that
are designed to more closely resemble the
computer’s instruction set than anything that
is human-readable are low-level languages.

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 Programming Languages

• Fortunately, special languages have

been developed that are more easily
understood (than machine language).
• These special languages are called
programming languages.
• These languages provide a way to write
computer programs that are understood
by both computers and people.
• Programming languages have their own
vocabulary and rules of usage.
• Some languages are very technical,
while others are similar to English.
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 Assembly Language

• The programming language that is most like

machine language is assembly language.
• Assembly language uses letters and numbers
to represent machine language instructions.
• An assembler is a program that reads the
codes the programmer writes in assembly
language and “assembles” a machine
language program based on those codes.
• However, assembly language is still difficult
to read.

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 Comparing Machine Language & Assembly Language

• For example, the machine code for adding two

integers might be:
01000011001110100011110101000001001010110
1000010
• While the assembly language code might be:
LOAD A
ADD B
STORE C
– This causes the number in A to be added to the number
in B, and the result is stored for later use in C.

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 Low Level Languages

• Machine Language and Assembly

Language are both called low-level
languages.
• In a low-level language, it is necessary for
the programmer to know the instruction
set of the CPU in order to program the
computer.
• Each instruction in a low-level language
corresponds to one or only a few
microprocessor instructions.
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 High Level Languages

• A high-level language is any programming

language that uses words and symbols to
make it relatively easy to read and write a
computer program.
• In a high-level language, instructions do
not necessarily correspond one-to-one
with the instruction set of the CPU.
• One command in a high-level language
may correspond to many microprocessor
instructions.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 17
 High Level Languages 2

• Many high-level languages have been developed.

These include:
• FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, Logo, Pascal, C, C++,
Java, Python, and others.
• These languages simplify even further the
terminology and symbolism necessary for
directing the machine to perform various
manipulations of data.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 18

 Advantages Of
High Level Languages

• High Level Languages:

– Reduce the number of instructions that must be

written.
– Allow programs to be written in a shorter amount
of time than a low-level language would take.
– Reduce the number of errors that are made,
because…
• The instructions are easier to read.
– Are more portable (the programs are easier to
move among computers with different
microprocessors).

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 19

 Advantages Of
Low Level Languages

• Low Level Languages:

– Instructions can be written to enable the computer

to do anything that the hardware will follow.
– Require less memory
– Run more quickly

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 20

 High Level Language Examples
• Consider the following programs that add
two numbers together:
BASIC Pascal C++ LOGO
10 I = 3 program AddIt; int main( ) to add :I :J :K
20 J = 2 var { MAKE “I :3
30 K = I + J i, j, k : integer; int i, j, k; MAKE “J :2
begin i = 3; MAKE “K :I + :J
i := 3; j = 2; end
j := 2; k = i + j;
k := i + j; return 0;
end. }

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 21

 High Level Language Examples 2
Java Python
public class AddTwoNumbers{ i=3
public static void main(String[] args){ j=2
int i, j, k; k=i+j
i = 3;
j = 2;
k = i + j;
}
}

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 22

 Interpreters and Compilers

• Programmers writing in a high-level language

enter the program’s instructions into a text
editor.
• The files saved in this format are called text
files.
• A program written in a high-level language is
called source code.
• The programs are translated into machine
language by interpreters or compilers.
• The resulting machine language code is
known as object code (or byte code - Java).
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 Interpreters

• An interpreter is a program that translates the

source code of a high-level language into
machine language.
• Each instruction is interpreted from the
programming language as needed (line by line
of code).
• Every time the program is run, the interpreter
must translate each instruction again.
• In order to “run” the program, the
interpreter must be loaded into the
computer’s memory.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 24
 Compilers
• A compiler is another program that
translates a high-level language into
machine language.
• A compiler makes the translation once so
that the source code don’t have to be
translated each time the program is run.
– The source code is translated into a file called
an object file.
– A program called a linker is used to create an
executable program.
– Most modern compilers let you compile and link
in a single operation, and have an “IDE”
(Integrated Development Environment) to enter
text, debug, compile, link, and run programs.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 25

 Debug

• Bug: An error in coding or logic that

causes a program to malfunction or to
produce incorrect results.
• Debug: To detect, locate, and correct
logical or syntactical errors in a
program.
• Folklore attributes the first use of the
term “bug” to a problem in one of the
first electronic computers that was
traced to a moth caught between the
contacts of a relay in the machine.

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 Programming Languages:
First Generation

• Generation 1 – Late 1940s to Early 1950s:

Machine Languages
– Programmers entered programs and data directly
into RAM using 1s and 0s
– Several disadvantages existed:
• Coding was error prone, tedious, and slow
• Modifying programs was extremely difficult
• It was nearly impossible for a person to decipher
someone else’s program
• Programs were not portable

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 27

 Programming Languages:
Second Generation

• Generation 2 – Early 1950s to Present: Assembly

Languages
– Uses mnemonic symbols to represent instructions
and data
– Assembly language is:
• More programmer friendly than machine language
• Tedious to use and difficult to modify
• Since each type of computer has its own unique
assembly language, it is not portable

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 Programming Languages:
Third Generation

• Generation 3 – Mid-1950s to Present:

High-Level Languages
– Designed to be human friendly – easy to read,
write, and understand
– Each instruction corresponds to many
instructions in machine language
– Translation to machine language occurs
through a program called an interpreter or
compiler.
– Examples: FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, LOGO, C,
Pascal, C++, Java, and Python.

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 Basic Approaches of Programming

• High-level programming languages utilize two

different approaches
– Procedural approach
• Examples: COBOL, FORTRAN, BASIC, Pascal, C, C++,
LOGO, and Python.

– Object-Oriented Programming approach

• Examples: Smalltalk, C++, Java, and Python

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 30

 Why Study Programming
Languages?

• In 1969, Sammet listed 120 programming

languages in common use – now there are
many more!
• Most programmers never use more than a
few.
– Some limit their career’s to just one or two.
• The gain is in learning about their
underlying design concepts and how this
affects their implementation.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 31

 The Six Primary Reasons

• Increased ability to express ideas

• Improved background for choosing
appropriate languages
• Increased ability to learn new languages
• Better understanding of significance of
implementation
• Better use of languages that are already
known
• Overall advancement of computing

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 32

 Reason #1 - Increased ability to express ideas

• The depth at which people can think is heavily

influenced by the expressive power of their
language.
• It is difficult for people to conceptualize structures
that they cannot describe, verbally or in writing.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 33

 Expressing Ideas as Algorithms

• This includes a programmer’s to develop effective

algorithms
• Many languages provide features that can waste
computer time or lead programmers to logic
errors if used improperly
– E. g., recursion in Pascal, C, etc.
– E. g., GoTos in FORTRAN, etc.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 34

 Reason #2 - Improved background for
choosing appropriate languages

• Many professional programmers have a limited

formal education in computer science, limited to
a small number of programming languages.
• They are more likely to use languages with which
they are most comfortable than the most suitable
one for a particular job.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 35

 Reason #3 - Increased ability to learn new
languages

• Computer science is a relatively young

discipline and most software technologies
(design methodology, software
development, and programming
languages) are not yet mature. Therefore,
they are still evolving.
• A thorough understanding of programming
language design and implementation
makes it easier to learn new languages.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 36

 Learning a New Language

• It is easier to learn a new language if you

understand the underlying structures of
language.
Examples:
– It is easier for a BASIC program to FORTRAN
than C.
– It is easier for a C++ programmer to learn
Java.
– It is easier for a Scheme programmer to learn
LISP.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 37

 Reason #4 - Better understanding
of significance of implementation

• It is often necessary to learn about language

implementation; it can lead to a better
understanding of why the language was designed
the way that it was.
• Fixing some bugs requires an understanding of
implementation issues.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 38

 Reason #5 - Better use of languages
that are already known

• To allow a better choice of programming language

• Some languages are better for some jobs than
others.
– Example – FORTRAN and APL for calculations,
COBOL and RPG for report generation, LISP and
PROLOG for AI, etc.

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 Better Use of a Language

• To improve your use of existing programming

language
• By understanding how features are implemented,
you can make more efficient use of them.
• Examples:
• Creating arrays, strings, lists, records.
• Using recursions, object classes, etc.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 40

Reason #6 - Overall advancement of computing

• Frequently, the most popular language may not

be the best language available.
• E.g., ALGOL 60 did NOT displace Fortran.
– They had difficulty understanding its description
and they didn’t see the significance of its block
structure and well-structured control statements
until many years later.

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 Programming Domains

• Scientific Applications
• Business Applications
• Artificial Intelligence
• Web Software

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 42

 Numerically-Based Languages

• Many of the earliest computers were used almost

exclusively for scientific calculations and
consequently many of the earliest attempts at
languages were for scientific purposes. Eg. Julia,
MATLAB, Python or R

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 43

 Business Languages

• Commercial data processing was one of

the earliest commercial applications of
computers.
• Grace Murray Hopper et. al. at Univac
developed FLOWMATIC, an English-like
language for business applications.
• The U.S. Defense Dept. sponsored the
effort to develop COBOL (Common
Business-Oriented Language), which was
standardized in 1960, revised in 1961 &
1962, re-standarized in 1968, 1974, and
1984.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 44
 Artificial Intelligence

• Artificial Intelligence deals with emulating

human-style reasoning on a computer.
• These applications usually involve symbolic
computation, where most of the symbols
are names and not numbers.
• The most common data structure is the list,
not the matrix or array as in scientific
computing and not the record as in
business computing
• Artificial intelligence requires more
flexibility than other programming domains.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 45
 Artificial Intelligence Languages

• The first AI language was IPL (International Processing

Language, developed by the Rand Corporation. Its
low-level design led to its limited use.
• John McCarthy of MIT developed LIST for the IBM 704
(which eventually led to Scheme and Common LISP).
LISP is a recursion-oriented, list-processing language
that facilitated game-playing programs.
• Yngve of MIT developed COMIT, a string-processing
language, which was followed by AT&T’s SNOBOL.
• Prolog was developed by Colmerauer, Roussel and
Kowalski based on predicate calculus and
mathematical logic.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 46

 Systems Languages

• Assembly languages were used for a very long

time operating systems programming because of
its power and efficiency.
• CPL, BCPL, C and C++ were later developed for
this purpose.
• Other languages for systems programming
included PL/I, BLISS, and extended ALGOL.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 47

 Web Software

• Eclectic collection of languages:

– Markup (e.g., HTML) – used for annotating a
document in a manner that can be distinguished
from the text.
– Scripting (e.g., PHP) - the language that enable
the script to run these commands and typically
include control structures such as if-then-else and
while-do.
– General-purpose (e.g., Java) – can be used for a
wide range of programming jobs.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 48

 Language Evaluation Criteria

• Readability – the ease with which programs can

be read and understood.
• Writability – the ease with which programs can
be developed for a given program domain.
• Reliability – the extent to which a program will
perform according to its specifications.

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 What Do We Mean By Machine
Readability?

• A language is considered machine-

readable if it can be translated efficiently
into a form that the computer can execute.
• This requires that:
– A translation algorithm exists.
– The algorithm is not too complex.
• We can ensure machine readability by
requiring that programming languages be
context-free languages.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 50

 What Do We Mean By Human
Readability?

• It is harder to define human readability in

precise terms.
• Generally this requires a programming
language to provide enough abstractions to
to make the algorithms clear to someone
who is not familiar with the program’s
details.
• As programs gets larger, making a language
readable requires that the amount of detail
is reduced, so that changes in one part of a
program have a limited effect on other
parts of the program.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 51
 Simplicity
• Programming languages with a large number of
basic components are harder to learn; most
programmers using these languages tend to learn
and use subsets of the whole language.
• Complex languages have multiplicity (more than
one way to accomplish an operation).
• Overloading operators can reduce the clarity of
the program’s meaning

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 52

 An Example of Multiplicity

• All of the following add one to the variable count :

count = count + 1;
count += 1;
count++;
++count;
Do they mean the same thing?

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 53

 Example – IBM vs. VAX Assembler

• IBM Assembler
A Reg1, memory_cell ; Reg1 = Reg1 + memocell
AR Reg1, Reg2 ; Reg1 = Reg1 + Reg2

• VAX Assembler
ADDL operand1, operand2

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 54

 Lecture 2

Introduction to Computer
Programming Pt 2
BY

Frederick Edem
Broni
Dpt. Of Computer Science and Engineering

Contact Information: [email protected]

UNIVERSITY OF MINES AND

TECHNOLOGY

Course Code: CE 163

 Control Statements

• In the 1950s and 1960s, the goto was the most

common control mechanism in a program;
however, it could make programs less readable.
• The introduction of while, for and if-then-
else eliminate the need for gotos and led to
more readable programs.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 56

 Data Types and Structures

• A more diverse set of data types and the

ability of programmers to create their own
increased program readability:
– Booleans make programs more readable:
TimeOut = 1 vs. TimeOut = True
– The use of records to store complex data
objects makes programs more readable:
CHARACTER*30 NAME(100)
INTEGER AGE(100), EMPLOYEE_NUM(100)
REAL SALARY(100)
Wouldn’t it better if these were an array of
records instead of 4 parallel arrays?

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 Syntax
• Most syntactic features in a programming
language can enhance readability:
– Identifier forms – older languages (like FORTRAN)
restrict the length of identifiers, which become less
meaningful
– Special words – in addition to while, do and for,
some languages use special words to close
structures such as endif and endwhile.
– Form and meaning – In C a static variable
within a function and outside a function mean two
different things – this is undesirable.

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 Writability

• Historically, writability was less important than

efficiency than efficiency. As computers have
gotten faster, the reverse has become true to a
certain extent.
• Writability must be considered within the context of
the language’s target problem domain.
– E.g., COBOL handles report generating very well
but matrices poorly. The reverse is true for APL.
• A large and diverse set of construct is easier to
misuse than a smaller set of constructs that can be
combined under a consistent et of rules. (This is
simple and orthogonal)
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 59
 Writability and Abstraction

• A programming language should be able to

support data abstractions that a programmer is
likely to use in a given problem domain.
• Example – implementing binary trees in
FORTRAN, C++ and Java.

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 Reliability

• Reliability is the assurance that a program

will not behave in unexpected or
disastrous ways during execution.
• This sometimes requires the use of rules
that are extremely difficult to check at
translation or execution time.
– ALGOL68’s rule prohibiting dangling reference
assignments (referring to objects that have
been de-allocated).
• Reliability and efficiency of translation are
frequently diametrically opposed.

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Contributing Factors To Reliability

• Type Checking – a large factor in

program reliability. Compile-time type
checking is more desireable. C’s lack of
parameter type checking leads to many
reliability problems.
• Exception Handling – the ability to catch
run-time errors and make corrections can
prevent reliability problems.
• Aliasing – having two or more ways of
referencing the same data object can
cause unnecessary errors.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 62
 Cost of Use

• Cost of program execution

– A slower program is more expensive to run on a slower
computer.
– In an era of faster, cheaper computer, this is less of a
concern.
• Cost of program translation
– Optimizing compilers are slower than some other compilers
designed for student programs, which will not run as many
times..
• Cost of program creation, testing and use
– How quickly can you get the program executing correctly.
• Cost of program maintenance
– How expensive will it be to modify the program when
changes are needed in subsequent years?
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 Influences on Language Design

Other factors have had a strong influence on

programming language design:
• Computer Architecture
• Programming Methodologies

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 64

 Computer Architecture

• Most computers are still based on the von

Neumann architecture, which view memory
as holding both instructions and data
interchangably.
• This has influenced the development of
imperative languages and has stifled the
adaption of functional languages.
• As parallel processing computers are
developed, there have been several attempts
made to develop languages that exploit their
features.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 65
 Programming Methodologies

• New methods of program development have led

to advances in language design:
• These have included:
– structured programming languages
– data abstraction in object-oriented languages

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 66

 Language Categories

• There are four different programming language

paradigms:
– Imperative
– Functional
– Declarative
– Object-Oriented

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 67

 Imperative Languages

• Imperative languages are command-driven or

statement-oriented languages.
• The basic concept is the machine state (the set of
all values for all memory locations).
• A program consists if a sequence of statements
and the execution of each statement changes the
machine state.
• Programs take the form:
statement1;
statement2;
… …
• FORTRAN, COBOL, C, Pascal, PL/I are all
imperative languages.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 68
 Functional Languages

• An functional programming language looks

at the function that the program represents
rather than the state changes as each
statement is executed.
• The key question is: What function must be
applied to our initial machine and our data
to produce the final result?
• Statements take the form:
functionn(function1, function2, … (data)) … )
• ML, Scheme and LISP are examples of functional
languages.
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 Rule-Based Languages

• Rule-based or declarative languages

execute checking to see if a particular
condition is true and if so, perform the
appropriate actions.
• The enabling conditions are usually written in
terms of predicate calculus and take the
form:
condition1  action1
condition2  action2
… … …
• Prolog is the best know example of a
declarative language.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 70
 Object-Oriented Languages

• In object-oriented languages, data structures and

algorithms support the abstraction of data and
endeavor to allow the programmer to use data in
a fashion that closely represents its real world use.
• Data abstraction is implemented by use of
– Encapsulation – data and procedures
belonging to a class can only be accessed by
that classes (with noteworthy exceptions).
– Polymorphism – the same functions and
operators can mean different things depending
on the parameters or operands,
– Inheritance – New classes may be defined in
terms of other, simpler classes.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 71
 Language Design Trade-offs

• Frequently, design criteria will be contrdictory:

– Reliability and cost of execution
– In APL, expressivity and writability conflict with
readability
– Flexbilty and safety (e.g., variant records as a
safety loophole in Pascal).

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 72

 The Compiling Process

Source Object Linker Executable

Compile
Code Module version
r

Assembler version

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 73

 The Pure Interpretation Process

Source Interpreter Output

Code

Input

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 74

 The Hybrid Interpretation Process

Source Intermediate Interpreter

Interpreter Output
Code Version

Inpu
t

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 75

 Program Development

• Planning is a critical issue

– Don’t type in code “off the top of your
head”
• Programming Takes Time
– Plan on writing several revisions
– Debugging your program
• Programming requires precision
– One misplaced semi-colon (or colon -
Python) will stop the program

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 76

 Exercise in Frustration

• Plan well (using paper and pencil)

• Start early
• Be patient
• Handle Frustration
• Work Hard
• Don’t let someone else do part of the
program for you.
• Understand the Concepts Yourself!
• Solve the problem yourself!

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 77

 Step 1
Good Programming Habits

• 1. Analysis
– Is the computer the appropriate tool for solving this
problem?
– Would the problem be better solved with human
interaction or paper and pencil?
– Sometimes human judgment is preferable.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 78

 Step 2
Good Programming Habits

• 2. Specification of the Problem

– Formulate a clear and precise statement of what is
to be done (clear and unambiguous).
– Know what data are available
– Know what may be assumed
– Know what output is desired & the form it should
take
– Divide the problem into sub problems
– Doesn’t discuss “how to” solve the problem yet.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 79

 Step 3
Good Programming Habits

• 3. Develop an Algorithm
– Algorithm:
• a finite sequence of effective statements that when
applied to the problem, will solve it.
– Effective Statement:
• a clear unambiguous instruction that can be carried
out.
– Algorithms should have:
• specific beginning and ending that is reached in a
reasonable amount of time (a finite amount of time).
– This is done before sitting down at the
computer.
Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 80
 Algorithms

• Steps for subtracting two numbers:

– Step 1: Write down the numbers, with larger number
above smaller one, digits column-aligned from right
– Step 2: Start with rightmost column of digits and work
your way left through the various columns
– Step 3: Write down difference between the digits in
the current column of digits, borrowing a 1 from the top
number’s next column to the left if necessary
– Step 4: If there is no next column to the left, stop
• Otherwise, move to column to the left; go to Step 3
• The computing agent is a human being

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 81

 Algorithms CONT.

• Sequence of steps that describes each of these

computational processes is called an algorithm
• Features of an algorithm:
– Consists of a finite number of instructions
– Each individual instruction is well defined
– Describes a process that eventually halts after
arriving at a solution to a problem
– Solves a general class of problems

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 82

 Step 3.5
Good Programming Habits

• 3.5 Document the Program

– Programming Style
• Upper / Lower Case, Indenting, format
– Comments
– Descriptive Identifier Names
• Variables, Constants, Procedures, Functions
– Pre & Post Conditions
• For each Procedure and Function
– Output

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 83

 Step 4
Good Programming Habits

• 4. Code the Program

– After algorithms are correct
– Desk check your program
• Without the computer,
just paper and pencil
• 4.1 Type and Run the Program
– Look for errors
• Syntax Errors (semi colon missing, etc.)
• Logic Errors (divide by zero, etc.)

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 84

 Step 4.2
Good Programming Habits

• 4.2 Test the Results

– Does it produce the correct solution?
– Check results with paper and pencil.
– Does it work for all cases?
• Border, Edge, Extreme Cases
– Revise the program if not correct.
– The coding process is not completed until the
program has been tested thoroughly and works
properly (recheck the specifications).

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 85

 Step 5
Good Programming Habits

• 5. Interpretation
– The program may execute without any obvious
errors.
– It may not produce the results which solve the
problem.
• G.I.G.O Get what you ask for,
not what you want.
• Recheck your program with the original specifications

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 86

 Top Down Design

• Subdivide the problem into major tasks

– Subdivide each major task into smaller tasks
• Keep subdividing until each task is easily solved.
• Each subdivision is called stepwise refinement.
• Each task is called a module
• We can use a structure chart to show
relationships between modules.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 87

 Top Down Design 2

S truc tu re C h a rt

M ain T a sk

S u b ta sk S u b ta sk S u b ta sk

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 88

 Top Down Design 3

• Pseudocode

– is written in English with programming language

like sentence structure and indentations.
– Major Tasks are numbered with whole numbers
– Subtasks use decimal points for outline.

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 89

 Top Down Design 4

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 90

 Writing Programs

• Vocabulary
– reserved words
• have a predefined meaning that can’t be changed
– library identifiers
• words defined in standard libraries
– programmer supplied identifiers
• defined by the programmer following a well defined
set of rules

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 91

 Writing Programs 2

• Words are CaSe SeNsItIvE

– For constants use ALL CAPS (UPPERCASE)
– For reserved words and identifiers use lowercase
• Syntax
– rules for construction of valid statements, including
• order of words
• punctuation

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 92

 Writing Code

• Executable Statement
– basic unit of grammar
• library identifiers, programmer defined identifiers,
reserved words, numbers and/or characters
– A semicolon terminates a statement in many
programming languages
• Programs should be readable

Noformat.py format.py

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 93

 The Use of Comments

• Comments should be included to help make the

program more clear to someone reading the code
other than the author.
• Use comments after the header to explain the
function of the program, & throughout the
program

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 94

 Test Programs

• Test programs are short programs written to

provide an answer to a specific question.
• You can try something out
• Practice the programming language
• Ask “what if” questions
• Experiment: try and see

Intro to Computer Prog – Frederick Edem Broni 04/29/2025 Slide 95