The Art of Programming

1
The Art of Programming

• Top-Down Design

2
The Art of Problem Solving

• The art of problem solving is the transformation
  of an English description of a problem into a
  form that permits a mechanical solution.
• A straightforward example of this process is
  transforming an algebra word problem into a set
  of algebraic equations that can then be solved
  for the unknowns.

3
Software Development Method

• Requirements specification
• Analysis
• Design
• Implementation or coding
• Testing

4
Requirements Specification

• State the problem and gain a clear understanding
  of what is required for the solution.
• Sounds easy but can be most difficult part
• Must define the problem precisely
• eliminate unimportant aspects
• zero in on root problem

5
Analysis

• Identify input and outputs
• What information should the solution provide?
• What data do I have to work with?
• Identify data types needed

6
Design

• Develop a list of steps to solve the problem.
  This is called an algorithm.
• First list the major steps of the problem that
  need to be solved (subproblems)
• Now attack each of the subproblems. This is
  called refining the algorithm. (this process is
  like divide and conquer)

7
Implementation or Coding

• Notice that until now the steps are the same
  regardless of the programming language you are
  using.
• Translate your algorithm from pseudocode to
  Pascal.
• Good programming style
• comments

8
Testing

• Test the completed program and verify it works as
  expected.
• Dont rely on just one test case. Run the
  program using several different sets of data.
• Try to trick the program. A well written program
  should handle any error a user may make.

9
Midterm 1

• Chapters 1 (not really), 2 (not really), 3, 4, 5
• February 24, 2000 (two weeks from today)
• I expect to finish chapter 5 on February 17
• February 22 will be a review (there is a chance
  we will have 1 or 2 topics to finish from chapter
  5 that day)