Program Development

1
Program Development

• Planning tools

2
Algorithm

• A logical set of written instructions describing
  the steps required to accomplish a task
• Example rotating your cars tires

3
Flowcharting

• A graphical representation of the logical flow
  of events used to accomplish a task
• Example the steps used to get from home to
  school

4
Flowcharting symbols
Connector
Terminator
Process
Decision
Data
5
Terminator
Terminator
This symbol represents the beginning and ending
of a computer program
6
Process
Process
This symbol represents the processing of data in
a computer program
7
Decision
Decision
This symbol represents decisions made during a
computer programs execution
8
Data
Data
This symbol represents data input and data output
in a computer program
9
Connector
This symbol represents the logical flow of data
in a computer program
10
IPO Chart

• IPO is a chart similar to a flowchart. The
  difference is that the program is separated into
  three types of functions. (I)nput, (P)rocess,
  and (O)utput.

11
IPO Chart Symbols
Input
Process
Output
Connector
12
Input
Input
Represents data input in an IPO Chart
13
Process
Process
Represents the processing of data in an IPO Chart
14
Output
Output
Represents data output in an IPO Chart
15
Connector
Represents the logical flow of data through an
IPO Chart
16
Good programming guidelines

• Plan out your program
• Write a flowchart or pseudo code
• Design a user-friendly interface
• Break tasks down into modules
• Write your code
• Test the program
• Debug your code

17
More programming guidelines

• Comment your code
• Comments are unexecuted lines of code that are
  ignored by the compiler
• Used to explain what a block of code is doing
• Begin all comments with an apostrophe ()
• In all your Visual Basic programs in the general
  declarations you should have your name, the date,
  and a brief description of the program

18
The Three-Step Process

• Design the user interface When you plan the user
  interface, you draw a sketch of the screens the
  user will see when running your project. On your
  sketch, show the forms and all the controls that
  you plan to use

19
The Three-Step Process

• 2. Plan the properties For each object, write
  down the properties that you plan to set or
  change during the design of the form

20
The Three-Step Process

• 3. Plan the Basic code This step is where you
  plan the procedures that will execute when your
  project runs. You will determine which events
  require action to be taken and then make a
  step-by-step plan for those actions