ES26 Lab

Introduction to Programming

1
Objectives

After completing this lesson, you

should be able to do the following:
 Explain the process of program development
 Identify the properties of good algorithms
 Able to represent algorithms using flowcharts
Introduction to Programming
 Programs are developed
to instruct computers to
do specific tasks, or solve
specific problems
 An algorithm is a finite set
of instructions that if
followed accomplishes a
particular task
 Thus, programming is the
activity of communicating
algorithms to computers
Program Development
Process
Problem or Task
make list check it
Requirements List
design algorithm verify
Algorithm
code program verify

Program

test and debug

Properties of Algorithm

1. Finiteness
 the execution of an algorithm must be
completed after a finite number of
operations have been performed
2. Absence of ambiguity
 every step of the algorithm should have a
unique interpretation
 every time an algorithm is presented for
execution with the same input data, the
exact same results should be obtained
Properties of Algorithm (cont..)

3. Sequence definition
– the order in which the steps are carried
out should be clearly specified
4. Input and output definition
– the algorithm can have zero or more
inputs and one or more outputs
Properties of Algorithm (cont..)

5. Effectiveness
 the algorithm can only give instructions
that the computer can carry out
 cases wherein there is insufficient
information to perform a task should not
exist
6. Scope definition
 the problem or class of problems where
the algorithm can be applied should be
defined
Representation of Algorithms
 Flowchart
 Pictorial representation of the logical
steps it takes to solve a problem
 Pseudocode
 An English-like representation of the
same thing
Flowcharts
 A two-dimensional graphical
representation of an algorithm
 Flowcharts don't deal with details
making it convenient for algorithm
design and presentation
 Allow the reader to follow the logic of
the algorithm more easily than would a
linear description
Flowcharting Basics
 Almost every program involves the
steps of input, processing and output
as in the program
Get number
Answer = number * 2
Print answer
 Therefore, most flowcharts need some
way to visually separate these three
steps
Input Operations
 Input operations are represented by
the parallelogram
 A statement is written in English,
inside the parallelogram

Get number
Processing Statements
 Arithmetic statements are examples of
processing statements
 Processing statements are
represented by rectangles, and
statements are written inside of them

Answer = Number * 2
Output Statements
 Output statements use the same
symbol as input statements – the
parallelogram

Print Answer
Flowlines
 To show the correct sequence of
statements, arrows (flowlines) are
used to connect steps
 Whenever possible, most of a
flowchart should read from top to
bottom or from left to right on a page
 Terminal
 To be complete, a flowchart should include
two more elements: a terminal or start/stop
symbol at each end
 Usually, a word like START or BEGIN is
placed in the first terminal symbol
 A word like END or STOP is placed in the
other
 The standard terminal symbol is shaped like a
race track
START STOP
Flowchart For the Program That
Doubles A Number
START

Get number

Answer = Number * 2

Print Answer

STOP
Program That Doubles A Number
For Several Inputs
START Problem:
The program
Get number
never ends!!!

Answer = Number * 2

Print Answer
 Stopping A Program
 The best way to end the program is to have
predetermined value for NUMBER that
means “Stop the program!”
 The programmer and the user could agree
that the user will never need to know the
double of 0, so the user could enter a 0 when
he or she wanted to stop
 The computer could then test any incoming
value for NUMBER and, if it is a 0, stop the
program
Decisions
 Decisions are represented in
flowcharts by diamonds
 The diamond usually contains a
question, the answer to which is either
a yes or a no
 All good computer questions has two
mutually exclusive answers like yes or
no
?
Program That Doubles A
Number START

Get number

Yes
Number=0? STOP
No
Answer = Number * 2

Print Answer
The Connector
 A connector will be used when the physical
constraints of page size stop the
programmer from completing the flowchart
START 1

Step 1 Step 1

Step 2 Step 1

1 STOP
Variables
 Programmers commonly refer to the
locations in memory called NUMBER
and ANSWER as variables
 Variables are memory locations, the
contents of which can vary
 Every computer programming
language has its own set of rules for
naming variables
The Structures
 Sequence
 Selection
 Iteration
Sequence

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3
Selection or Decision
Iteration or Repetition
Some Problems for
Flowcharting

 Design a flowchart that computes

the average of three numbers
 Design a flowchart that
determines whether a number is
positive, negative or zero
Some Problems for
Flowcharting
 Input an arbitrary number of
positive integers and compute the
sum. If the integer entered is
negative, then terminate the
algorithm.
 Design a flowchart that outputs
the highest number among three
numbers entered by the user