PRINCIPLES OF PROGRAMMING CONCEPTS

ALGORITHMS AND PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES

 Introduction to Program Development and

Problem Solution

 Computers do what we tell them to do NOT what we want them

to do
 Computer Programming involves writing instructions and
giving them to the computer to complete a task.

 A computer program or software is:

 a set of instructions written in a computer language in order
to
 be executed by a computer to perform a useful task
Ex: Application software packages, such as word processors,
spreadsheets and databases are all computer programs

 A Computer Programmer is
 is a person who translates the task you want a computer to do
 into a form that a computer can understand

 A well designed computer program must be:

 correct and accurate
 easy to understand
 easy to maintain and update
 efficient
 reliable
 flexible

 The program development process involves the following

steps:
 document the program
 program documentation is the text or graphics that provide
description of
 the purpose of a function or a particular step
 the purpose of instruction in a program
  determine the user needs
 design the program specifications
 review the program specifications
 design the algorithm
 steps that will convert the available input into the desired output
 step by step solution for a given problem is called the algorithm
 a flowchart graphically details processing steps of a particular
program
 code the program
 write the program in a programming language using a program
editor
 a program editor is a program that allows to type, edit and save a
program code on a disk
 compile, test and debug the program
 in order to find out possible errors in the program
 types of errors may be syntax errors, run-time errors and logic
errors
 get program to the user
 install software on the users computer and offer training

 Types of programming errors

 Syntax of a programming language is the set of rules to be

followed when writing a program
 syntax error occurs when these rules are violated
 run-time errors occur when invalid data is entered during
program execution
 e.g. program expects numeric data and alphabetic data is
entered
 program will crash
 logic error will not stop the program but results will be
inaccurate
 The process of finding and correcting errors in a program is
called debugging

 For successful programming

 give no ambiguity in program instructions
 give no possibility of alternative interpretations
 make sure there is only one course of action
 Programming task can be made easier
 by breaking large and complex programs
 into smaller and less complex subprograms (modules)

 Programming task can be separated into 2 phases (see Fig. 1)

 problem solving phase
 produce an ordered sequence of steps that describe solution of
problem
 this sequence of steps is called an algorithm
 Example of an Algorithm: a recipe, to assemble a brand new
computer ...
 what else?

 implementation phase
 implement the program in some programming language (Pascal,
Basic, C)

Figure 1: Problem Solving and Programming

 What is structured programming

 a programming technique that splits the program into smaller
segments (modules) to
 decrease program development time
 decrease program maintenance cost
 improve the quality of software
 structured programming achieves these goals by using
 top-down design and use of modules
 use of limited control structures (sequence, selection and
repetition)
 management control
 Top-down design starts with major functions involved in a
problem
 and divide them into sub-functions
 until the problem has been divided as much as possible

 Categories of programming languages are

 machine
 assembly } low-level languages
 high-level
 fourth-generation
 fifth-generation
 Machine language is
 made up of binary 1s and 0s
 this is the only programming language the computers can
understand
 advantages of machine languages are:
fast execution speed and efficient use of main memory
 disadvantages of machine languages are
 writing machine language is tedious, difficult and time consuming

 Types of language-translator programs

 assemblers
 translates the program in assembly-language into machine-
language
 compilers
 translates high-level language program into machine-language
all at once
 interpreters
 translates high-level language into machine-language a line
at a time

 Major high-level languages are

 FORTRAN, COBOL, PL/I, BASIC, PASCAL, C, LISP, Prolog,
Logo

 FORTRAN
 FORmula TRANslator introduced in 1957
 for use by scientists, engineers and mathematicians
  well suited for complex numeric calculations
 COBOL
 COmmon Business Oriented Language
 a programming language used for business data processing
 designed to handle large data files
 PL/I
 Programming Language One created in 1960
 general purpose language for powerful computations and
 sophisticated data structures
 today largely used in the oil industry
 BASIC
 Beginners Allpurpose Symbolic Instruction Code created in
1960
 easy to learn interactive language on a time-sharing computer
 PASCAL
 Named after Blaise Pascal and created in 1960
 suited to both scientific and file processing applications
 designed to teach structured programming and top-down
design
 C
 Developed at Bell Labs in 1970s
 used advantages of both high-level and low-level languages
 C gives programmers extensive control over computer
hardware
 incorporates sophisticated control and data structures
 C++ is the object oriented version of C
 LISP
 is a language that processes symbol sequences (lists) rather
than numbers
 designed to handle data strings more efficiently than others
 Prolog
 is a language for symbol processing
 Logo
 is an interactive education oriented language
 designed to teach inexperienced users logic and programming
techniques
 includes list processing capabilities
 employs a triangular object called turtle
 to draw, animate and color images very simply
 Object-Oriented Programming Languages (OOPL)
 there are two main parts of a program, instructions and data
 traditional prog. languages treat instructions and data as
separate entities
 an OOPL treats a program as a series of objects and
messages
 an object is a combination of data and instructions that work
on data
 and is stored together as a reusable unit
 messages are instructions sent between objects
 to qualify as an OOPL a language must incorporate concepts of
 1. encapsulation
 2. inheritance
 3. polymorphism
 encapsulation is
 combining data and instructions into a reusable structures
 encapsulation generates prefabricated components of a program
 inheritance
 is the ability of a programming language to define a new object
 that has all the attributes of an existing object
 programmer inherits the existing object
 writes the code that describes how the new object differs from the
existing one
 polymorphism is
 the ability of an object to respond to a message in many ways
 for example, say you have a circle object and a square object
 each object has the same characteristics of drawing
 when a drawing message is sent to a circle object it draws a circle
 when a drawing message is sent to a square object it draws a
square
 thus, each object has the same characteristics of drawing
 but the characteristics is implemented differently

 Advantages of OOPL
 code re-use rather than reinvention and adaptable code
 these speed development & maintenance of applications and
reduce cost
 Smaltalk, Objective-C and C++ are examples of OOPL
 ALGORITHMS AND FLOWCHARTS
 A typical programming task can be divided into 2 phases:
 Problem solving phase
 produce an ordered sequence of steps that describe solution of
problem
 this sequence of steps is called an algorithm
Examples of Algorithm: a recipe, to assemble a brand new computer
...
what else?

 Implementation phase
 implement the program in some programming language

 Steps in Problem solving

 First produce a general algorithm (You can use pseudocode)
 Refine the algorithm successively to get step by step detailed
algorithm that is very close to a computer language.
Pseudocode is an artificial and informal language that helps
programmers develop algorithms. Pseudocode is very similar to
everyday English.

Example 1: Write an algorithm to determine the students final

grade and indicate weather it is passing or failing. The final grade
is calculated as the average of four marks.

Solution:
Pseudocode: 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”
 The Flowchart
 Easier to convey ideas by picture than by words
 Examples:
 It is easier to show how to go somewhere on a map than
explaining
 It is easier to construct a toy if diagrams are shown
 It is easier to construct a new PC if diagrams are provided
 Hence use pictorial format for describing an algorithm
 this is called a FLOWCHART

 A Flowchart
 shows logic of an algorithm
 emphasises individual steps and their interconnections
 e.g. control flow from one action to the next

 standard flowchart symbols are shown below

Example 1: Write an algorithm to determine the students final
grade and indicate weather it is passing or failing. The final grade
is calculated as the average of four marks.
Pseudocode: 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”

Flowchart: START
TRACE TABLE:

Input MARK GRADE STATUS

M1,M2,M3,M4 M1=80 80
M2=30 + 30
M3=40 + 40
GRADE=(M1+M2+M3+M4)/4
M4=30 + 30 /4
= 45 FAIL
N IS Y
GRADE<5
0

PRINT PRINT
“PASS” “FAIL”

STOP
Example 2: Write an algorithm and draw a flowchart to convert
the length in feet to centimeter.

Pseudocode: Input the lenght in feet (Lft)

Calculate the length in cm (Lcm) by multiplying LFT
with 30
Print LCM

Algorithm: Step 1: Input Lft

Step 2: Lcm = Lft x 30
Step 3: Print Lcm

Flowchart:
START

Input
Lft

Lcm = Lft x 30

Print
Lcm

STOP
Example 3: Write an algorithm and draw a flowchart that will read
the two sides of a rectangle and calculate its area.

Pseudocode: Input the width (W) and Length (L) of a rectangle

Calculate the area (A) by multiplying L with W
Print A

Algorithm: Step 1: Input W,L

Step 2: A=L x W
Step 3: Print A

Flowchart:
START

Input
W, L

A=LxW

Print
A

STOP
Example 4: Write an algorithm and draw a flowchart that will
calculate the roots of a quadratic equation ax2 + bx + c = 0

Hint: d = sqrt (b2 – 4ac), and the roots are: x1 = (–b + d)/2a and
x2 = (–b – d)/2a

Pseudocode: Input the coefficients (a, b, c) of the quadratic

equation
Calculate the discriminant d
Calculate x1
Calculate x2
Print x1 and x2

Algorithm: Step 1: Input a, b, c

Step 2: d = sqrt (b2 – 4 x a x c)
Step 3: x1 = (–b + d) / (2 x a)
Step 4: x2 = (–b – d) / (2 x a)
Step 5: Print x1 and x2

Flowchart:
START

Input
a, b, c

d = sqrt(b2 – 4 x a x c)

x1 = (–b + d) / (2 x a)

X2 = (–b – d) / (2 x a)

Print
x1 and x2

STOP
 DECISION STRUCTURES

 The expression A>B is a logical expression

 it describes a condition we want to test
 if A>B is true (if A is greater than B) we take the action on
left of
 print the value of A (see Fig. 2)
 if A>B is false (if A is not greater than B) we take the
action on right
 print the value of B (see Fig. 2)

Y N
is
A>B
Figure 2:

Print A Print B

IF–THEN–ELSE STRUCTURE
 The structure is as follows
 If condition
 then true alternative
 else false alternative
 endif

 The algorithm for the flowchart in figure 2 is as follows:

If A>B
then print A
else print B
endif

Here “>” is called the relational operator. Table 1 gives the possible
relational operators:
 Relational Operators
Operator Meaning
> Greater than
< Less than
= Equal to
 Greater than or
equal to
 Less than or equal
to
 Not equal to

Example 5: Write an algorithm that reads two values, determines

the largest value and prints the largest value with an identifying
message.

Algorithm: Step 1: Input VALUE1, VALUE2

Step 2: if VALUE1 > VALUE2
then MAX = VALUE1
else MAX = VALUE2
endif
Step 3: Print “The largest value is”, MAX
Flowchart:
START

Input
VALUE1,VALUE2

Y is N
VALUE1>VALUE2

MAX = VALUE1 MAX = VALUE2

Print
“The largest value is”, MAX

STOP
 NESTED IFS
 One of the alternatives within an IF–THEN–ELSE statement
 may involve further IF–THEN–ELSE statement

Example 6: Write an algorithm that reads three numbers and

prints the value of the largest number.

Algorithm: Step 1: Input N1, N2, N3

Step 2: if N1>N2
then if N1>N3
then MAX = N1 [N1>N2, N1>N3]
else MAX = N3 [N3>N1>N2]
endif
else if N2>N3
then MAX = N2 [N2>N1, N2>N3]
else MAX = N3 [N3>N2>N1]
endif
endif
Step 3: Print “The largest number is”, MAX

Flowchart: Draw the flowchart of the above Algorithm.

Example 7: Write and algorithm and draw a flowchart to
a) read an employee name (NAME), overtime hours worked
(OVERTIME), hours absent (ABSENT) and
b) determine the bonus payment (PAYMENT).

Bonus Schedule
OVERTIME – Bonus Paid
(2/3)*ABSENT
>40 hours $50
>30 but  40 hours $40
>20 but  30 hours $30
>10 but  20 hours $20
 10 hours $10

Algorithm: Step 1: Input NAME,OVERTIME,ABSENT

Step 2: if OVERTIME–(2/3)*ABSENT > 40
then PAYMENT = 50
else if OVERTIME–(2/3)*ABSENT > 30
then PAYMENT = 40
else if OVERTIME–(2/3)*ABSENT > 20
then PAYMENT = 30
else if OVERTIME–(2/3)*ABSENT > 10
then PAYMENT = 20
else PAYMENT = 10
endif
endif
endif
endif
Step 3: Print “Bonus for”, NAME “is $”, PAYMENT

Flowchart: Draw the flowchart of the above algorithm?