Chapter 8 - Structured Programming

Abstract

A program is a listing of the series of steps or operations to be performed in solving a problem and the order in which those steps are to be performed. Programming languages have certain types of instructions in common: input instructions, output instructions, arithmetic instructions, comparison instructions, control instructions, data movement instructions, data definition instructions, and file and record definition instructions. The steps to writing a good program are studying the problem to be solved, writing a clear specification of the problem, developing the solution, writing the program, testing and debugging the program, and documenting the program. Programs should be efficient, correct, reliable, robust, and maintainable. In a flowchart, the shapes of the symbols indicate the nature of the operations to be performed, and the flowlines indicate the order in which the operations should be performed. Pseudocode, or structured English, allows a programmer to use English-like sentences to write an explanation of what a program is supposed to do.