PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING

PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

UNIT-1

ALGORITHM

It is defined as a sequence of instructions that describe a method for solving a problem. In

other words it is a step by step procedure for solving a problem.

Properties of Algorithms

Qualities of a good algorithm

The following are the primary factors that are often used to judge the quality of the
algorithms.

Time – To execute a program, the computer system takes some amount of time. The lesser is
the time required, the better is the algorithm.

Memory – To execute a program, computer system takes some amount of memory space.
The lesser is the memory required, the better is the algorithm.

Accuracy – Multiple algorithms may provide suitable or correct solutions to a given

problem, some of these may provide more accurate results than others, and such algorithms
may be suitable.

Example

Write an algorithm to check whether he is eligible to vote?

Step 1: Start
Step 2: Get age
Step 3: if age >= 18 print “Eligible to vote”
Step 4: else print “Not eligible to vote”
Step 6: Stop
Iteration:

In some programs, certain set of statements are executed again and again based upon
conditional test. i.e. executed more than one time. This type of execution is called looping or
iteration.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

Example:

Write an algorithm to print all natural numbers up to n

Step 1: Start
Step 2: get n value.
Step 3: initialize i=1
Step 4: if (i<=n) go to step 5 else go to step 7
Step 5: Print i value and increment i value by 1
Step 6: go to step 4
Step 7: Stop

Functions:

that
performs a particular task.

tasks during algorithm design.

FLOWCHART:

Flow chart is defined as graphical representation of the logic for problem solving. The
purpose of flowchart is making the logic of the program clear in a visual representation.

Rules for drawing a flowchart

1. The flowchart should be clear, neat and easy to follow.

2. The flowchart must have a logical start and finish.
3. Only one flow line should come out from a process symbol.
4. Only one flow line should enter a decision symbol. However, two or three flow
lines may leave the decision symbol.
5. Only one flow line is used with a terminal symbol.
6. Within standard symbols, write briefly and precisely.
7. Intersection of flow lines should be avoided.
Advantages of flowchart:

1. Communication: - Flowcharts are better way of communicating the logic of a system to all
concerned.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

2. Effective analysis: - With the help of flowchart, problem can be analyzed in more effective
way
3. Proper documentation: - Program flowcharts serve as a good program documentation,
which is needed for various purposes.
4. Efficient Coding: - The flowcharts act as a guide or blueprint during the systems analysis
and program development phase.

5. Proper Debugging: - The flowchart helps in debugging process.

6. Efficient Program Maintenance: - The maintenance of operating program becomes easy

with the help of flowchart. It helps the programmer to put efforts more efficiently on that
part.

Disadvantages of flow chart:

1. Complex logic: - Sometimes, the program logic is quite complicated. In that case, flowchart
becomes complex and clumsy.
2. Alterations and Modifications: - If alterations are required the flowchart may require re-
drawing completely.
3. Reproduction: - As the flowchart symbols cannot be typed, reproduction of flowchart
becomes a problem.
4. Cost: For large application the time and cost of flowchart drawing becomes costly.

PSEUDO CODE:

used for
explain an algorithm.
nes.

the general working of the program, because it is not based on any programming language.

e readable

Guidelines for writing pseudo code:

PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

Common keywords used in pseudocode

The following gives common keywords used in pseudocodes.

1. //: This keyword used to represent a comment.
2. BEGIN,END: Begin is the first statement and end is the last statement.
3. INPUT, GET, READ: The keyword is used to inputting data.
4. COMPUTE, CALCULATE: used for calculation of the result of the given expression.
5. ADD, SUBTRACT, INITIALIZE used for addition, subtraction and initialization.
6. OUTPUT, PRINT, DISPLAY: It is used to display the output of the program.
7. IF, ELSE, ENDIF: used to make decision.
8. WHILE, ENDWHILE: used for iterative statements.
9. FOR, ENDFOR: Another iterative incremented/decremented tested automatically.

Example:

BEGIN
GET n
INITIALIZE i=1
FOR (i<=n) DO
PRINT i
i=i+1
ENDFOR
END

Advantages:

nguage; it can be used by most programmers.

with
converting a flowchart to programming language.
Disadvantages:

compared to flowchart.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

Example:

Addition of two numbers:

BEGIN
GET a,b
ADD c=a+b
PRINT c
END

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

A programming language is a set of symbols and rules for instructing a computer to perform
specific tasks. The programmers have to follow all the specified rules before writing program
using programming language. The user has to communicate with the computer using
language which it can understand.

Types of programming language

1. Machine language
2. Assembly language
3. High level language

Machine language:

The computer can understand only machine language which uses 0’s and 1’s. In machine
language the different instructions are formed by taking different combinations of 0’s and
1’s.

Advantages:

Translation free:

Machine language is the only language which the computer understands. For executing any
program written in any programming language, the conversion to machine language is
necessary. The program written in machine language can be executed directly on computer.
In this case any conversion process is not required.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

High speed

The machine language program is translation free. Since the conversion time is saved, the
execution of machine language program is extremely fast.

Disadvantage:

Machine dependent: According to architecture used, the computer differs from each other.
So machine language differs from computer to computer. So a program developed for a
particular type of computer may not run on other type of computer.

Assembly language:

rogramming language and make the programming process

easier, an assembly language is developed which is logically equivalent to machine language
but it is easier for people to read, write and understand.

Assembly language is symbolic representation of machine language. Assembly languages

are symbolic programming language that uses symbolic notation to represent machine
language instructions. They are called low level language because they are so closely related
to the machines.

Ex: ADD a, b

Assembler:

Assembler is the program which translates assembly language instruction in to a machine

language.

Advantage:

Disadvantage

Machine dependent : The assembly language program which can be executed on the
machine depends on the architecture of that computer.

Hard to learn : It is machine dependent, so the programmer should have the hardware
knowledge to create applications using assembly language.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

Less efficient :

program.

language.

High level language

High level language contains English words and symbols. The specified rules are to be
followed while writing program in high level language. The interpreter or compilers are
used for converting these programs in to machine readable form.

Translating high level language to machine language The programs that translate high level
language in to machine language are called interpreter or compiler.

Compiler:

A compiler is a program which translates the source code written in a high level language in
to object code which is in machine language program. Compiler reads the whole program
written in high level language and translates it to machine language. If any error is found it
display error message on the screen.

Interpreter

Interpreter translates the high level language program in line by line manner. The interpreter
translates a high level language statement in a source program to a machine code and
executes it immediately before translating the next statement. When an error is found the
execution of the program is halted and error message is displayed on the screen.

Advantages

1. Readability
2. High level language is closer to natural language so they are easier to learn and
understand
3. Machine independent
4. High level language program have the advantage of being portable between
machines.
5. Easy debugging
6. Easy to find and correct error in high level language
Disadvantages

Less efficient
PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

The translation process increases the execution time of the program. Programs in high level
language require more memory and take more execution time to execute.

They are divided into following categories:

1. Interpreted programming languages

2. Functional programming languages
3. Compiled programming languages
4. Procedural programming languages
5. Scripting programming language
6. Markup programming language
7. Concurrent programming language
8. Object oriented programming language

Interpreted programming languages:

An interpreted language is a programming language for which most of its implementation

executes instructions directly, without previously compiling a program into machine
language instructions. The interpreter executes the program directly translating each
statement into a sequence of one or more subroutines already compiled into machine code.

Examples:

Pascal
Python

Functional programming language:

Functional programming language defines every computation as a mathematical evaluation.

They focus on the programming languages are bound to mathematical calculations

Examples:

Clean
Haskell

Compiled Programming language:

A compiled programming is a programming language whose implementation are typically
compilers and not interpreters. It will produce a machine code from source code.

Examples:

C
PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

C++
C#
JAVA

Procedural programming language:

Procedural (imperative) programming implies specifying the steps that the programs should
take to reach to an intended state. A procedure is a group of statements that can be referred
through a procedure call. Procedures help in the reuse of code. Procedural programming
makes the programs structured and easily traceable for program flow.

Examples:

Hyper talk
MATLAB

Scripting language:

Scripting language are programming languages that control an application. Scripts can
execute independent of any other application. They are mostly embedded in the application
that they control and are used to automate frequently executed tasks like communicating
with external program.

Examples:

Apple script
VB script

Markup languages:

A markup language is an artificial language that uses annotations to text that define hoe the
text is to be displayed.

Examples:

HTML
XML

Concurrent programming language:

PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

Concurrent programming is a computer programming technique that provides for the

execution of operation concurrently, either with in a single computer or across a number of
systems.

Examples:

Joule
Limbo

Object oriented programming language:

Object oriented programming is a programming paradigm based on the concept of objects

which may contain data in the form of procedures often known as methods Algorithmic
problem solving is solving problem that require the formulation of an algorithm for the
solution.

ALGORITHMIC PROBLEM SOLVING

PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

Understanding the Problem

he algorithm solves.
handle.
correctly for
all TIME

Choosing between Exact and Approximate Problem Solving

solving it
approximately.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

algorithm.

Deciding a data structure:

specifying a
problem’s instance

Algorithm Design Techniques

approach to
solving problems algorithmically that is applicable to a variety of problems from different
areas of computing.

he following reasons.

Methods of Specifying an Algorithm

language-like constructs.
Pseudocode is usually more precise than natural language, and its usage often yields more
succinct algorithm descriptions.

was a
flowchart, a method of expressing an algorithm by a collection of connected geometric
shapes containing descriptions of the algorithm’s steps.

it needs to
be converted into a computer program written in a particular computer language. We can
look at such a program as yet another way of specifying the algorithm, although it is
preferable to consider it as the algorithm’s implementation.

Proving an Algorithm’s Correctness

een specified, you have to prove its correctness. That is, you have
to prove that the algorithm yields a required result for every legitimate input in a finite
amount of time.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND PYTHON PROGRAMMING
PREPARED BY : SARADHA.S , AP/CSE,SECE

because an
algorithm’s iterations provide a natural sequence of steps needed for such proofs.

for a few
specific inputs can be a very worthwhile activity, it can ot prove the algorithm’s correctness
conclusively.