FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING CERTIFICATE: INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY: SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

ID 78965 LEVEL 4 – CREDITS 165

LEARNER GUIDE

SAQA: 14910

APPLY THE PRINCIPLES OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING

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Learner Information:
Details Please Complete this Section
Name & Surname:
Organisation:
Unit/Dept:
Facilitator Name:
Date Started:
Date of Completion:

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annexures thereto, is protected and expressly reserved. No part of this
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otherwise without the prior permission.

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Learner Guide Introduction

About the Learner This Learner Guide provides a comprehensive overview of the
Guide… Apply the principles of Computer Programming,and forms part of
a series of Learner Guides that have been developed for FURTHER
EDUCATION AND TRAINING CERTIFICATE: INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY: SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT ID 78965 LEVEL 4 –
CREDITS 165The series of Learner Guides are conceptualized in
modular’s format and developed FURTHER EDUCATION AND
TRAINING CERTIFICATE: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: SYSTEMS
DEVELOPMENT ID 78965 LEVEL 4 – CREDITS 165 They are designed
to improve the skills and knowledge of learners, and thus
enabling them to effectively and efficiently complete specific
tasks. Learners are required to attend training workshops as a
group or as specified by their organization. These workshops are
presented in modules, and conducted by a qualified facilitator.

Purpose The purpose of this Unit Standard is to Apply the principles of

Computer Programming
Outcomes Apply the principles of Computer Programming
Assessment Criteria The only way to establish whether a learner is competent and has
accomplished the specific outcomes is through an assessment
process. Assessment involves collecting and interpreting
evidence about the learner’s ability to perform a task. This guide
may include assessments in the form of activities, assignments,
tasks or projects, as well as workplace practical tasks. Learners
are required to perform tasks on the job to collect enough and
appropriate evidence for their portfolio of evidence, proof
signed by their supervisor that the tasks were performed
successfully.

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To qualify To qualify and receive credits towards the learning programme,
a registered assessor will conduct an evaluation and assessment
of the learner’s portfolio of evidence and competency
Range of Learning This describes the situation and circumstance in which
competence must be demonstrated and the parameters in
which learners operate
Responsibility The responsibility of learning rest with the learner, so:
 Be proactive and ask questions,
 Seek assistance and help from your facilitators, if required.

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 Apply the principles of Computer

1
Programming

Learning Unit

UNIT STANDARD NUMBER : 14910

LEVEL ON THE NQF : 4
CREDITS : 8
FIELD : Physical, Mathematical, Computer and Life
Sciences
SUB FIELD : Construction Information Technology and
Computer Sciences

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 This unit standard is intended:
to demonstrate the application of knowledge of the areas covered
PURPOSE: for those working in, or entering the workplace in the area of systems development.
People credited with this unit standard are able to:
apply fundamental principles of problem analysis
demonstrate an understanding of different data representations used in computer
programs
demonstrate an understanding of fundamental programming principles
demonstrate an understanding of high level programming language concepts
The performance of all elements is to a standard that allows for further learning in this
area.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE:

Open.
The credit value of this unit is based on a person having the prior knowledge and skills to:
demonstrate an understanding of fundamental mathematics and English (at least NQF level 2)
demonstrate PC competency skills (End User Computing unit standards)
describe the principles of Computer Programming.

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 SESSION 1.

Operate computer programming development tools.

Learning Outcomes
 1. The operation demonstrates the use of the editor of the development tools to
produce program source code.
 2. The operation includes the use of the syntax checker of the tools to check for
syntax errors.
 3. The operation uses the tool to compile the program source code produced.

The operation demonstrates the use of the editor of the development tools to produce
program source code.
A programming tool or software development tool is a program or application that
software developers use to create, debug, maintain, or otherwise support other
programs and applications. The term usually refers to relatively simple programs, that
can be combined together to accomplish a task, much as one might use multiple
hand tools to fix a physical object. Sometimes called text editor, a program that
enables you to create and edit text files. There are many different types of editors, but
they all fall into two general categories: line editors: A primitive form of editor that
requires you to specify a specific line of text before you can make changes to it. screen
-oriented editors: Also called full-screen editors, these editors enable you to modify any
text that appears on the display screen by moving the cursor to the desired location.
EDITOR COMMANDS
Command Description
Ctrl-a Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line.
[Home]
Ctrl-b Moves the cursor backwards one character.
[Left Arrow]
Ctrl-c Copys highlighted text (the current selection) to a temporary

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 holding area.
Ctrl-d Deletes the character to the right of the cursor.
( [Delete] on Windows )
Ctrl-e Moves the cursor to the end of the current line.
[End]
Ctrl-f Find a sequence of characters. A prompt bar pops up for
entering the desired sequence of characters. An [Esc] aborts
the find operation.
Ctrl-g Find the next occurance of a sequence of characters,
specified by last FIND or SEARCH.

The operation includes the use of the syntax checker of the tools to check for syntax
errors.
In computer science, a syntax error refers to an error in the syntax of a sequence of
characters or tokens that is intended to be written in a particular programming
language. For compiled languages syntax errors occur strictly at compile-time. A
program will not compile until all syntax errors are corrected. For interpreted languages,
however, not all syntax errors can be reliably detected until run-time, and it is not
necessarily simple to differentiate a syntax error from a semantic error; many don't try at
all. In 8-bit home computers that used BASIC interpreter as their primary user interface,
the SYNTAX ERROR message became somewhat notorious, as this was the response to
any command or user input the interpreter couldn't parse. A syntax error may also
occur when an invalid equation is entered into a calculator. This can be caused, for
instance, by opening brackets without closing them, or less commonly, entering several
decimal points in one number.

Syntax Checking Error Messages

These messages are output when the compiler is checking your COBOL program for
syntax and consistency. The descriptions for each message lists the text of each
message, and where necessary explain the error or problem that causes the message

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and gives advice on how to prevent it. The severity is not listed, as the same message
can be output with a different severity depending on the setting of directives.
Format of Syntax Checking Error Messages
Syntax checking error messages have the following format:
Line-of-COBOL-code
nnnn-s code**** (mmmm)**
message
where the variables are:

nnnn The message number.

mmmm The page where the previous error occurred.

s One of the following severity codes:

U Unrecoverable. An unrecoverable error stops the COBOL system.
These messages are produced by the run-time system.
S Severe. You must correct the syntax error or inconsistency in your
program. Otherwise the compiler cannot generate code.
E Error. The compiler will make an assumption about what you meant.
You might want to correct your program in case the compiler's
assumption is not what you intended.
W Warning. This means there might be an error, although the program
is syntactically correct.
I Information. This draws your attention to something in the source
code that you might need to be aware of. It does not mean there is
an error.

You can disable reporting of errors of E-level, W-level, and I-level, using the WARNING
directive. When the Compiler has finished, the total number of errors in each category is
also output. You can disregard some levels of errors and continue working. You can:
 Debug programs that have S-level, E-level, W-level, and I-level errors regardless of
the setting of the E run-time switch.
 Produce object code from intermediate code that has E-level, W-level, and I-level
errors, but not S-level errors.

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 Run programs that have E-level, W-level, and I-level errors. If the E-level run-time
switch is on, which overrides the default setting, you can also run programs with S-
level errors.
The error messages can contain variable information. This information is indicated as an
item in italics. For example:
User-name data-name not unique
will have the name of the item that is not unique in place of the text data-name.

List of Syntax Checking Error Messages

0001 Undefined error. Inform Technical Support
Your program contains an error which the COBOL system has failed to recognize.
Resolution:
Send Technical Support a copy of your source code to enable them to find the cause
of the error.

0002 Unexpected SQL error. Inform Technical Support

Your program contains an SQL error which the COBOL system has failed to recognize.
Resolution:
Send Technical Support a copy of your source code to enable them to find the cause
of the error.

0003 Illegal format: Literal

The sequence of characters forming a literal in your source code does not conform to
the rules governing the construction of such names. A literal can be either nonnumeric
or numeric. If numeric it can be up to 18 digits in length, but it must not contain more
than one sign character or more than one decimal point. A nonnumeric literal can
consist of any allowable character in the computer's character set up to a maximum of
160 characters in the Procedure Division, or 2048 characters in the Data Division. A
nonnumeric literal must be enclosed in quotation marks. If you have used a figurative
constant as the literal make sure that it is referenced by an allowable reserved word
(such as ZERO) which you have spelled correctly. A figurative constant and a numeric
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literal must not be enclosed in quotation marks. You might also have used the wrong
class of literal for the context of the sentence. Alternatively, if you have used the
figurative constant ALL in your code, you have not coded it in accordance with the
rules governing the use of this constant. ALL must be followed by a nonnumeric literal
and not by a numeric one.
Resolution:
Revise your code to comply with the above rules.
0004 Illegal character
Your program contains a character that is not part of the COBOL language set.
Resolution:
Replace the illegal character with a valid one.
0005 User-name user-name not unique
You have given the same user-name without qualification to more than one data item
or procedure-name in your source code.
Resolution:
You must rename or qualify the duplicated data items or procedure-names to ensure
that uniqueness of reference is achieved.

0007 specified in column 7 of otherwise blank line

The indicator area, column 7, contains an illegal character.
Resolution:
Legal characters are *, D, -, / or space.
0008 Unknown COPY file filename specified
A file with the name filename, specified in conjunction with a COPY statement, cannot
be found.
0009 '.' missing
Your code does not contain a period in a place where one is expected by the rules of
COBOL syntax.
Resolution:
Insert one at the relevant place.
0010 Word starts or is continued in wrong area of source line
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The word starts either in area A when it should have started in area B, or in area B when
it should have started in area A.
0011 Reserved word missing or incorrectly used
You have either used a reserved word in a place where a user defined word is
expected or you have failed to use a reserved word where one is needed.
Resolution:
Alter the reserved word into a user defined one or insert a reserved word according to
the context of this message.

The operation uses the tool to compile the program source code produced.
User written code, standard functions, library functions.
Library Functions:
Q-Basic provides a number of functions. These inbuilt functions of Q-basic are called
library functions. These are divided into string and numeric functions. LEFT$, LEN, MID$,
LCASE$ etc are the examples of string functions and ABS, SQR, INT, VAL etc are the
examples of numeric variables.
User Defined Functions:
While standard functions are pre-defined and provided for by QBasic, user-defined
functions are completely defined and customized by the programmer. User-defined
functions return a single value and are generally used to perform an operation that will
be needed numerous times in a program. In QBasic, user-defined functions are referred
to as procedures; similar to SUB procedures except function procedures return one
value. Arguments may be sent into a function procedure for use in the function
operation, but the value returned by the function will not be included in the parameter
list. The value is returned in the function itself. Each user=defined function starts with
BEGIN FUNCTION FunctName (x,y,z) and ends with END FUNCTION. The code between
these two lines is executed whenever the function is invoked from main program, from
another function, or SUB, or from itself. FunctName is a name for your function (choose
a descriptive one). Arguments (x,y,z) are the variables passed to the function.The form
of a function procedure is as follows:
FUNCTION name( parameter list )
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 REM
REM body of function
REM
END FUNCTION
Subroutines and functions:
A subroutine (also called a "module") is a "mini-program" inside your program. In other
words, it is a collection of commands--and can be executed anywhere in your
program. To create a subroutine: Go to the "Edit" menu Select "New Sub" Enter a name
for the subroutine Type a list of commands between SUB and END SUB. (Topic 1.1 SUB
….. END SUB statement: will provide detail information)
Functions:
Function is the same as a subroutine, except it returns a value. Also, you must leave out
the CALL command. To return a value, set a variable with the same name as the
function.
Local and Global variable:
When a variable is declared within a main module or procedure without using SHARED
attribute, only code within that main module or procedure can access or change the
value of that variable. This type of variable is called as LOCAL variable. When a variable
is declared with SHARED attribute in a main module, it can be used in a procedure
without passing it as parameter. Any SUB or FUNCTION procedure within the module
can use this type of variable. This type of variable which is available to all SUB and
FUNCTION procedure with the module is known as GLOBAL variable.

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 SESSION 2.

Demonstrate an understanding of different data

representations used in computer programs.

Learning Outcomes
 1. The demonstration applies different number conversion techniques between data
types (at least 2).
 2. The demonstration compares different logical data types (at least 3) in a
language of choice (incl. pseudo code).
 3. The demonstration differentiate between different internal representations of data
types (in ASCII).
 4. The demonstration distinguishes between different logical operators (at least 2).

The demonstration applies different number conversion techniques between data types
(at least 2).
There are infinite ways to represent a number. The four commonly associated with
modern computers and digital electronics are: decimal, binary, octal, and
hexadecimal.
Decimal (base 10) is the way most human beings represent numbers. Decimal is
sometimes abbreviated as dec.
Decimal counting goes:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and so on.

Binary (base 2) is the natural way most digital circuits represent and manipulate
numbers. (Common misspellings are “bianary”, “bienary”, or “binery”.) Binary numbers
are sometimes represented by preceding the value with '0b', as in 0b1011. Binary is
sometimes abbreviated as bin.
Binary counting goes:
0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, 1010, 1011, 1100, 1101, 1110, 1111, 10000,

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10001, and so on.

Octal (base 8) was previously a popular choice for representing digital circuit numbers
in a form that is more compact than binary. Octal is sometimes abbreviated as oct.
Octal counting goes:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, and so on.

Hexadecimal (base 16) is currently the most popular choice for representing digital
circuit numbers in a form that is more compact than binary. (Common misspellings are
“hexdecimal”, “hexidecimal”, “hexedecimal”, or “hexodecimal”.) Hexadecimal
numbers are sometimes represented by preceding the value with '0x', as in 0x1B84.
Hexadecimal is sometimes abbreviated as hex.
Hexadecimal counting goes:
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10, 11, and so on.

All four number systems are equally capable of representing any number. Furthermore,
a number can be perfectly converted between the various number systems without
any loss of numeric value.
Dec Hex Oct Bin
0 0 000 00000000
1 1 001 00000001
2 2 002 00000010
3 3 003 00000011
4 4 004 00000100
5 5 005 00000101
6 6 006 00000110
7 7 007 00000111
8 8 010 00001000
9 9 011 00001001
10 A 012 00001010

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11 B 013 00001011
12 C 014 00001100
13 D 015 00001101
14 E 016 00001110
15 F 017 00001111

The demonstration differentiates between different internal representations of data types

(in ASCII).
Data Representation refers to the methods used internally to represent information
stored in a computer. Computers store lots of different types of information:
 numbers
 text
 graphics of many varieties (stills, video, animation)
 sound
At least, these all seem different to us. However, ALL types of information stored in a
computer are stored internally in the same simple format: a sequence of 0's and
1's. How can a sequence of 0's and 1's represent things as diverse as your photograph,
your favorite song, a recent movie, and your term paper? It all depends on how
we interpret the information. Computers use numeric codes to represent all the
information they store. These codes are similar to those you may have used as a child to
encrypt secret notes: let 1 stand for A, 2 stand for B, etc. With this code, any written
message can be represented numerically. The codes used by computers are a bit more
sophisticated, and they are based on the binary number system (base two) instead of
the more familiar (for the moment, at least!) decimal system. Computers use a variety
of different codes. Some are used for numbers, others for text, and still others for sound
and graphics.
Memory Structure in Computer
 Memory consists of bits (0 or 1)
o a single bit can represent two pieces of information
 bytes (=8 bits)
o a single byte can represent 256 = 2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 = 28 pieces of information
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 words (=2,4, or 8 bytes)
o a 2 byte word can represent 2562 pieces of information (approximately 65
thousand).
 Byte addressable - each byte has its own address.
Binary Numbers
Normally we write numbers using digits 0 to 9. This is called base 10. However, any
positive integer (whole number) can be easily represented by a sequence of 0's and
1's. Numbers in this form are said to be in base 2 and they are called binary numbers.
Base 10 numbers use a positional system based on powers of 10 to indicate their value.
The number 123 is really 1 hundred + 2 tens + 3 ones. The value of each position is
determined by ever-higher powers of 10, read from left to right. Base 2 works the same
way, just with different powers. The number 101 in base 2 is really 1 four + 0 twos + 1 one
(which equals 5 in base 10).
Text
Text can be represented easily by assigning a unique numeric value for each symbol
used in the text. For example, the widely used ASCII code (American Standard Code
for Information Interchange) defines 128 different symbols (all the characters found on
a standard keyboard, plus a few extra), and assigns to each a unique numeric code
between 0 and 127. In ASCII, an "A" is 65," B" is 66, "a" is 97, "b" is 98, and so forth. When
you save a file as "plain text", it is stored using ASCII. ASCII format uses 1 byte per
character 1 byte gives only 256 (128 standard and 128 non-standard) possible
characters The code value for any character can be converted to base 2, so any
written message made up of ASCII characters can be converted to a string of 0's and
1's.
Graphics
Graphics that are displayed on a computer screen consist of pixels: the tiny "dots" of
color that collectively "paint" a graphic image on a computer screen. The pixels are
organized into many rows on the screen. In one common configuration, each row is 640
pixels long, and there are 480 such rows. Another configuration (and the one used on
the screens in the lab) is 800 pixels per row with 600 rows, which is referred to as a
"resolution of 800x600." Each pixel has two properties: its location on the screen and its
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color. A graphic image can be represented by a list of pixels. Imagine all the rows of
pixels on the screen laid out end to end in one long row. This gives the pixel list, and a
pixel's location in the list corresponds to its position on the screen. A pixel's color is
represented by a binary code, and consists of a certain number of bits. In a
monochrome (black and white) image, only 1 bit is needed per pixel: 0 for black, 1 for
white, for example. A 16 color image requires 4 bits per pixel. Modern display hardware
allows for 24 bits per pixel, which provides an astounding array of 16.7 million possible
colors for each pixel!

The demonstration compares different logical data types (at least 3) in a language of
choice (incl. pseudo code).
Numeric Data
Numeric data simply means numbers. But, just to complicate things for you, numbers
come in a variety of different types...
Integers
An integer is a whole number - it has no decimal or fractional parts. Integers can be
either positive or negative.
Examples
 12
 45
 1274
 1000000
 -3
 -5735

Real Numbers

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Any number that you could place on a number line is a real number. Real numbers
include whole numbers (integers) and numbers with decimal/fractional parts. Real
numbers can be positive or negative.

Examples
 1
 1.4534
 946.5
 -0.0003
 3.142

Some computer software used strange names for real data.

You might see this data type referred to as 'single', 'double' or 'float'.
Currency
Currency refers to real numbers that are formatted in a specific way. Usually currency is
shown with a currency symbol and (usually) two decimal places.

Examples
 £12.45
 -£0.01
 €999.00
 $5500

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Percentage
Percentage refers to fractional real numbers that are formatted in a specific way - out
of 100, with a percent symbol. So, the real value 0.5 would be shown as 50%, the
value 0.01 would be shown as 1% and the number 1.25 would be shown as 125%

Examples
 100%
 25%
 1200%
 -5%

Inside the computer the 50% is stored as a real number: 0.5, But when it is displayed it is
shown formatted as a percentage

Alphanumeric (Text) Data

Alphanumeric (often simply called 'text') data refers to data made up of
letters (alphabet) and numbers (numeric). Usually symbols ($%^+@, etc.) and spaces
are also allowed.

Examples
 DOG
 “A little mouse”

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  ABC123

Text data is often input to a computer with speech marks (". . .") around it:
"MONKEY"
These tell the computer that this is text data and not some special command.
Date and Time Data
Date (and time) data is usually formatted in a specific way. The format depends upon
the setup of the computer, the software in use and the user’s preferences.

Date Examples
 25/10/2007
 12 Mar 2008
 10-06-08

Time Examples
 11am
 15:00
 3:00pm
 17:05:45

With inputting dates particular care has to be taken if the data contains American style
dates and the computer is setup to expect international style dates (or vice-versa)...

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The date 06/09/08 refers to 6th September 2008 in the international system, but would
be 9th June 2008 in America! Check your computer’s settings.

Boolean (Logical) Data

Boolean data is sometimes called 'logical' data (or in some software, 'yes/no' data).
Boolean data can only have two values: TRUE or FALSE

Examples
 TRUE
 FALSE
 ON
 OFF
 YES
 NO

Note that TRUE and FALSE can also be shown as YES / NO, ON / OFF, or even graphically
as tick boxes(ticked / unticked)
Selecting Data Types
When we are presented with data to be input into a computer system, we must analyse
it and select appropriate data types for each value... e.g. For the following data, we
might use the date types shown:
Data Name
 Name
 Height
 Date of Birth
 Phone No.
 Pay Rate
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  Tax Rate
Data Type
 Text
 Real
 Date
 Alphanumeric
 Currency
 Percentage

The demonstration distinguishes between different logical operators (at least 2).
And, Or, Not.
Logical operators are typically used with Boolean (logical) values; when they are, they
return a Boolean value. However, the && and ||operators actually return the value of
one of the specified operands, so if these operators are used with non-Boolean values,
they may return a non-Boolean value.

Logical Operators
Common Lisp provides three operators on Boolean values: and, or, and not. Of
these, and or are also control structures because their arguments are evaluated
conditionally. The function not necessarily examines its single argument, and so is a
simple function. The logical operators are described in the following table:
Operator Usage Description
Logical expr1 &&expr2 Returns expr1 if it can be converted to false; otherwise,
AND returns expr2. Thus, when used with Boolean
(&&) values, && returns true if both operands are true; otherwise,
returns false.
Logical expr1 ||expr2 Returns expr1 if it can be converted to true; otherwise,
OR (||) returns expr2. Thus, when used with Boolean
values, || returns true if either operand is true; if both are
false, returns false.

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Logical !expr Returns false if its single operand can be converted to true;
NOT (!) otherwise, returns true.
Fortran has five LOGICAL operators that can only be used with expressions whose results
are logical values (i.e., .TRUE. or .FALSE.). All LOGICAL operators have priorities lower
than arithmetic and relational operators. Therefore, if an expression involving arithmetic,
relational and logical operators, the arithmetic operators are evaluated first, followed
by the relational operators, followed by the logical operators.
These five logical operators are
 .NOT. : logical not
 .AND. : logical and
 .OR. : logical or
 .EQV. : logical equivalence
 .NEQV. : logical not equivalence

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 SESSION 3.

Demonstrate an understanding of fundamental

programming principles.

Learning Outcomes
 1. The demonstration illustrates the differences between the various algorithmic
structures of programming languages, using a language of choice (incl. Pseudo
code).
 2. The demonstration compares good & bad program documentation principles (at
least 3), using a language of choice (incl. Pseudo code) where needed.
 3. The demonstration illustrates good programming quality assurance principles.

The demonstration illustrates the differences between the various algorithmic structures
of programming languages, using a language of choice (incl. Pseudo code).

An algorithm is the steps that a programmer will write that will become a program. It is
written in a form of structured language called Pseudocode. Once an algorithm is
created using pseudocode, it is simple to translate it into real programming code. It
gives an opportunity to detect any logic errors prior to actual coding, which is a lot
more expensive and time consuming. It is used for planning the programming.
Pseudocode consists of short, English phrases used to explain specific task within a
program’s algorithm. Pseudocode should not include keywords in any specific
computer languages. It should be written as a list of consecutive phrases. You should
not use flowcharting symbols but you can draw arrows to show looping processes.
Indentation can be used to show the logic in pseudocode as well. For example, a first-
year, 9th grade Visual Basic programmer should be able to read and understand the
pseudocode written by a 12th grade AP Data Structures student. In fact, the VB
programmer could take the other students pseudocode and generate a VB program
based on that pseudocode.

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The programming process is a complicated one. You must first understand the program
specifications, of course. Then you need to organise your thoughts and create the
program. This is a difficult task when the program is not trivial (i.e. easy). You must break
the main tasks that must be accomplished into smaller ones in order to be able to
eventually write fully developed code. Writing pseudocode WILL save you time later
during the construction & testing phase of a program’s development.
Keep in mind that, if you have used pseudocode to write your algorithm, the coding will
become very simple.

Pseudocode
The sequence structure Pseudocode is an outline of a
We have been using the sequence structure program, written in a form that
since early in the course. Basically we can can easily be converted into real
describe the sequence structure using the programming statements.
pseudocode shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The sequence structure in pseudocode.
Enter
Perform one or more actions in sequence
Exit
Thus, the general requirement for the sequence structure is that one or more actions
may be performed in sequence after entry and before exit. There may not be any
branches or loops between the entry and the exit.
All actions must be taken in sequence.
The action elements themselves may be structures
However, it is important to note that one or more of the action elements may
themselves be sequence, selection, or loop structures. If each of the structures that
make up the sequence has only one entry point and one exit point, each such
structure can be viewed as a single action element in a sequence of actions.
Obviously, the sequence structure is the simplest of the three.
The selection structure

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The selection or decision structure can be described as shown in the pseudocode The
selection structure in pseudocode.
Enter
Test a condition for true or false
On true
Take one or more actions in sequence
On false
Take none, one, or more actions in sequence
Exit
Test a condition for true or false
Once again, there is only one entry point and one exit point. The first thing that
happens following entry is that some condition is tested for true or false. If the condition
is true, one or more actions are taken in sequence and control exits the structure. If the
condition is false, none, one or more different actions are taken in sequence and
control exits the structure. (Note the inclusion of the word none here.)
The action elements may themselves be structures
Once again, each of the action elements in the sequence may be another sequence,
selection, or loop structure. Eventually all of the actions for a chosen branch will be
completed in sequence and control will exit the structure.
Sometimes no action is required on false
It is often the case that no action is required when the test returns false. In that case,
control simply exits the structure without performing any actions.
The loop structure
The loop or iteration structure can be described as shown in the pseudocode
The loop structure in pseudocode.
Enter
Test a condition for true or false
Exit on false
On true
Perform one or more actions in sequence.

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 Go back and test the condition again
As before, there is only one entry point and one exit point.
Perform the test and exit on false
The first thing that happens following entry is that a condition is tested for true or false.
If the test returns false, control simply exits the structure without taking any action at all.
Perform some actions and repeat the test on true
If the test returns true:
 One or more actions are performed in sequence.
 The condition is tested again.
During each iteration, if the test returns false, control exits the structure. If the test returns
true, the entire cycle is repeated.
Each action element may be another structure
Each of the action elements may be implemented by another sequence, selection, or
loop structure. Eventually all of the actions will be completed and the condition will be
tested again.
Need to avoid infinite loops
Generally speaking, unless something is done in one of the actions to cause the test to
eventually return false, control will never exit the loop.
In this case, the program will be caught in what is commonly referred to as an infinite
loop.

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The demonstration compares good & bad program documentation principles (at least
3), using a language of choice (incl. Pseudo code) where needed.
Documenting the Program
Documenting is an ongoing, necessary process, although, as many programmers are,
you may be eager to pursue more exciting computer-centered activities.
Documentation is a written detailed description of the programming cycle and specific
facts about the program. Typical program documentation materials include the origin
and nature of the problem, a brief narrative description of the program, logic tools such
as flowcharts and pseudocode, data-record descriptions, program listings, and testing
results. Comments in the program itself are also considered an essential part of
documentation. Many programmers document as they code. In a broader sense,
program documentation can be part of the documentation for an entire system.

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The wise programmer continues to document the program throughout its design,
development, and testing. Documentation is needed to supplement human memory
and to help organize program planning. Also, documentation is critical to
communicate with others who have an interest in the program, especially other
programmers who may be part of a programming team. And, since turnover is high in
the computer industry, written documentation is needed so that those who come after
you can make any necessary modifications in the program or track down any errors
that you missed.

The demonstration illustrates good programming quality assurance principles

Quality Information Systems: Vital to Total Quality Management
Heightened global competition has made it imperative for organizations to deliver
products - goods and services - of consistently high quality. The principles of total quality
management (TQM) recognize that consistent product quality results from designing
and executing business processes so as to remove error and waste.
Product quality is the result of:
a. Customer focus
b. Introduction and continuous improvement of business processes and product-
development processes that reduce variations
c. Creation of a company-wide quality culture through motivation and training of all its
members
d. Continuous measurement and analysis of the accomplished results.

Quality information systems are vital to total quality management, because:

1. Business processes of the firm depend on information systems and, therefore, their
quality depends to a large degree on IS quality
2. Information systems enable most projects of business process design. This IS enabled
streamlining of processes gives fewer opportunities for error, thus leading to higher
quality of the processes' outputs.

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3. Information systems are a necessary component of the feedback loop in managing
an enterprise. IS are necessary to continually gauge any deviations from the expected
norms in the firm's performance and thus help reduce variance in performance.

International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000 - many companies, particularly in the

manufacturing sectors, comply with the ISO 9000 group of quality standards. Such
compliance is mandatory for those selling any of a broad range of products to the
countries of the European Union. Some other countries also require this certification. The
standards aim to ensure quality of products by certifying quality assurance during
business processes, such as product design, manufacturing, delivery, and service
support. Extensive quality-oriented information processing is a prerequisite for a
certification of compliance.

Software Quality
There are many attributes of software quality. These include:
1. Effectiveness
2 Usability
3. Efficiency
4. Reliability
5. Maintainability
6. Understandability
7. Modifiability
8. Testability

Effectiveness Refers to the satisfaction of the user and organizational requirements as

established during an analysis of these requirements, possibly using prototyping.
Usability The ease with which the intended users can use the system, depend on the
proper user-system interface.
Efficient operation is reflected mainly in how economically hardware resources are
used to satisfy the given effectiveness requirements

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Reliability Refers to the probability that the information system will operate correctly;
that is, according to specifications over a period of time. It may also be defined as the
mean time between failures. Software reliability is rooted in its freedom from defects. If
a system must run on different hardware or systems software platforms, portability
should be included as a desired attribute.
Maintainability Refers to ease of understanding, modifying, and testing.
Understandability Is achieved by readable and well-commented system code and by
documentation, which includes the requirements specifications, system
documentation, user manuals, and, sometimes special maintenance documentation.

Modifiability Means that it is relatively easy to identify and change any part of the
system that requires maintenance without affecting its other parts.
Testability Is the ease with which we can demonstrate that a modification resulted in a
quality system.

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 SESSION 4.

Demonstrate an understanding of high level programming

language concepts.

Learning Outcomes
 1. The demonstration explains what is understood by constants and variables.
 2. The demonstration illustrates the concepts of operators and expressions.
 3. The demonstration illustrates different modular programming features and
variable passing.
 4. The demonstration applies different debugging techniques.

The demonstration explains what is understood by constants and variables.

A symbol or name that stands for a value. For example, in the expression
x+y
x and y are variables. Variables can represent numeric values, characters, character
strings, or memory addresses. Variables play an important role in computer
programming because they enable programmers to write flexible programs. Rather
than entering data directly into a program, a programmer can use variables to
represent the data. Then, when the program is executed, the variables are replaced
with real data. This makes it possible for the same program to process different sets of
data. Every variable has a name, called the variable name, and a data type. A
variable's data type indicates what sort of value the variable represents, such as
whether it is an integer, a floating-point number, or a character. The opposite of a
variable is a constant. Constants are values that never change. Because of their
inflexibility, constants are used less often than variables in programming.

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The demonstration illustrates the concepts of operators and expressions.

An operator is a code element that performs an operation on one or more code

elements that hold values. Value elements include variables, constants, literals,
properties, returns from Function and Operator procedures, and expressions.
An expression is a series of value elements combined with operators, which yields a new
value. The operators act on the value elements by performing calculations,
comparisons, or other operations.

Types of Operators
Visual Basic provides the following types of operators:
 Arithmetic Operators perform familiar calculations on numeric values, including
shifting their bit patterns.
 Comparison Operators compare two expressions and return a Boolean value
representing the result of the comparison.
 Concatenation Operators join multiple strings into a single string.
 Logical and Bitwise Operators in Visual Basic combine Boolean or numeric values
and return a result of the same data type as the values.
The value elements that are combined with an operator are called operands of that
operator. Operators combined with value elements form expressions, except for the
assignment operator, which forms a statement.

The end result of an expression represents a value, which is typically of a familiar data
type such as Boolean, String, or a numeric type.
The following are examples of expressions.
5+4
' The preceding expression evaluates to 9.
15 * System.Math.Sqrt(9) + x
' The preceding expression evaluates to 45 plus the value of x.
"Concat" & "ena" & "tion"
' The preceding expression evaluates to "Concatenation".
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763 < 23
' The preceding expression evaluates to False.
Several operators can perform actions in a single expression or statement, as the
following example illustrates.
VB
x = 45 + y * z ^ 2
In the preceding example, Visual Basic performs the operations in the expression on the
right side of the assignment operator (=), then assigns the resulting value to the
variable x on the left. There is no practical limit to the number of operators that can be
combined into an expression, but an understanding of Operator Precedence in Visual
Basic is necessary to ensure that you get the results you expect.

The demonstration illustrates different modular programming features and variable

passing.
Modular Programming
When the complete program code started from one point and ended in another point
is compiled within a single program, the program become very complex and
unmanaged which is called as linear programming. In making large programs, you may
need to repeat parts of the code again and again, but not necessarily from within a
loop that does only that section of code. You may also have complex mathematical
formulas that use several variables to calculate a single value. If the complex and
unmanaged program is broken into the simpler programs to perform different task, then
the program become simpler and managed which is called as modular programming.
SUBs (subroutines) and FUNCTIONS are the tools you can use to organize your code and
create mini-programs within your one QBasic program.
Advantages of Modular Programming:
 The same procedure can be used more than one without rewriting, so it reduces the
length of the program.
 The debugging is much easier since the programs are found in the different parts.
 The procedure can be tested and debugged separately.
 Due to small programs, the task of documentation is easier.
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 The program is much more readable than the linear program.

MODULE:
The main program or source file of the sequential program containing the entry point
and the ending point of the program and which can be separately compiled is known
as module. It may contain the SUB and FUNCTION as well as codes not directly part of
the SUB and FUNCTION. The statements that are the not the part of the SUB or
FUNCTION are called module level code, for example DIM, TYPE etc. Every program has
one special module (the main module) and may consists of many supporting modules

The demonstration applies different debugging techniques.

 Debugging. A term used extensively in programming, debugging means detecting,

locating, and correcting bugs (mistakes), usually by running the program. These
bugs are logic errors, such as telling a computer to repeat an operation but not
telling it how to stop repeating. In this phase you run the program using test data
that you devise. You must plan the test data carefully to make sure you test every
part of the program.

RTFM technique
RTFM stands for Read The Fine Manual. Make sure you take the time to find relevant
documentation for the task at hand, i.e. the documentation of the tools (not only the
compiler, but also make, the preprocessor and the linker), libraries and algorithms you
are expected to use, such as [CPP][GCC][MAKE]. Often you do not need to know
everything in the documentation, but you do need to be aware what documentation is
relevant and what its purpose is. You should at the very least browse through it;
hopefully this will give you a feeling of deja-vu where needed, so you know where to
look.In examining documentation, you should distinguish between tutorials and
reference documentation.

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print() debugging
printf debugging is our term for a debugging technique we encounter all too often. It
consists of ad hoc addition of lots of printf (C) or cerr or cout (C++) statements to track
the control flow and data values in the execution of a piece of code.
This technique has strong disadvantages:
 It is very ad hoc. Code is temporarily added, to be removed as soon as the bug at
hand is solved; for the next bug, similar code is added etc. There are better ways of
adding debugging information, as you shall see shortly.
 It clobbers the normal output of your program, and slows it down considerably.

ANWB debugging
`ANWB debugging' is based on a simple principle: the best way to learn things is to
teach them.
In `ANWB debugging' you find a, preferably innocent and willing, bystander and
explain to her how your code works . This forces you to rethink your assumptions, and
explain what is really happening; often you find the cause of your problems this way.

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