Program is a set of a step-by-step instructions that

tells or directs the computer what to do.

Programmer designs the program, decides which of the programs or set of instructions to use and tests the program to see if it is working as designed.

2. Planning

the

Solution

3. Coding

the

Program

4. Testing

the

Program

5. Documentation

1. Identifying

the Problem

1. Identifying the Problem

It involves determining the requirement of the program. You have to analyze the need to be able to come up with a

suitable programming solution.

2. Planning the Solution

There are two ways of planning the solution to a problem, they are flowchart and pseudo-code.

Flowchart – graphical representation of the step by step instruction.

Pseudo-code – listing down the set of instructions.

3. Coding the Program

Visual Basic - is used as the programming language.

Syntax – Set of rules of programming language.

Syntax Error – If a rule is violated, it will produce error like misspelling.

4. Testing the program

Desk checking – The programmer just mentally traces or checks the program to make sure that it is error free.

Translation – The programming language uses a translator to ensure that the programmer did not violate any language

rules. Debugging – This means detecting, locating and correcting

bugs.

5. Documentation

The programmer makes a detailed description on how the program was created.

It contains a brief narrative process undergone by the program from the first step up to the fourth step

Symbol

Name ActionRepresentedPicture Shape

Oval Terminal Symbol

Represents start and end of program

Parallelogram Input/ Output

Indicates inputand output

Rectangle ProcessThis represents

processing of actione.g. mathematical operator

Diamond Decision Answer the question yes/ no

Hexagon Initialization/ Preparation

Prepare memory for repetition of

an action

Symbol

Name ActionRepresentedPicture Shape

Arrow Lines &Arrow Heads

Direction Shows the flow of the program

Annotation Used to describe action or variables

Circle On pageconnector

Connector or part of

program to another part

Pentagon Off-page connector

Connect part of a program to

another part on the other page

or paper

Sequence – process is executed from one to another in a straight forward manner.

Flowchart: Algorithm:Step 1: Read the value of N

Step 2: Print the value of N

Start

Read N

Print N

End

Procedural Languages – programming languages which are considered procedural uses a series of instructions or statements which are sequential from beginning to the

end. Example:

BASIC (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)

COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) PASCAL

FORTRAN (Formula Translator)

C

PL1 (Programming Language 1)

Non-Procedural Languages – programming languages are considered as object-oriented

programming languages. They are event-driven which means that a programmer

selects an event that needs to occur before the instruction or statement is executed.

Example: VISUAL BASIC

C++ JAVA

DELPHI

Flowchart – is one of the processes used in designing or planning the solution to a problem. It is a graphical representation to the solution of a problem. It uses

shapes to show instructions and arrow lines and heads to display the flow.

Machine Language or First Generation Programming Language

Assembly Languages or Second Generation Programming LanguageHigh Level Language or Third Generation Programming Language

(3GL)Very High Level Languages or Fourth

Generation Languages (4GL)Natural Languages

This is considered to be the lowest level of programming language. The program is represented by 1s and 0s. We all know that 1s and 0s or binary number is the only language

the computer understands. Machine language programming is a very tedious task because for just a simple task, the

program code required would be very long.

This is also considered as low level language. However, programmers would find this language easier to use than machine

language. Instead of using 1s and 0s, assembly language uses mnemonic codes. Mnemonic codes are abbreviations that are easy

to remember. Each type of computer has its own assembly language. This means that once you have started your

programming, you cannot use a different computer to continue your work.

This language transformed programming in the early 1960s. It makes programming easier since the language is now written in English like manner. If assembler is used by

assembly language, third generation languages use translator to convert the program into a machine language.

Fourth generation languages (4GL) simplifies further the third level generation languages (3GL) because there is a reduction in the number of instructional statements. One hundred (100) lines of instructions in 3GLs can be reduced to five (5) to twenty (20)

lines of instructions in 4GLs.

These languages are considered to be that fifth generation languages. These programming languages are called natural

languages because of their resemblance to English language. Natural Languages have the capability to translate human instructions into code that a computer understands. If it

gets confused with the user’s instructions, it asks for further explanation.