Program Development Life Cycle

Analysis Design Coding Testing Maintenance

Analysis:
Process of investigation, leading to specification of what a program is required to do

It uses:
Abstraction – keeps the key elements required for the solution to the problem and discards
any unnecessary details and information that is not required

Decomposition – breaks down a complex problem into smaller parts, which can then be
subdivided into even smaller parts, that can be solved easily

Design:
Uses the program specification from the analysis stage to show how the program should be
developed
It uses - structure charts, flowcharts, pseudocode

Coding:
Program or set of programs is developed
Each module of the program is written using a suitable programming language and then
tested to see if it works
Iterative testing means that modular tests are conducted, code is amended and is repeat until
the program performs as required

Testing:
The completed program or set of programs is run many times with different sets of test data

Computer systems, Sub-systems, and Decomposition

A computer system is made up of software, data, hardware, communications, people Each
computer system can be divided up into a set of sub-systems they can be further divided into
sub-systems and so on until each sub-system performs single task

Decomposing a problem:
Inputs – the data used by the system that needs to be entered while the system is active
Processes – tasks that need to be performed using input data and previous data
Outputs – information that needs to be displayed or printed for the users of the system
Storage – data that needs to be stored in files on an appropriate medium for use later

Explaining the purpose of an algorithm

An algorithm sets out the steps to complete a given task. This is usually shows as a flowchart
or pseudocode, so that the purpose of the task and the processes needed to complete it are
clear to those who study it
Variable – in a computer program is a named data store that contains a value that may change
during the execution of the program. To make programs understandable, they should be given
meaningful names
Constant – is a named data store that contains a value that does not change during the
execution of the program

Basic data types

INTEGER – a positive or negative whole number that can be used with operators
REAL – positive or negative number with a fractional part (decimal)
CHAR – a variable or constant that is a single character
STRING – variable or constant that is several characters in length
BOOLEAN – can only have two values TRUE or FALSE