Programming Logic and

Design
Fourth Edition, Introductory

Chapter 1
An Overview of Computers and Logic
 Objectives
• Understand computer components and operations
• Describe the steps involved in the programming
process
• Describe the data hierarchy
• Understand how to use flowchart symbols and
pseudocode statements
• Use and name variables

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 Objectives (continued)
• Use a sentinel, or dummy value, to end a program
• Use a connector symbol
• Assign values to variables
• Recognize the proper format of assignment
statements
• Describe data types
• Understand the evolution of programming
techniques

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Understanding Computer Components
and Operations
• Hardware and software: the two major components
of any computer system
• Hardware: equipment, or devices
• Software: programs that contain instructions for the
computer
• Four major operations in a computer:
– Input
– Processing
– Output
– Storage

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Understanding Computer Components
and Operations (continued)
• Input devices: allow data to enter the computer
– Mouse, keyboard, scanner
• Processing: working on the data; such as:
– Organizing data
– Checking data for accuracy
– Mathematical or other manipulations on data
• Central Processing Unit (CPU): hardware that
performs the tasks

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Understanding Computer Components
and Operations (continued)
• Output devices: provide data to the user
– Printer, monitor, speakers
• Programming language: special language
containing instructions for the computer
– Visual Basic, Java, C#, C++, COBOL
• Syntax: the rules governing word usage and
punctuation in the language
• Machine language: a language that controls the
computer’s on/off circuitry
• Compiler or interpreter: software that translates
programming languages to machine language
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Understanding Computer Components
and Operations (continued)
• A program must be free of syntax errors to be run,
or executed, on a computer
• To function properly, the logic must be correct
• What’s wrong with this logic for making a cake?

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Understanding Computer Components
and Operations (continued)
• Logic errors, or semantic errors, are more
difficult to locate than syntax errors
• Logic for multiplying a number by 2 (includes input,
processing and output statements)

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 Understanding Computer Components
and Operations (continued)
• Two storage categories: internal and external
• Internal storage:
– Main memory, random access memory (RAM)
– Located inside the computer system
– Volatile: contents are lost when power goes down
• External storage:
– Persistent: contents are relatively permanent
– Floppy drive, hard drive, flash media, magnetic tape
– Located outside the computer system

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 Understanding
the Programming Process
• Six programming phases:
1. Understand the problem
2. Plan the logic
3. Code the program
4. Use software to translate the program to machine
language
5. Test the program
6. Deploy the program into production

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 Understanding the Programming
Process (continued)
• Understanding the problem:
– May be the most difficult phase
– Users may not be able to articulate their needs well
– User needs may be changing frequently
– Programmers may have to learn the user’s functional
job tasks
– Failure to understand the problem is the major cause of
most project failures

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 Understanding the Programming
Process (continued)
• Planning the logic:
– Plan the steps that the program will take
– Use tools such as flowcharts and pseudocode
– Flowchart: a pictorial representation of the logic steps
– Pseudocode: English-like representation of the logic
– Walk through the logic before coding by desk-
checking the logic

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 Understanding the Programming
Process (continued)
• Coding the program:
– Select the programming language
– Write the instructions
• Using software to translate the program into machine
language:
– Programmers write instructions in English-like high-level
languages
– Compilers or interpreters change the programs into low-
level machine language that can be executed
– Syntax errors are identified by the compiler or
interpreter

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 Understanding the Programming
Process (continued)

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 Understanding the Programming
Process (continued)
• Testing the program:
– Execute it with sample data and check results
– Identify logic errors and correct them
– Choose test data carefully to exercise all branches of
the logic
• Putting the program into production
– Do this after testing is complete and all known errors
have been corrected
– May require coordination with other related activities
or software

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 Understanding the Data Hierarchy
• Data hierarchy: ordering of data types by size
– Character: single symbol (letter, number, special
symbol)
• “A”, “7”, “$”
– Field: group of characters forming a single data item
• “Smith”
– Record: a group of related fields
• Customer record containing name and address fields
– File: a group of related records
• Customer file, containing all customer records
– Database: collection of related files, called tables,
that serve the information needs of the organization
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 Understanding the Data Hierarchy
(continued)

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 Using Flowchart Symbols and
Pseudocode Statements
• Flowchart: pictorial representation of the logic
• Pseudocode: English-like representation of the logic
– Example:

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 Using Flowchart Symbols and
Pseudocode Statements (continued)
• Flowchart input symbol:

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 Using Flowchart Symbols and
Pseudocode Statements (continued)
• Flowchart processing symbol

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 Using Flowchart Symbols and
Pseudocode Statements (continued)
• Flowchart output symbol:

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 Using Flowchart Symbols and
Pseudocode Statements (continued)
• Flowlines:
– Connect the steps
– Show the sequence of statements
– Have arrows to show the direction
• Terminal symbol (start/stop symbol):
– Shows the start and end points of the statements
– Lozenge shape

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 Using Flowchart Symbols and
Pseudocode Statements (continued)

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 Using Flowchart Symbols and
Pseudocode Statements (continued)
• Back-pointing arrows show statements that will be
repeated

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 Using and Naming Variables
• Variable: a memory location whose contents can
vary; also called an identifier
• Each programming language has it own rules for
naming identifiers, including:
– Legal characters
– Maximum length
– Use of upper or lower case
• Variable name must be a single word, but can be
formed from several words
– rate, interestRate, interest_rate

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 Using and Naming Variables
(continued)
• Choose meaningful names for variables
– Improves the readability and maintainability of code

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 Ending a Program by Using Sentinel
Values
• Infinite loop: a sequence of statements that repeats
forever with no escape
• Avoid infinite loops by testing for a predetermined
value that means “stop processing”
• Decision: testing a value
• Flowchart decision symbol: a diamond shape, with
two flowlines, one for Yes and one for No

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 Ending a Program by Using Sentinel
Values (continued)

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 Ending a Program by Using Sentinel
Values (continued)
• Sentinel value (or dummy value)
– Does not represent real data
– Signal to stop
– Can be used with input from files or from users
• End-of-file (EOF) marker:
– Code stored in the file that marks the end of the data
– Usually used instead of a sentinel value for file input

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 Ending a Program by Using Sentinel
Values (continued)

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 Using the Connector

• Flowchart connector symbol:

– Marks a logic transfer to another location in the flowchart
– Transfer location can be on the same page or on
another page
– On-page symbol: a circle with a number or letter to
identify the matching transfer location
– Off-page symbol: a square with a pointed bottom,
containing page number and a number of letter to
identify the matching transfer location

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 Using the Connector (continued)

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 Assigning Values to Variables
• Assignment statement:
– Assigns a value to a variable
– Variable must appear on the left side, value on the
right side of the assignment operator
– Right side may be an expression that will be evaluated
before storing the value in the variable
• Assignment operator: the equal sign (=) in most
languages
• Variable:
– Memory location: has an address and a value
– Value (contents) is used for various operations

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 Understanding Data Types
• Two basic data types:
– Text
– Numeric
• Numeric data stored by numeric variables
• Text data stored by string, text, or character variables
• Constants:
– Values that do not change while the program is running
– Have identifiers, and can be used like variables for
calculations, but cannot be assigned new values

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 Understanding Data Types (continued)
• Some programming languages implement several
numeric data types, such as:
– Integer: whole numbers only
– Floating-point: fractional numeric values with decimal
points
• Character or string data is represented as characters
enclosed in quotation marks
– “x”, “color”
• Data types must be used appropriately

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Understanding Data Types (continued)

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 Understanding the Evolution of
Programming Techniques
• Programming began in the 1940s, using memory
addresses and machine code directly
• Higher level languages were developed to allow
English-like instructions
• Older programs were “monolithic,” and ran from
beginning to end
• Newer programs contain modules that can be
combined to form programs

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 Understanding the Evolution of
Programming Techniques (continued)
• Two major programming techniques:
– Procedural programming
– Object-oriented programming
• Procedural programming: focuses on the
procedures that programmers create
• Object-oriented programming: focuses on objects
that represent real-world things and their attributes
and behaviors
• Both techniques employ reusable program modules

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 Summary
• Four major computer operations: input, processing,
output, and storage
• Six programming phases: understand the problem,
plan the logic, code the program, translate the
program to machine language, test the program,
deploy the program
• Data hierarchy: character -> field -> record -> file ->
database
• Flowchart: pictorial representation of program logic
• Variables: named memory locations that contain
values

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 Summary (continued)
• Testing a value involves making a decision
• Assignment statements: store a value into a
variable
• Assignment operator: the equal (=) sign in most
languages
• Two major data types: text and numeric
• Procedural programming focuses on actions
performed on data
• Object-oriented programming focuses on
representing and manipulation objects
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