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Problem Solving by Computer – Logical Thinking
Pranam K Abhyuday
Associate Consultant, Talent Transformation
Wipro Technologies
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
This tech capsule “Problem Solving by Computer” will focus on how to solve computation problems.
In order to solve computational problems we will focus a lot of how to build logic. As we go ahead and
understand logic building (basics) we will look at effective logic building (to come up with logic which is
small, consumes less time, etc.) and how to write good logic quickly.
Examples of Computational problems
 Adding numbers by computer

 Check if a given string is a palindrome or not
 Find the length of a given string
 And many more
What is LOGIC?
Logic is a collection of well-defined activities to be performed (in our case a set of instructions to be
executed by the computer) in order to solve the problem.
Say for example we need to add two numbers.

So our logic will be to -
- get the 2 numbers to be added from the user
- add them using the addition operator (+)
- save the result
- print the result
These steps of activities which when performed would give us the solution to our problem can be called
as LOGIC.
Logic must be represented in a form which can be understood by humans. The different ways to do so
are by writing a flowchart or a pseudo code (discussed later).
Once represented as an algorithm the same logic must be translated in a form which can be understood
by the computer. We call this form as a Program. Programs are written using any of the programming
languages like Java or .net or C or C++ (there are many more and you can choose the one you are
comfortable with).
What is Logic Building or how do we build logic to solve problems?
Logic building can be looked at a series of steps starting from understanding the problem statement,
followed by thinking of ways/ideas to solve them and eventually represent them in the form of a
solution which can be understood.
Logic building for programming problems improves with practice and by trying to solve the same
problem in different ways.
What are Algorithms and Programs?

A typical programming task can be divided into 2 phases:
1) Algorithm Building:
Once we have understood a given problem and have a fair idea of how to solve it, we represent the
solution in the form of steps or activity which will comprise of our logic. Each step does something
constructive and all the steps put together represent the solution.
These steps or activities are called as an Algorithm. Algorithms are written in English language or
diagrammatically represented which is unambiguous and easily understandable by humans.
Algorithms can be classified into two forms –

a) Pseudo code:
Pseudo codes are written in simple English language and represented as steps, step1 to
stepN.
Example: Write an algorithm (using pseudo code representation) to determine if a student has
passed the English Language exam or not. The students mark must be entered by the user. The
pass mark for the exam is greater than 35.
Solution:
STEP1: Read student MARK from user
STEP2: if MARK is greater than 35 then
Print “PASS”
else
Print “FAIL”
These 2 steps are our logic to check if a student has passed the exam or not and they are
represented using a pseudo code.
b) Flowcharts:
Flowcharts are diagrammatic representation of an algorithm. There is a set of pre-
defined symbols which must be used to draw a flowchart.
Name Symbol Use in Flowchart
Oval Denotes the beginning or end of the program
Parallelogram Denotes an input or output operation
Rectangle Denotes a process to be carried out –
Add, Subtract
Diamond Denotes a decision (or branch ) to be made .

The program should continue along one of
two routes . ( e .g . IF /THEN /ELSE )
Flow line Denotes the direction of logic flow in the program
Let us rewrite the logic to check if a student has passed the English Language exam or not, now
using a flowchart
START
Read MARK
NO
IS MARK greater than
PRINT FAIL
35?
YES
PRINT PASS
STOP
2) Program Building:
The second step to a programming task is to write the PROGRAM itself. Program is a set of well-
defined instructions written using a programming language (may be C or C++ or Java or any other)
which the computer can understand.
Once we have the logic represented in the form of an algorithm (either using pseudo code or
flowchart) we rewrite the same using a programming language. Here it is very important for the
programmer to have in depth knowledge of the programming language.
Types of Computation Problems

There are many computation problems in reality; however in this tech capsule we will classify them into
6 categories (as mentioned below) and our learning will focus on these itself.
1) Number Based problems

2) Loop based problems
3) Array (collection of data) based problems
4) String Based problems
5) Sorting and Searching related problems
In our subsequent discussions we will look at each Computational Problem in detail and understand
them by solving a lot of problems by ourselves.
Algorithm Dry Run Table

Once we have understood a given problem statement and represented the required solution logic using
an Algorithm, we check for its correctness. We build an Algorithm Dry Run Table to check correctness of
an algorithm.
The template for the Algorithm Dry Run Table is shown below. This table must be used as a reference to
create the table required for any algorithm.
Algorithm Step Variable1 Variable2 Variable3 Variable4 Test condition Output

(PASS / FAIL)
STEP1
STEP2
STEP3
…
…
…
STEPN
The above table must be rewritten for different iterations to check if the algorithm works correctly for
different input values.
USAGE:
1) For each step, the variable content is updated based on computations performed
2) Test condition is updated for an if(condition) if true as PASS otherwise as FAIL. It is also
updated while evaluating condition within an iterative loop.
3) Output is updated with message to be displayed at different stages of the algorithm or at the
end of the algorithm.
4) In case of iterative loops and recursive algorithms, the same STEP must be rewritten in the
“Algorithm Step” column and computed again for the number of times required.
Example: Write an algorithm (using pseudo code representation) to determine if a student has passed
the English Language exam or not. The students mark must be entered by the user. The pass mark for
the exam is greater than 35.
Solution: The algorithm is as shown below

STEP1: Read student MARK from user
STEP2: if MARK is greater than 35 then
Print “PASS”
else
Print “FAIL”
Now we construct the Algorithm Dry Run Table to check the correctness of the above algorithm. For 2
different values of MARK entered by the user we create separate tables and check.
Iteration 1:
If value of MARK is 40
Algorithm Step Variable1 - Variable2 Variable3 Variable4 Test condition Output

MARK if MARK …
(PASS / FAIL)
STEP1 40 NA NA NA NA NA
STEP2 40 NA NA NA PASS PASS
Iteration 2:
If value of MARK is 15
Algorithm Step Variable1 - Variable2 Variable3 Variable4 Test condition Output

MARK if MARK …
(PASS / FAIL)
STEP1 15 NA NA NA NA NA
STEP2 15 NA NA NA FAIL FAIL

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Problem Solving by Computer – Logical Thinking

Examples of Computational problems

 Adding numbers by computer

Say for example we need to add two numbers.

What are Algorithms and Programs?

Algorithms can be classified into two forms –

Oval Denotes the beginning or end of the program

Parallelogram Denotes an input or output operation

Rectangle Denotes a process to be carried out –

Diamond Denotes a decision (or branch ) to be made .

Flow line Denotes the direction of logic flow in the program

Types of Computation Problems

1) Number Based problems

Algorithm Dry Run Table

Algorithm Step Variable1 Variable2 Variable3 Variable4 Test condition Output

Solution: The algorithm is as shown below

Algorithm Step Variable1 - Variable2 Variable3 Variable4 Test condition Output

Algorithm Step Variable1 - Variable2 Variable3 Variable4 Test condition Output

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