Students' Guide to Program Design

Developing

an

algorithm

3.1 Defining the problem

In Chapter 1 it was established that there are seven steps in the

development of a computer program. The very first step, and one of

the most important, is the defining of the problem. This involves the

careful reading and re-reading of the problem until the programmer

understands completely what is required. Quite often, additional

information will need to be sought to fill out ambiguities or

deficiencies in the problem specification. As an aid in this initial

analysis, the problem should be divided into three separate

components:

1 Input, or source data provided to the problem;

2 Output, o