All language subtitles for 8. 5 Steps to Programming Systems and Applications

In this lecture, we will learn the five steps to programming systems and applications.

The five step process, the programming is defining the problem.

Designing a solution.

Coding the program, testing the program and documenting the program.

Step one is to define the problem.

Defining the problem means fully understanding the objective prospective users, stakeholders, inputs

and outputs.

This step is crucial because if you don't understand the problem, you won't have an easy time writing

the code to solve it.

Step two is to design a solution.

With this approach, it is best to break the main problem down into sub problems.

When you break down programs into modular forms like this, it is called structured programming.

You can create a chart and also write pseudocode to plan out the flow of execution and the logic for

your program.

Recall from a previous lecture that pseudocode is programming logic written out in plain English that

helps developers plan out their solution before they actually start coding.

Step three is to code the program according to the needs of the application or system you are going

to program.

You need to select an appropriate programming language.

Then you need to write the code for the program.

Step force to test the program.

This step is crucial as you want to detect and fix as many bugs in the program as you can before it

reaches the end user.

Before you actually run the program, you should proofread it when you proofread code before running

it.

This is known as desk checking the program.

Debugging the program will involve finding, fixing and removing the average in your program.

There are two main types of errors in programming syntax errors and logic errors.

Syntax errors mean that you did not adhere to the syntactical rules of the language, for example,

placing the curly brace in an incorrect part of the program.

Logic errors mean that the code runs and is free of syntax errors.

But the program does not work in the way that you intended it to.

There is a flaw in your programming logic, the way that your code works.

Remember, it is best to test early and test often.

Step five is to document and maintain the programmer system, creating the documentation on an application

or system.

You program involves writing a description of what the program is and how to use it.

Maintaining the program involves fixing errors that are discovered and upgrading the system as appropriate

in the next lecture.

We will learn how to get the most out of this course.