Problem decomposition
The write/compile/test method
Small programs are written using the "write/compile/test" model.
- It may take several iterations of the model to produce a working
program.
- As programs get more complicated, testing and debugging alone may not
be enough to produce reliable code.
- Instead, we have to write programs in a manner that will help insure
that errors are caught or avoided.
Divide and Conquer
A central part of programming, then, is taking a large and complex
problem and decomposing it into smaller
problems that can more easily be solved.
- This is not a one step process -- we further decompose the sub
problems into sub-sub problems, etc.
- There are a number of general techniques and methodologies
that have been developed to address this problem in the context of
computer science.
Useful Methods and techniques
- Top-down design and implementation
- Program stubs
- Bottom-up implementation
- Test harness or driver
- Incremental program development
Some portions are adapted from Oh! Pascal third edition and notes by
Anthony Aaby, aabyan@wwc.edu.
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