Steps In Program Development

Steps In Program Development

Before coding of a good program, there must be a proper planning and steps on how the problem or program will be stored.

The steps include the following:

• 1.       Problem definition
• 2.       Problem analysis
• 3.       Algorithm/Flowcharting
• 4.       Desk checking
• 5.       Program coding
• 6.       Program compilation
• 7.       Program testing and debugging
• 8.       Program documentation.

1.         Problem Definition: Entails defining and understanding the problem statement and deciding the boundaries of the problem. In this phase we need to understand the problem statement, what is our requirement, what should be the output of the problem solution? These are defined in this first phase of the program development life cycle.
2.        Problem Analysis: The requirements like variables, functions, or resources to solve the problem are gathered.
3.       Algorithm/Flowcharting: During this phase, a step by step procedure to solve the problem using the specification given in the previous phase is developed.
4.          Desk checking: This involves manual checking of the logic of a program for correctness
5.      Coding: This phase involves using a programming language to write or implement actual programming instructions for the steps defined in the previous phase. In this phase, we construct actual program. That means we write the program to solve the given problem using programming languages like C, C++, Java etc.,
6.       Program compilation: Compilation is the process whereby the source program (program written in other language different from machine language), is translated into machine readable code. A compiler does the job of compilation.
7.           Testing & Debugging: During this phase, we check whether the code written in previous step is solving the specified problem or not, i.e. check whether input data will provide desired output or not.
8.     Maintenance: During this phase, the program is actively used by the users. If the user encounters any problem or wants any enhancement, then we need to repeat all the phases from the starting, so that the encountered problem is solved or enhancement is added.
9.            Documentation: Program documentation includes hard-copy or electronic manuals that enable users, program developers, and operators to interact successfully with a program, e.g. user manual (a description of software commands and troubleshooting guide).