2.1.3 thinking procedurally

Question 1

what is the first stage of thinking procedurally?

Answer 1

taking the problem defined by the user and breaking it down into its constituent parts

Question 2

what is the purpose of problem decomposition?

Answer 2

to make complex problems easier to solve and more manageable by allowing tasks to be divided between a group of people according to individual skill sets

Question 3

state another name given to top down design

Answer 3

stepwise refinement

Question 4

what is the purpose of top down design?

Answer 4

continually break problems down into subproblems until each subproblem can be represented as a single task and ideally self contained subroutine

Question 5

what are the benefits of using top down design?

Answer 5

problems can be solved and modules developed by different people, tasks can be tested separately, modules are self contained

Question 6

what sort of problems is top down design suited to?

Answer 6

large complex programs

Question 7

what is the second stage of thinking procedurally in software development?

Answer 7

identifying components of a solution

Question 8

how can the lowest level subproblems in top down design in code?

Answer 8

as self contained modules or subroutines

Question 9

what do software developers need to be consider when recombining components of a solution?

Answer 9

the order in which subroutines are executed, and how they interact with each other, based on their role in solving the problem

Question 10

what must a software developer do before designing a subroutine to solve a particular problem?

Answer 10

see whether it is possible for an already existing subroutine of module to be used

Question 11

state 2 advantages of utilising reusable components

Answer 11

more reliable than newly coded components as they have already been tested. this saves time, money and resources.