thinking procedurally

Question 1

procedural abstraction

Answer 1

using a procedure to carry out a sequence of steps for achieving some task eg calculating grade across 3 papers, buying groceries online

Question 2

procedure interface

Answer 2

programmer doesn't need to know how procedure works, only: 
what procedure is called
arguments required
data types of arguments
order written in
documentation: I/O and preconditions

Question 3

eg if need to change one property of all objects

Answer 3

don’t need to change procedure, only call with different arguments

Question 4

problem decomposition

Answer 4

computational problems needed to be broken down into subproblems before solved. eg menu of choices, each choice results in different self contained module

Question 5

top down design (decomposition)

Answer 5

breaking down a problem into major tasks to be performed. These are broken down into separate subtasks repeatedly until each subtask is sufficiently simple to be written as a self contained module/subroutine. Useful for breaking down into small, manageable tasks

Question 6

advantages of problem decomposition

Answer 6

• easier to write
• simpler to debug and maintain
• easy to make changes (easy to find where to make changes) without affecting rest of program if self contained and well documented I/O/preconditions

Question 7

hierarchy chart

Answer 7

tool for representing the structure of a program, showing how modules relate to each other to form a complete solution