Software development nowadays has become a bit difficult in the sense that it will never be 100 percent correct or functioning properly despite all the advancements in recent years in the field of software development. The pervasive nature of the use of software in our daily has also increased the risk of potential disruptions in our work flow due to malfunctioning software. Some of these malfunctions have proven to be deadly. Things like plane crashes, rocket launch issues and power blackouts have happened in the past due to buggy software.
Due to this, it is paramount that software developers cultivate habits that result in the production of error free software. In order to get to this point of perfection, we must first cover the fundamentals. The programming process will be our baseline, followed by an explanation and examples of object oriented programming. Then we will discuss programming errors and debugging, followed by strategies in terms of testing software as well as maintaining it. The conclusion will center around structured programming.
The Process of Programming:
A program or application is a package of instructions with a certain set of functions in mind that are usually understood and executed by a computer. The computer takes these instructions, translates them to it’s native machine language made up of 0’s and 1’s and then produces a result. The computer will only execute the instructions it has been given and will never deviate from them as it does not have the capacity to act on it’s own. Programming itself is the act of writing this program in the language it needs to carry out it’s functions. Programming languages are often very strict and structured in their grammar, syntax, symbols and keywords. Those who do work developing and writing software are called programmers or application developers. Software is usually a collection of programs that work together to provide features and functions that it’s operator can use for their intended means.
One example of a programming exercise can be that of a program designed to calculate an individual’s BMI, or Body Mass Index. The formula for BMI is as follows:
The weight of an individual divided by the square of his height in meters. On the BMI scale, anything 25 and over is considered overweight. The program needs to be designed in such a way that it outputs the person’s BMI, and for this it will need their height and weight as inputs into the program. The BMI program is a good example to illustrate the typical stages of any software development process. The program is broken down into steps which are followed in sequential order, usually something like this:
- An analysis of what is required together with their gathering.
- The design of the program.
- The coding of the program.
- The program gets translated into machine language.
- Testing and debugging the program.
- The release of the program.
- The periodical maintenance of the program to ensure smooth operation and remove any reported bugs should they arise.
Since the field of software development is a consistently evolving one, software needs to constantly be inspected and readjusted. It is due to this that the software development process and these 7 steps above are typically seen as a cycle as opposed to a ladder that one must climb in order to have a complete program.