Process of program planning

The main objective of programming is to solve problems.So,before starting program coding you have to understand the problem which has to solve and then analyze the possible options for solution.There is no alternative of program planning for standard and efficient programming.For a proper program planning following steps are essential:

1. Problem analysis
2. Algorithm and flow chart development
3. Program coding
4. Program compilation
5. Program testing and debugging
6. Program execution
7. Program documentation
8. Program maintenance.

Problem analysis:

               First step of  programming is problem analysis.You have to understand the problem,data required or used in problem solving.Then select the programming method such as-modular programming,structured programming,top-down or top-up programming etc.Method selection depends upon the problem under consideration.Where results will be stored or shown has to select.File,printer,monitor may be the possible option for storing or displaying results.So,understand the problem in details is the first step of program planning.

Algorithm and flow chart:

               Algorithm and flow chart should be prepared before writing code.Time required for giving output from the program depends upon the algorithm.Programming statements are arranged in algorithm step by step.As a result program can be written in any language.Beside algorithm development,flow chart also important for programming.Flow chart is prepared by using different symbol and figure.Mainly a complex program is simplified by developing algorithm and making flow chart.

Program coding:

               There have different language for program coding.Which one will be used it depends upon the problem,programer knowledge,requirement,accuracy etc.So,according to these should select a programming  language.Program coding is define as to convert algorithm and flow chart statements into programming language.

 Program compilation:

               Compilation means transformation.Programs are usually written in different types of programming,computer is not able to understand these program.Computer only can understand machine language.So we have to transform programming language into machine language.For doing this a software named compiler is used to convert programming language to machine language.First compiler read the source code and convert  to machine code and include necessary help file and show the result.After that converted machine code can be opened from operating system without any help file or software.

Program testing and debugging:

                There may have different errors like typing error,syntax error, logical error etc. in the written program.This errors in the program is called bug.Correction of this errors is called debugging.Errors should be corrected  before compilation.If there remain any error in program,it will be detected in compilation.It should be noted that a correct program can lead to the right result.

Program execution:

               For  executing or showing right result it requires to give proper instruction after compilation.It is needed to link some file to execute the program.Executable file is prepared by compiling and linking required file.Executable file gives the output in accordance to input.

Program documentation: 

                In program documentation,it contains the description about the program.Main problem,algorithm,flow chart,brief description,table,relevant data and assumed result are noted in documentation.Also some techniques,frequently occurring problems and their solutions are include in this section.It's like manual to the user or for the programmer himself.

Program maintenance:

               It may be required to change the program for hardware change or any other reason.Program changing,extension,reduction are included to program maintenance.