COP1006 with Dr. Meg McManus McManus COP1006 1

 Course Outline  Asthma & Allergies  Course Website  Tests  Assignments McManusCOP10062

McManusCOP10063 Puzzles, anyone? Do you Suduku?

 We encounter problems every day.  Programs are simply solutions to problems.  Puzzles are simply a solution to a problem  To create programs  We have to learn to think a different way…  The way computers think. McManusCOP10064

Lesson 1 McManus COP1006 5

 1. Identify the problem ◦ If you don’t know what the problem is, you can’t create a solution for it. ◦ Ex.Calculate Payroll for 10 Employees ◦ Ex.Provide directions McManusCOP10066

 2. Understand the problem ◦ Clients rarely completely understand what they want let alone how to tell you. ◦ Perform  Research - to form your own knowledge base  Observations by  Watching current activity  Reviewing past activities  Ex.Giving instructions to someone on how to find an address. McManusCOP10067

 3. Identify alternative ways to solve the problem. ◦ Rarely does a problem have only one solution. ◦ Look at  Efficiency  Speed  Accuracy  Acceptability McManusCOP10068 Don’t just find one solution and stop there. Rarely is it the best solution…especially for novice programmers…

 4. Select the best way to solve the problem from the list of alternative solutions. ◦ Establish criteria to help when performing evaluations on each alternative ◦ Include pros and cons for each solution ◦ Select the best solution based on the research McManusCOP10069

 List instructions that enable you to solve the problem using the selected solution. 1.Create a numbered, step-by-step set of instructions 2.Instructions must be included in the knowledge base  So, what’s a knowledge base? McManusCOP100610

 6. Evaluate the solution. ◦ Test the solution  Are the results accurate?  Does the solution solve the original problem?  Does it satisfy the needs of the client?  Is it acceptable to the client? McManusCOP100611

 Algorithmic Solutions ◦ Steps involved in following a set of instructions.  Ex.Calculating your checkbook balance ◦ The solution will be the same each time the algorithm is followed. ◦ Most computers use algorithmic types of problems. McManusCOP100612

 Heuristic Solutions ◦ Solutions that can’t be reached by following a direct set of steps.  Created by using reasoning built upon knowledge and experience…and by trial and error.  Ex.Determining which stock is the best value ◦ The results may not produce the same results each time the algorithm is executed. ◦ Artificial intelligence deals with heuristic types of problems. McManusCOP100613

 The instructions that will result in the best solution. ◦ Again, the result may  Be more Efficient  Be Faster  Be more Understandable  Be more Maintainable  Be Reusable McManusCOP100614

 The outcome of the program ◦ Or the completed computer-assisted answer…  May take any form: ◦ Printout ◦ Updated files ◦ Output to monitor, speakers, etc. McManusCOP100615

 The set of instructions that make up the solution after they have been coded into a particular computer language. McManusCOP Although we won’t be actually writing programs, at least not in any specific language, this is what we will be working toward throughout this course!

 Humans must ◦ Change the way we think ◦ Work through the problem completely ◦ Follow a logical sequence of steps ◦ Not make hasty decisions ◦ Not make haphazard evaluations of potential solutions McManusCOP100617

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