Problem Solving

Problem solving in IT looks at how to get the computer to solve a task / problem that the user has; this usually involves
writing a program.

STEPS IN PROBLEM SOLVING:

• Define the problem – clearly identify what the problem is leaving no uncertainty
• Analyse the problem – break down the problem into its basic components (Input, Processing and Output)
• Propose and evaluate solutions – identify different solutions
• Determine the most efficient solution
• Develop the algorithm
• Test and evaluate the algorithm / solution
• Write the program

Algorithms
This is a step-by-step solution to a problem. An algorithm is NOT the computer program and does not affect the computer
in any way; it’s just a design of the program solution (similar to a blue print). An algorithm can be represented using a
FLOWCHART (uses reserved shapes); PSEUDOCODE (uses reserved words and phrases); NARRATIVE (in
English).

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD ALGORITHM

A good algorithm should have the following characteristics:

• Finite number of steps – the algorithm should complete its task at some point
• Precise – the instruction must not leave room for any misunderstanding
• Unambiguous (clear) instruction
• Flow control from one process to the next (ensuring vales are correct before moving on)
• Termination (stop)

ADVANTAGES OF AN ALGORITHM

• Makes creating the program easier (because it acts as a guide)

• Allows for continuation (if the programmer leaves then another programmer can continue)
• Useful for remembrance
• Helps in finding errors

ADVANTAGES AND DIS-ADVANTAGES OF FLOWCHARTS

• Gives a better representation of the solution

• Better analysis and problem solving
• Less reading
• Can become very complicated
• Difficult to alter (entire drawing may have to be redone)
• Requires drawing to be made so it takes a longer time to produce
ADVANTAGES AND DIS-ADVANTAGES OF PSEUDOCODES

• Easier to convert to an actual program as it is similar to a programming language

• it is fairly easy to understand
• it does not matter if there are errors in the syntax - it is usually still obvious what is intended
• changes to the design can be incorporated quite easily
• It can be hard to see how a program flows due to excessive reading
• It can be time consuming to produce (not as long as a flowchart)
•

MATHEMATICAL SYMBOLS USED IN ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT INCLUDE

• + • <= • =
• – • > • 
• / • >= • MOD / MODULUS
• * • <> • DIV
• < • !=

Pseudocode
Pseudocode uses reserved words; some of these reserved words are:

• START • ENTER • IF…ENDIF

• STOP • INPUT • IF…ELSE…ENDIF
• BEGIN • WRITE • WHILE…ENDWHILE
• END • PRINT • REPEAT…UNTIL
• DECLARE • OUTPUT • FOR…ENDFOR
• READ • PUT
• GET • DISPLAY

Flowchart
This is an example of an algorithm that is written using reserved words and statements. These shapes are:

PROCESS READ AND

WRITE CONNECTOR
REPEAT
AND
START AND DECISION
DECLARATION
STOP
 Identifiers
This a named area of memory that is used to store ONE value. There are three different identifiers:

• Variable – named area of memory that can store one value that can be changed.
• Constant - named area of memory that can store one value that cannot be changed.
• Literal - named area of memory that can store one value that is taken as is / whose value speaks for itself.

When creating variables and constants the following rules should be followed:

• Cannot start with a number or special character

• Can be upper or lower case or a mixture
• The name should indicate the value being stored
• Can use the underscore to join two words
• Cannot have any spaces

Data Types
These are used to determine the values that can be stored in a variable or constant. Examples of data types are:

• Integers – positive or negative whole numbers (4, 7, -13)

• Real / Float / Floating point – positive or negative decimal numbers (9.0, 7.4, -3.1)
• String – this is a group of characters (“hello”, “stop”,” help”)
• Characters – this is a single letter or symbol (‘e’,’?’)
• Boolean – this stores either TRUE / FALSE

N.B. Variables are normally initialized before use. Initialization means to prepare a variable for use
 Control Structures
These are strategies used to create programs that are more organised, efficient and shorter. These control
structures are:

• SEQUENCING

This ensures that the instructions follow a logical (sensible) order.

get num1 get num1

get num2 get num2

get num3 calculate total

calculate total print average

calculate average calculate average

print average get num3

• DECISION MAKING / BRANCHING

allows different parts of a program to execute based on the results of certain logical conditions.

grade = 65

F grade T
Print “Fail” Print “Pass”
>=60

STOP
 • LOOPING / ITERATION

This allows certain parts of a program or the entire programs to repeat based on the outcome of certain logical
conditions.

count = 1

count F
<= 5 STOP

Print “Hello”

count = count + 1

There are four types of loops:

• Post test loop – the test condition comes AFTER the action(s). This is shown in the diagram below.

count = 1

Print “Hello”

count = count + 1

T count F
STOP
<= 5
• Pretest loop – the test condition comes BEFORE the action(s)

• Definite loop / Bounded Loop (FOR…ENDFOR) – This number of times this loop will repeat is known

FOR <condition> DO
ACTION
ENDFOR

• Indefinite loop / Unbounded Loop (WHILE…ENDWHILE / DO…WHILE / REPEAT…UNTIL) – The amount

of time this loop will repeat is unknown

WHILE <condition> DO

ACTION

ENDWHILE

DO

ACTION

WHILE <condition>

REPEAT

ACTION
UNTIL <condition>
 Algorithm Examples
E.g., 1 Design a program to print “hello world” to the screen

I P O
NONE Printing “Hello World” to the screen Hello World

START

WRITE “Hello World”

STOP

E.g., 2 Design a pseudocode to get a positive whole number from the user and print the square of the number to the
screen

I P O
A number Calculate the square of the number The square of the number

START
DECLARE num, square AS INTEGER
num = 0
square = 0
WRITE “Please enter a number”
READ (num)
square = num * num
WRITE “The square of the number is “, square
STOP

E.g., 3 Design a pseudocode to get a two whole number from the user and print the sum of the numbers

I P O
2 numbers Calculate the sum The sum of the two numbers

START
DECLARE num1, num2, sum AS INTEGER
num1 = 0
num2 = 0
sum = 0
WRITE “Enter 2 numbers”
READ (num1, num2)
sum = num1 + num2
WRITE “The sum of the two numbers are”, sum
STOP
E.g.,4 Design a pseudocode to read the length and width of a rectangle and output the perimeter.

I P O
Length Calculate perimeter of rectangle Perimeter
Width

START
DECLARE length, width, perimeter AS INTEGER
length = 0
width = 0
perimeter = 0
WRITE “Enter length and width”
READ (length, width)
perimeter = (length + width) * 2
WRITE “The perimeter of length and width is”, perimeter
STOP

E.g., 5 Design a pseudocode to read the diameter of a circle and print the radius

I P O
Diameter Calculate the radius Radius

START
DECLARE d, r AS INTEGER
d=0
r=0
WRITE “Please enter the diameter”
READ (d)
r = d /2
WRITE “The radius is “, r
STOP
E.g., 6 Bryan bought a shirt from a store downtown that was having a sale. He paid $2000 for the shirt and got a
20% discount. Calculate the discount and the final price of the shirt.

I P O
Cost of the shirt Calculate the discount Discount
Calculate the final price Final price

START
DECLARE cost, disc, discount, fp AS REAL
cost = 2000.00
discount = 20%
fp = 0.00 TRACE TABLE
Cost discount Disc Fp
disc = cost * discount 2000.00 20% 400.00 1600.00
fp = cost – disc
WRITE “The discount given is “, disc
WRITE “The final price is “fp
STOP
N.B. A traceable is used to locate errors and to trace the values in the variables. It is made up of columns that
contain the variables, constants, conditions and outputs.

E.g., 7 There are 12 marbles to be distributed among 3 children in the ratio 2, 4, 6. Design a program that will show
the number of marbles each child is to receive. Your answer should include a pseudocode, an algorithm and a trace
table.

I P O
Number of marbles Calculate number of marbles each child Number of marbles received
should receive

START
DECLARE ratio1, ratio2, ratio3, totalmarbles, totalratio AS REAL
ratio1 = 2
ratio2 = 4
ratio3= 6
totalmarbles = 12
totalratio = ratio1 + ratio2 + ratio3
ratio1 = (ratio1 / totalratio) * totalmarbles
ratio2 = (ratio2 / totalratio) * totalmarbles
ratio3 = (ratio3 / totalratio) * totalmarbles
WRITE “First child will receive “,ratio1, “marbles”

WRITE “Second child will receive “,ratio2, “marbles”

WRITE “Third child will receive “,ratio3, “marbles”
STOP
E.g., 8 Design a program to read two integers, which are not the same, and print which one is larger.

I P O
2 integers Identify the larger number Print the larger number

START
DECLARE integer1, integer2 AS INTEGER
integer1 = 0
integer2 = 0 TRACE TABLE
WRITE “Please enter integer 1” integer1 integer2 integer1 > integer2 Output
READ (integer1) 0 0
WRITE “Please enter integer 2” 8 2 TRUE Integer 1 is larger
READ (integer2) 1 7 FALSE Integer 2 is larger
IF integer1 > integer2 THEN
WRITE “Integer 1 is larger”
ELSE
WRITE “Integer 2 is larger”
ENDIF
STOP

E.g., 9 Design a program to read the age of a person, if the age is less than18 then the program should print error.

I P O
Age Check if age is less than 18 Appropriate message

START
DECLARE age AS INTEGER TRACE TABLE
age = 0 Age age < 18 Output
WRITE “Please enter age” 0
READ (age) 12 TRUE Error
IF age < 18 THEN 18 FALSE
WRITE “ERROR” 21 FALSE
ENDIF
STOP
E.g., 10 Design a program to read the name, age and grade of a student. It is to print back the name and letter grade
that the student received. The letter grade is determined by the following mark scheme:

80 – 100 = A

60 – 79 = B

40 – 59 = C

0 – 39 =D

I P O
Name Calculate the letter grade Letter grade
Age Name
Grade

START
DECLARE name AS STRING
age, grade AS INTEGER
letter_grade AS CHARATER
name = “ “
age = 0
grade = 0
letter_grade = ‘ ‘
WRITE “Enter student’s name”
READ (name)
WRITE “Enter student’s age”
READ (age)
WRITE “Enter student’s grade”
READ (grade)
IF grade >=80 THEN
letter_grade = ‘A’
ELSE
IF grade >=60 THEN
letter_grade = ‘B’
ELSE
IF grade >=40 THEN
letter_grade = ‘C’
ELSE
IF grade >=0 THEN
letter_grade = ‘D’
ELSE
WRITE “Error”
 ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDIF
WRITE “Student’s name is”, name,” and the letter grade is”, letter_grade
STOP

TRACE TABLE
Name Age grade grade >=80 grade >=60 grade >=40 letter_grade
0 0
Jordan 17 0 F F F D
Ven 16 79 F T - B
Christie 18 100 T - - A
Ronald 12 51 F F T C