Metrowerks CodeWarrior CD

TM

CodeWarrior
Principles of
Programming

Because of last-minute changes to CodeWarrior, some information in this

manual may be out of date. Please read all the Release Notes files that come
with CodeWarrior for the latest information.

Metrowerks CodeWarrior Copyright 1993-1995 by Metrowerks Inc. and its Licensors. All
rights reserved.
Documentation stored on the compact disc may be printed by licensee for personal use.
Except for the foregoing, no part of this documentation may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Metrowerks Inc.
Metrowerks, the Metrowerks logo and Software at Work are registered trademarks of
Metrowerks Inc. CodeWarrior, PowerPlant, and PowerPlant Constructor are trademarks of
Metrowerks Inc.
All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
ALL SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION ON THE COMPACT DISC ARE SUBJECT
TO THE LICENSE AGREEMENT IN THE CD BOOKLET.
Canada and International
Metrowerks Inc.
1500 du College, suite 300
St. Laurent, QC
H4L 5G6 Canada

U.S.A.
Metrowerks Corporation
Suite 310
The MCC Building
3925 West Braker Lane
Austin, TX 78759-5321

voice: (514) 747-5999

fax: (514) 747-2822

voice: 512-305-0400
fax: 512-305-0440

Metrowerks Mail Order

voice: (800) 377-5416 or (419) 281-1802
fax: (419) 281-6883
World Wide Web site (Internet):

http://www.metrowerks.com

Registration information (Internet):

register@metrowerks.com

Technical support (Internet):

support@metrowerks.com

Sales, marketing, & licensing (Internet):

AppleLink:

sales@metrowerks.com
METROWERKS

America OnLine:

goto: METROWERKS

Compuserve:

goto: METROWERKS

eWorld:

goto: METROWERKS

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 A Road Map
1.1
1.2

1.3

1.4
1.5
1.6

Preview....................................................................14
Introduction to The Principles of Programming........15
A Global View.........................................................15
The Road Ahead.......................................................16
Signs Along the Road...............................................17
Computers................................................................18
A Low Level View...................................................18
Systems and Their Environments...............................19
History of Programming and the Earth.....................21
Review Top Ten Things to Remember....................24
Glossary...................................................................25
Problems..................................................................27

Chapter 2 An Overview
2.1
2.2

2.3
2.4

2.5

Preview....................................................................30
Problem Solving and the Computer..........................31
Step 1 Problem Definition.......................................32
Step 2 Solution Design............................................33
Step 3 Solution Refinement......................................34
Step 4 Testing Strategy Development.......................35
Step 5 Program Coding and Testing........................36
Step 6 Documentation Completion..........................37
Step 7 Program Maintenance...................................37
Using the Problem Solving Method..........................38
Problems and Plans Dividing and Conquering........38
Break-Out Diagrams..................................................39
More on Break-Out Diagrams...................................41
Algorithms and Their Representations.......................45
Modifying Algorithms..............................................47
Alternative Algorithms.............................................52
Equivalence of Algorithms........................................53
Testing......................................................................54
Programming Languages..........................................56
Communicating Algorithms......................................56
Basic.........................................................................56
Fortran.....................................................................57
Pascal.......................................................................57
Modula-2..................................................................58
C..............................................................................58

iii

iv

Table of Contents

2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9

Ada..........................................................................59
Other programming languages.................................59
Life Cycles Stages of Programming.........................60
Review Top Ten Things to Remember....................63
Glossary...................................................................65
Problems..................................................................67

Chapter 3 Algorithms
3.1
3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6
3.7
3.8

Preview....................................................................74
What Are Algorithms?..............................................75
Algorithm Definition................................................75
General Properties of Algorithms..............................75
Desirable Attributes for Algorithms...........................77
Different Algorithm Representations.........................78
Verbal Representations.............................................80
Algebraic Representations (formulas and
expressions).....................................................82
Tabular Representations (tables, arrays, and
matrices)..........................................................86
Data-Flow Diagrams.................................................89
Black Boxes vs. Glass Boxes.......................................89
General Data-Flow Diagrams....................................91
Integer Data-Flow Diagrams.....................................94
Logical Data-Flow Diagrams.....................................98
Data Flow Black Boxes..............................................101
More on Data Flow Components and Diagrams........105
Flow of Control Diagrams........................................107
Flowcharts................................................................107
Larger Flowcharts Using Subprograms...................110
Flowblocks...............................................................113
Pseudocode..............................................................115
Review Top Ten Things to Remember....................118
Glossary...................................................................119
Problems..................................................................121

Chapter 4 Algorithm Structure

4.1
4.2

4.3

Preview....................................................................128
Building Blocks for Structured Programming............128
The Four Fundamental Forms...................................128
Connecting Several Forms Sequences and Nests.......131
Deep Nesting............................................................133
Different Algorithms, Same Problem.........................135
Equivalent Algorithms..............................................135

Table of Contents

4.4

4.5

4.6
4.7
4.8

Alternative Algorithms.............................................137
Top-down Algorithm Design....................................140
Job Description Example...........................................144
Change Maker Example............................................145
A Game Example, Fifty.............................................148
How Data and Algorithms Fit Together....................152
Structured Data.........................................................153
Chili Recipe Example................................................155
Card Trick Example..................................................158
Binary Conversion Example......................................159
Guessing Game Example...........................................160
Review Top Ten Things to Remember.....................164
Glossary...................................................................166
Problems..................................................................167

Chapter 5 Algorithm Behavior

5.1
5.2

5.3
5.4

5.5

5.6

5.7

5.8
5.9

Preview....................................................................176
Programs..................................................................176
Data for Programs.....................................................176
Actions In Programs.................................................179
Sequence Forms........................................................182
More Programs Using the Sequence Form................183
Selection Forms........................................................185
Simple Selection Forms.............................................185
Proofs of Equivalence for Simple Selection Forms.....187
Larger Selection Forms.............................................189
Proofs of Equivalence for Larger Selection Forms......192
Nested Selections......................................................194
Logical Conditions....................................................198
Using Logical Conditions to Simplify Selections........201
Repetition Forms......................................................203
The Repeat-Until Form..............................................203
The Disadvantages of Using the Repeat-Until Form...206
The While Loop Form...............................................209
Getting Insights Using Traces and Invariants...........212
Invocation Forms.....................................................219
Seconds Example......................................................221
De-militarize Time Example......................................222
Improving Programs................................................224
Nested Loops and Selections.....................................224
Using Invariants.......................................................229
Review Top Ten Things to Remember....................234
Glossary...................................................................235

vi

Table of Contents

5.10 Problems..................................................................236

Chapter 6 Bigger Blocks

6.1
6.2
6.3

6.4

6.5

6.6

6.7
6.8
6.9

Preview....................................................................252
Using External Data and Files....................................252
End-Of-File Markers..................................................255
More Building Blocks...............................................259
The Select Form........................................................259
The For Form...........................................................262
Using the For Forms in Nests....................................265
Nesting Fors in Fors.................................................265
Nesting Selections in Fors.........................................269
Creating Plots with For Nests....................................273
More Data Types......................................................275
The Character Type...................................................275
The Logical Type......................................................279
Some General Problem-Solving Algorithms..............281
Bisection Finding Values.........................................281
Maximum Power Optimizing Power Output...........284
Solver Solving Equations........................................287
Review Top Ten Things to Remember....................290
Glossary...................................................................291
Problems..................................................................292

Chapter 7 Better Blocks

7.1
7.2

7.3

7.4

7.5

Preview....................................................................300
Subprograms............................................................300
How to Simplify Large Programs..............................300
What are Parameters?................................................305
Data Space Diagrams................................................309
Parameter Passing.....................................................312
Passing Parameters In and Out..................................312
Special Cases.............................................................316
Some Examples.........................................................321
Bigger, Leaner, and Meaner Programs......................329
Using Structure Charts..............................................329
Contour Diagrams....................................................333
Parameter Crossing A Common Mistake.................336
Minimizing Coupling, Maximizing Cohesion............338
Deeply Nested Subprograms.....................................340
Dates Example..........................................................341
More Types of Subprograms.....................................343
Recursion Self-Referencing Subprograms................343

Table of Contents

7.6
7.7
7.8

Functions..................................................................345
Modules...................................................................346
Review Top Ten Things to Remember....................348
Glossary...................................................................350
Problems..................................................................351

Chapter 8 Data Structures

8.1
8.2

8.3

8.4

8.5

8.6

8.7
8.8
8.9

Preview....................................................................358
Arrays......................................................................358
What are Data Structures Anyway?...........................358
One-Dimensional Arrays...........................................360
Performing Operations on One-Dimensional Arrays..361
Using One-Dimensional Arrays in Algorithms..........364
Two-Dimensional Arrays..........................................367
Performing Operations on Two-Dimensional Arrays 370
Matrix Multiplication................................................373
N-Dimensional Arrays..............................................375
Records....................................................................377
What are Records?....................................................377
Accessing Record Components the Dot Notation....380
Combining Arrays and Records................................382
Sets...........................................................................384
What are Sets?...........................................................384
A Difficult Sets Example (optional)............................386
Data Structure Building Tools....................................392
Dynamic Variables...................................................392
Pointers....................................................................392
Abstract Data Types..................................................397
Strings......................................................................399
Stacks.......................................................................401
Queues.....................................................................405
Trees.........................................................................407
Review Top Ten Things to Remember....................408
Glossary...................................................................409
Problems..................................................................410

Chapter 9 Algorithms To Run With

9.1
9.2

Preview....................................................................416
Sorting......................................................................416
General Sorting Strategies.........................................416
The Four Methods of Sorting....................................418
Count Sort.........................................................419
Count Sort Analysis...........................................421

vii

viii

Table of Contents

9.3

9.4

9.5

9.6
9.7
9.8

Swap Sort..........................................................422
Swap Sort Analysis............................................424
Select Sort..........................................................425
Select Sort Analysis............................................427
Insert Sort..........................................................428
More Complex Sorting..............................................428
Improving Sorts........................................................428
Recursive Sorts.........................................................432
Searching..................................................................435
Linear Searching.......................................................436
Binary Searching.......................................................437
Pattern Matching......................................................438
Implementing Abstract Data Types...........................441
Stacks.......................................................................441
Implementing Stacks with Arrays.............................441
Implementing Stacks with Pointers...........................444
Queues.....................................................................445
Implementing Queues of Arrays...............................446
Implementing Queues with Pointers.........................448
Trees.........................................................................449
Review Top Ten Things to Remember....................451
Glossary...................................................................453
Problems..................................................................454

Chapter 10 The Seven-Step Method

10.1 Preview....................................................................458
10.2 The Seven-Step Method and Applications..................458
Step 1 Problem Definition.......................................458
Problem Definition Application.........................460
Step 2 Solution Design............................................461
Solution Design Application..............................461
Step 3 Solution Refinement......................................464
Solution Refinement Application.......................464
Step 4 Testing Strategy Development.......................466
Development of Testing Strategy Application....468
Step 5 Program Coding and Testing........................471
Step 6 Documentation Completion..........................471
Documentation Completion Application............472
Step 7 Program Maintenance...................................474
Program Maintenance Application....................474
10.3 An Advanced Case Study Building a Text Index......476
Step 1 Problem Definition.......................................476
Step 2 Solution Design............................................476
Step 3 Solution Refinement......................................478
Binary Search Tree Unit.....................................483
Queues Unit......................................................486

Table of Contents

Step 4 Development of Testing Strategy...................486

Step 5 Program Coding and Testing........................488
Step 6 Documentation Completion..........................488
Step 7 Program Maintenance...................................489
10.4 Review Top Ten Things to Remember....................490
10.5 Glossary...................................................................491
10.6 Problems..................................................................492
Level 1 Getting Started..........................................492
Level 2 Getting Organized with Subprograms.......495
Level 3 Getting Fancier with Parameters...............498
Level 4 Getting Your Wings with Units.................501

Appendix: Solutions
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions

1-3.......................................................508
1-3.......................................................508
1-7.......................................................510
1-3.......................................................511
1-3.......................................................512
1-3.......................................................514
1-3.......................................................515
1-3.......................................................516
1-3.......................................................517

Index ..........................................................................................519

ix

Table of Contents

Preface
The purpose behind The Principles of Programming is to provide the
reader/student with a structured method to solve problems using a computer.
Since the Principles book is language-independent (it provides the steps and
tools to solve problems without centering on a specific computer
programming language), a companion book, Programming Practice: Pascal,
is also provided on this CD.
While using this book to learn the principles of programming, you may find
that there are too many examples and that some topics have been overexplained. You are encouraged to select only the topics and examples that
best suit your needs and work habits.

Chapter Outline

13

Chapter 1 A Road Map;

This is a text bookwhose purpose is to teach you about computer programming.
Before we can begin, this books objectives, and the path it will take, must be
outlined. Thus, Chapter 1 introduces this book and also provides a brief
introduction to computers.

Chapter Overview
1.1
1.2

1.3

1.4
1.5
1.6

Preview....................................................................14
Introduction to The Principles of Programming............15
A Global View..........................................................15
The Road Ahead.......................................................16
Signs Along the Road................................................17
Computers.................................................................18
A Low Level View.....................................................18
Systems and Their Environments................................19
History of Programming and the Earth......................21
Review Top Ten Things to Remember........................24
Glossary...................................................................25
Problems...................................................................27

14

Chapter 1

1.1

Preview

A Road Map

This is a text bookit is intended to teach you about computer programming.

Learning is like a journey and, with any journey, it is helpful to know something
about the terrain before setting out, for you can make proper preparations and
know what will be expected of you. This chapter provides you with a road map
of your journey. The coming pages will present a great deal of detailed matter
and it is all too easy to get mired down in this detail and lose sight of how it
fits in with the whole. Here is a very general view that will allow you to gain
a picture of where the details are leading.
This chapter is presented in two major sections, starting with an introduction to
The Principles of Programming which contains the following subsections:
A Global View describes the layout of the text books material in very
general detail. This sub-section also offers an idea of the way in which
Principles of Programming should be read and studied.
The Road Ahead gives a very brief synopsis of each chapter so that
you can visualize how all the chapters fit together. This provides a
route that will take you from an introduction to computers (the last
section in this chapter) to being able to write large useful programs.
Road Signs describes the common pattern on which each of the chapters
are based, tells you how to read the road signs, and gives a brief
explanation of some of the visual aids that will be used throughout the
book.
As you can see, the first section of this chapter is organized to go from the very
general to the particular. This is no accident. A major technique presented in
this book is that of starting with an overview and then filling in the details.
This technique is called the top-down approach and you will be meeting it
again and again on your journey.
Finally, a section introducing computers is provided. Computers are the
physical machines that execute (or run) programs. These machines are
capable of performing a relatively small number of different operations. Such
operations, which can be combined to carry out complex tasks, include:
Arithmetic operations, such as the addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division of numbers.
Comparison operations, such as determining whether one number is
greater than another.
Input and output operations, such as accepting data from a keyboard or
displaying data on the screen.
It is not necessary to know much about the detailed construction of computers in
order to use, or program, them. At the end of this chapter, we provide only a
brief introduction into the structure of a computer and a computing system. This
section also ends with a brief glance at history. This view, of both computing

Section 1.1

Preview

15

and world history, should put the brief lifetime of computers and computing
into its proper perspective.

1.2

Introduction to The Principles of Programming

A Global View
The goal of this book is to teach you how to program computers. At the
beginning, no previous knowledge of computers is assumed although, these days,
it is almost impossible to grow up without gaining some familiarity with the
vocabulary and concepts of computers. Nevertheless, to make sure that
everybody starts at the same level, we have assumed nothing and describe
everything we need. If you come to a section that you think you already know,
please do not skip it, there may well be an important nugget of information that
is new to you.
Learning to write computer programs is very much like learning any skillyou
must first understand the underlying principles upon which the craft is based
and then practice, practice, practice. For example, you can read all the books
ever published about riding a bicycle but, until you actually get on one and start
pedaling on your own, you will not know how to ride a bicycle. The same
applies to computer programming! Here, we provide the first book, the
Principles of Programming, which treats computer programming in general. A
second book, the Practice of Programming describes the application of the
principles to a particular languagethe way in which a computer program is
expressed so that it can be used on a computer.
We can make an analogy with natural language. There are certain principles of
language, such as the distinction between nounsnames of things and verbs
names of actions that apply to all human languages. However, the way in
which these principles are expressed and the detailed rules that apply to
them varies considerably from language to language. For instance, the rules of
French are different from the rules of German and they are both different from
the rules of English. The situation is similar with programming languages;
there are many different languages each with its own set of rules. For this
reason, there is one Principles and several versions of Practice, one for each of
the programming languages we cover.
This book emphasizes the adage, its best to learn through examples.
Keeping this in mind, each chapter uses many examples to teach the same
point. For this reason, you may find the number of examples overwhelming and
you should feel free to pay attention to only the examples which you feel best
describe the point that is being illustrated.

16

Chapter 1

A Road Map

The Road Ahead

In this section, we give a brief summary of what is in each chapter of the
Principles of Programming. A synopsis of each chapter is presented so that you
can visualize the road ahead.
Chapter 2, Problem Solving and Computers, contains an overview of
problem solving with a computer. It introduces the idea of formulating
the solution to a problem into a set of precisely defined actionsan
algorithm. It also emphasizes that problem solving without method is
doomed, and introduces a seven step problem solving method that will
help you design, write, and run computer programs. An algorithm is
expressed in a form that can be communicated with both people and
computers through the use of a programming language and you are
shown examples an algorithm expressed in different programming
languages.
Chapter 3, Algorithms, gives a more detailed introduction to
algorithms and discusses their necessary and desirable properties. This
chapter shows that algorithms can be represented in different ways: in
English sentences, as formulas, tables, in various graphical forms, or in
pseudocodea stylized English that is similar to a programming
language.
Chapter 4, Algorithm Structure, is an introduction to the construction of
algorithms using four basic blocksformsthat are interconnected in a
simple way. The Four Fundamental Forms, Sequence, Selection,
Repetition, and Invocation are studied in some detail, including the
way in which they can be put together to create complete algorithms.
A number of examples based on everyday experiences is used to
illustrate the various forms.
Chapter 5, Algorithm Behavior, discusses the dynamic behavior of
algorithms. A representation of the data manipulated by programs is
used to illustrate the concept of variables. The execution of various
algorithms is traced step by step in order to show how variables
operate and how their data values are changed.
Chapter 6, Bigger Blocks, expands on the concepts introduced in
Chapter 5. In particular, this chapter shows how programs can be
made more general by using data obtained from outside the computer.
The construction of more complex algorithms, always based on
interconnects of the Four Fundamental Forms, is also demonstrated.
Chapter 7, Better Blocks, describes in detail the concept of
subprograms. Invocations are examined to show how the various steps
of the algorithm are executed and the various ways in which data are
passed between calling program and called subprograms.
Chapter 8 Data Structures shows that data are usually more than
simple values. Most data are more complex than that and have some
structure. In this chapter, three basic data structures are introduced:

Section 1.2

Introduction to The Principles of Programming

17

arrays, records, and sets. Arrays are groupings of homogeneous items

that are accessed by their position in the group. Records are groupings
of possibly heterogeneous items that are accessed by using names for the
individual items. Sets are collections of distinct homogeneous items
whose only property is whether they are in the group or not. This
chapter also explores the concept of an abstract data type, seen as a
class of data, defined through its values and operations.
Chapter 9 Algorithms to Run With: The primary purpose of this
chapter is to provide more extensive examples of how to use the data
structures introduced in Chapter 8. At the same time, the chapter
introduces a number of standard algorithms that are used frequently in
programs. These algorithms are particularly concerned with sorting
the arranging of data into a specific sequenceand searchingthe
retrieval of specific data from a collection. Other ways of arranging
data (like stacks, queues, and trees) are also described. Finally, a way
of building dynamic data structures by way of pointers, is introduced.
Chapter 10 Seven Step Method: In this final chapter, we return to the
seven step method for solving a problem on a computer that was
introduced in Chapter 2. The method is completely revised with a
complete example illustrating each step. Another complete example is
developed from start to finish..

Signs Along the Road

Although each chapter constitutes a stage in our learning journey, introducing
new topics and conventions while expanding on others, the same basic pattern is
followed:
1.

Each chapter begins with a Preview that gives a summary of the

material that will be presented in the chapter. This will give you an
idea of what to expect and introduce you to the major concepts in the
chapter.

2.

Next, the actual material of the chapter is provided, where the major
topics are divided into sections. Since the emphasis through each
chapter is that we learn best by example, each section has many
examples illustrating the topic being presented.

3.

Following this, a Review of the material contained in the chapter is

presented in a top ten format. This will serve to remind you of what
you have learned and nudge you to go back and reread anything that
you have forgotten.

4.

Next, a Glossary of the major terms introduced in that chapter is

provided.

5.

Finally, each chapter ends with a set of Problems to solve. This is one
of the most important parts of each chapter. There are always a few
problems for which the solutions are provided in an appendix at the

18

Chapter 1

A Road Map

end of the book (Solutions Appendix). You are encouraged to try your
hand at these before looking at the solutions. In any case, programming
is an intensely practical skill that can only be acquired by practice.
Remember: Practice makes perfect!
Apart from following a similar pattern, each chapter uses many signs to
visually illustrate important points and concepts. The most frequently used
visual aids are note (or tip) boxes. An example is provided below.
Note:

This is a note in
margin which
directs you to
useful
information.

1.3

This is a tip or note box. Inside this box, important information and
tips can be found.

In addition to tip boxes, when a paragraph briefly touches upon a subject which
is covered in more detail in another chapter, a reference is provided in the left
margin.

Computers
A Low Level View
As you progress, youll use the computer to do more and more complex things.
Its always nice and sometimes even actually useful to know more about the
tools you use, so well take a look here at computers.
Most computers, big or small, have the same basic capabilities: they can input
(read) data from an external device and store it for later use, they can
manipulate the stored data by executing the instructions that constitute a
program and they can output ( write) results onto an external device.
You do not need to know many details on computers in order to program them,
just as you dont need to know many details about carburetors or transmissions in
order to drive cars. Of course, knowledge of these details may be useful, but is
not always necessary. It is only when trying to make the best and most efficient
use of computers that these details become important.
Computers differ in details, but they have a common structure. They can be
viewed as comprising four units: a processing unit, a memory unit, an input unit
and an output unit. These units are not always physically separate, but it is
useful to view them functionally this way as in Figure 1.1.
A Memory Unit stores information that can be retrieved, modified and
processed. It not only stores the data that the program will process, but also
the actual instructions of the program. This concept of a stored program is
extremely important, for it makes the computer into a general purpose machine
where changing the program in memory literally changes the behavior of the
machine.

Section 1.3

Figure 1.1

Computers

19

A simple computer

controls the
computer, performs
operations on data

Processing Unit

Input

stores information

Output

Memory

The memory can be thought of as a collection of pigeon holes, each referenced by

a number, its address, just as a house number is used to reference a particular
house in a street. Each of these pigeon holes can contain an item of data or an
instruction from the program. If an item of data or an instruction is too big for a
single pigeon hole, it is split across a group of adjacent pigeon holes.
The Processing Unit has two distinct functions:
To control the behavior of the entire computer, and
To perform operations on data such as arithmetic operations and
comparisons of values.
The part of the processing unit that performs the operations on the data is often
called an ALU, arithmetic and logic unit. The processing unit maintains control
through the use of a few special purpose pigeon holes called registers. The
control part has a program register, which contains the address of the
programs instruction that is currently being executed and an instruction register
containing this instruction. The ALU also contains working registers where the
actual operations on the data are performed.
The Input and Output Units serve either to input information (from keyboards
or from files on disks) into the memory, or to output information (to printers or
graphic displays) from the memory.

Systems and Their Environments

If the physical computer as represented in Figure 1.1 were all you had, you
would find it very hard to do much with it! In order to be able to use a computer,
you need a number of programs to make it work: these programs constitute the
software part of the computer without which the h a r d w a r e does not do
anything. Also, the user of a computer is the one to tell the computer what task
to do. For these reasons, a computer is not considered by itself, but always in
relation to its environment.
In order to put computers into a proper perspective, lets describe a Computer
System. The system shown in Figure 1.2 is a large one so that we can introduce a
lot of new terms; smaller personal computers are, of course, much simpler. In the
large computing system, notice that the computer is one small component (in the
center). This is generally referred to as the central processor unit, or CPU.

20

Chapter 1

A Road Map

Here, we look at computing from the view of a computer interacting with both
the human and the physical environment.
Figure 1.2
Keyboard
Display

A complete computing system

AnalogDigital
Converter

Mouse
Scanner

Sensor

Human Environment

DigitalAnalog
Converter
Clock

Physical Environment

I/O Peripherals

Computer

Memory Devices

Printer

Software

Tape

Translators
compilers
Plotter

Disk
Utilities
editors

Graphic

interpreters

libraries

Operating Systems
resource
scheduler

Other
Processor

Etc.

memory
manager

Modem

telephone lines

Other
Computer

Human Environments, such as in a business computer system, are shown to the

left of Figure 1.2. People can supply data to the computer through input devices
such as keyboards, mice and scanners that can, for example, sense bar-coded
data, or sensors that can be touched on appropriate places of a display. People
receive the results from the computer on video display terminals, printers,
plotters or through audio speakers. These and other input-output, I/O,
devices connect to the system through an input-output signal cable usually
referred to as a bus.
Physical Environments, such as those found in a manufacturing plant, are
shown at the top right of Figure 1.2. The physical environment communicates
through converters that transform physical quantities (distance, pressure,
time) from their continuous (analog) values into equivalent discrete (digital)
values. These converters are known as analog-to-digital (or A to D) converters.
The analog values are obtained from transducers, such as a sensor measuring
temperature. Similarly, digital-to-analog (D to A) converters transform
digital values into continuous values that could, for example, control a
manipulator to regulate the source of heat.

Section 1.3

Computers

21

The memory of a computer can be extended by auxiliary memory devices as

shown to the right of Figure 1.2. Such devices include magnetic tape, disk,
semiconductor memory, bubble memory, and any other type which can be
plugged onto the memory bus. Other auxiliary devices may be hung onto
this system, as shown on the bottom of Figure 1.2. These devices include other
computers and modems, which are connections to communication lines such as
the public telephone system.
Hardware is the term that refers to these many physical devices of the system.
Since people and mechanical devices operate thousands of times slower than
electronic devices, the computer can service all of the devices polling them
hundreds of times a second to see, for example, if they have data ready for
input. Thus, the system appears to operate all of the devices simultaneously,
much like a busy chef cooking with several frying pans at once.
Software is the term that refers to all of the programs required to operate the
system. This includes the translators (to convert high level languages into
machine languages), utility programs (for convenience of editing, program
storage and retrieval, and so on), and operating programs (for loading
application programs, scheduling resources, and managing memory).

History of Programming and the Earth

Computers have been commercially available for only about forty years, so
their history is recent. To put this history into perspective, lets first view the
complete history of the earth and end with the history of computing. This will
allow us to show an example of a break-out diagram, which will be explained
in more detail in Chapter 2.
The early history of the earth could start with the geological levels called
eras, which break up into periods, which in turn break up into epochs as shown
in Figure 1.3.
Figure 1.3

Earth history

Eras

Geological break-out diagram

Periods

Epochs

Precambrian
Mesozoic
Paleozoic
(fish & reptiles)

Triassic
Jurassic

Mesozoic

dinosaurs

Cretaceous
Cenozoic

Cenozoic
mammals

Tertiary
Quaternary

humans

Pleistocene
(ice age)
Holocene

22

Chapter 1

A Road Map

Recent history is briefly shown in Figure 1.4. You may wish to add your own
favorite historical events. Notice that the classical levels (the last 2000
years) are a very small part of the history of the earth. An even smaller part
is the history of computing shown on the right-hand side of Figure 1.3.
Figure 1.4

Earth history, More recently

Computing Levels
1800

Archeological View
8000 humans
cultivate &
urbanize
2000 Hammurabi

1 AD

Aristotle

500

0
1000
2000

A.D.

Classical Levels A.D.

1000
1500

1800
2000

Constantine
Attilla
Mohammed
Charlemagne
Al-Khwarizmi
Genghis Khan
da Vinci
Shakespeare
Pascal

1820

Babbage's
engine

1840

Boole's
algebra

1860
1880

Hollerith's
cards

1900
1920

Turing's
machine

1940

Von Neumann
computer

1960

McCarthy's
Lisp

1980

Wirth's
Pascal

In the classical levels of Figure 1.4, going from AD 1 to 1800, we find a number of
persons who had an influence on computing. For instance...
Al-Khwarizmi, a ninth century mathematician, studied sets of rules
which are now called algorithms (named after him).
Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and philosopher, designed the
first mechanical adding machine in 1642.
Based on Pascals machine, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, a German
mathematician, created a mechanical calculating machine that could
perform both addition and multiplication in 1694.
In the more recent period going from 1800 to 2000, we find others who
influenced modern computers. In 1801, Joseph Jacquard, a Frenchman,
developed a loom for weaving cloth with patterns controlled by
punched cards.
In the 1840s, George Boole discovered that the symbolism of
mathematics could be applied to logic. His algebra forms a basis for
both the hardware (interconnections of components) and also the
software (programs with compound conditions).

Section 1.3

Computers

23

Charles Babbage, an English mathematician, designed in the l850s the

first general-purpose analytical engine" with a sequential control
using rotating wheels. His machine could not be completed, however,
because of technological problems.
Herman Hollerith, an American engineer, developed around l890
punched card machines from Jacquards idea and applied it for
processing census data. The size of punched cards, now obsolete, is based
on his choice, the size of a dollar bill of that time.
Alan Turing introduced in l937 a conceptual model of computability and
a theoretical device called a Turing Machine, which was used to define
limits on what is computable.
John Von Neumann, around l945, introduced the concept of a stored
program, where instructions and data are both stored in memory.
Later developments are too recent to be objectively put into historical
perspective. For example, it was initially believed that the first electronic
digital computer was designed and built by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper
Eckert around 1945. However, after a court case ending in 1973, the father of
the electronic computer was determined to be John V. Atanasoff who had
created a small electronic special purpose computer in 1939 at Iowa State
University. However, at the same time in Germany, Konrad Zuse was
developing computers that were more general than Atanasoffs!

24

Chapter 1

1.4

Review

A Road Map

Top Ten Things to Remember

1.

The Principles of Programming is the first in a series of books. It

teaches computer programming in general while a second book, the
Practice of Programming, describes the application of the principles to
a particular language.

2.

Most computers, big or small, have the same basic capabilities: they
can input (read) data from an external device and store it for later
use, manipulate stored data by executing the instructions that constitute
a program and they can output, or write, results onto an external device.

3.

Computers can be viewed as comprising four units: a processing unit, a

memory unit, an input unit and an output unit.

4.

The Processing Unit has two distinct functions: to control the

behavior of the entire computer and to perform operations on data such
as arithmetic and comparisons between values. The part of the
processing unit that performs the operations on the data is often called
an ALU, arithmetic and logic unit.

5.

A Memory Unit stores information that can be retrieved, modified and

processed. It not only stores the data that the program will process, but
also the actual instructions of the program.

6.

Memory can be thought of as a collection of pigeon holes, each

referenced by a numberan address. Each of these pigeon holes can
contain an item of data or an instruction from the program.

7.

The Input and Output Units serve either to input information (from
keyboards or files on disks) into the memory, or to output information
(to printers or graphic displays) from the memory.

8.

Hardware is the term that refers to the many physical devices of a

computer system.

9.

Software is the term that refers to all of the programs required to

operate a computer system.

10.

Computers have been commercially available for only about forty

years, so their history is recent; too recent to be objectively put into
historical perspective.

Section 1.5

1.5

Glossary

25

Glossary
A to D converter: (Analogue to
Digital converter) A physical device
that takes an analog or continuous
value (for instance, the intensity of
an electric current) and converts it
into a digital (numerical) value.
ALU: Arithmetic Logic Unit, a
component of the computer Central
Processing Unit that executes
arithmetic and comparison
operations.
Analog value: A directly measurable
physical value (temperature, current
voltage, pressure, and so on).
Bus: A signal transmission cable
making it possible to interconnect
various devices.
Compiler: A piece of software used to
translate a program written in a
high-level programming language
into machine language.
CPU: Central Processing Unit, the
heart of the computer that controls
the behavior of its other components
and performs the operations on the
data.
D to A converter: Digital to Analog
converter, a device to convert digital
(numerical) values to their physical
equivalent (current voltage,
temperature, and so on).

Hardware: The collection of

physical devices making up a
computer system.
Input/Output: The devices designed
to send external information into the
computer memory and to produce
external information from the
memory.
Instruction register: A CPU register
that holds the machine instruction
being executed.
Machine Language: A programming
language that is used directly by a
computer; synonymous with low-level
language.
Memory: The component of a
computer used to store information
(data and program instructions).
Modem: A device used to connect a
computer to other computers through
telephone lines.
Processing unit: CPU.
Program register: A CPU register
containing the address of the next
machine instruction to be executed
(also called program counter).
Register: Special purpose computer
memory cells used to store the pieces
of information on which a machine
instruction operates.

Editor: A utility program that helps

a user prepare data or programs for a
later operation.
Execute: Perform the actions
associated to a program.

Utility program: A computer

program in general support of the

26

Chapter 1

A Road Map

processes of a computer, for instance,

an editor, a sort program.

Section 1.6

1.6

Problems

27

Problems
1

Human Environments
Which of the following are considered human environments when it
comes to the interaction between computers and humans.

a.

Keyboard

b.

Analogy-Digital Converter

c.

Scanner

d.

Mouse

e.

Clock

Physical Environments
Which of the following are considered physical environments when it
comes to the interaction between computers and transducers.

a.

Display

b.

Sensor

c.

Digital-Analog Converter

d.

Scanner

e.

Clock

Influential People
Match the following list of names with their contributions to
computing. Note: there is one more contribution than there are
contributors!
George Boole

Al-Khwarizmi

Charles Babbage

John Von Neumann

Blaise Pascal

Alan Turing

a.

developed a machine used to define the limits on what is

computable.

b.

studied sets of rules which are now called algorithms.

c.

designed and built the first electronic digital computer.

d.

discovered that symbolism of mathematics could be applied to

logic.

e.

designed the first general-purpose analytical engine.

28

Chapter 1

A Road Map

f.

introduced the concept of a stored program where instructions

and data are both stored in memory.

g.

designed the first mechanical adding machine.

Memory
List the three functions of the Memory Unit. Besides data, what does
the Memory Unit store? What happens if an item of data is too big for a
single pigeon-hole of memory?

Hardware vs. Software

What is the difference between hardware and software? Give
examples of both.

6.

Think Big
Suppose that entire computers became as small as bugs (roaches or
integrated circuits), and had the ability to move around and
manipulate things (carry, measure, cut, and so on). Write a brief essay
indicating possible uses and potential benefits of such programmable
bugs (PRUGS).
For example, many functions could be performed differently. Lawns
could be maintained, not by mowing, but with an "army" of PRUGS
roaming around randomly, measuring each individual blade of grass
and cutting it off at a precise length.

7.

Think Well
Write another brief essay describing the potential negative
consequences of the PRUGS in the previous problem.

8.

Do Justice to History
Select some topic in the history of computing (person, machine,
program, era, machine, and so on) and investigate it thoroughly.
Relate this to other similar topics.

Chapter Outline

Chapter 2 An Overview
This chapter provides an overview of problem solving with a computer,
showing a brief birds-eye view of the general ideas, and how they are
related.

Chapter Overview
2.1
2.2

2.3
2.4

2.5

2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9

Preview....................................................................30
Problem Solving and the Computer............................31
Step 1 Problem Definition........................................32
Step 2 Solution Design..............................................33
Step 3 Solution Refinement.......................................34
Step 4 Testing Strategy Development.......................35
Step 5 Program Coding and Testing...........................35
Step 6 Documentation Completion............................37
Step 7 Program Maintenance.....................................37
Using the Problem Solving Method............................38
Problems and Plans Dividing and Conquering............38
Break-Out Diagrams.................................................39
More on Break-Out Diagrams....................................41
Algorithms and Their Representations......................45
Modifying Algorithms..............................................47
Alternative Algorithms............................................52
Equivalence of Algorithms........................................53
Testing......................................................................54
Programming Languages............................................56
Communicating Algorithms.......................................56
Basic........................................................................56
Fortran.....................................................................57
Pascal.......................................................................57
Modula-2..................................................................58
C..............................................................................58
Ada..........................................................................59
Other programming languages...................................59
Life Cycles Stages of Programming...........................60
Review Top Ten Things to Remember........................63
Glossary...................................................................65
Problems...................................................................67

29

30

Chapter 2

2.1

Preview

An Overview

Using a computer to solve a problem frequently requires programmingthe

formulation of a plan for precisely defined actions to be performed by the
computer to obtain the solution to the problem. Such a plan is an algorithm. In
this chapter, we introduce a helpful method for solving a problem with a
computer. We also show ways of breaking up a problem into smaller
subproblems. Of course, in this introductory chapter, we will consider only some
simple problems, such as the computation of part of a weekly payroll.
Algorithms are plans for performing actions. Common examples of algorithms
are:
Directions for getting somewhere:

A cooking recipe:

Directions for Getting to Freds Pizza Parlor

1.

Take Route 116 until you come to the Tjunction at Route 9.

2.

Turn onto Route 9and go about threequarters of a mile and it will be on your
left. You cant miss it!

Cream Horns
Roll out thinly puff or flaky pastry into an oblong
approximately 12 inches long, and cut into 1inch strips. Moisten one edge of each strip and
roll the strip around a cream horn tin, starting at
the pointed end of the tin and overlapping the
pastry very slightly. Bake in a hot oven until
crisp1015 minutes. Slip the horns off the
tins. When they are cold, fill them with
whipped cream and dredge with confectioners
sugar.

A crochet pattern:

Row 2(afghan st): 1 sc in first dc, * (draw up

loop in next st and retain loop on hook) 5 times
(6 loops on hook), draw up loop in next st and
draw this loop thru 1st loop on hook forming an
upright st or bar (yo and thru 2 loops) 5 times *.
There are 6 bars and 1 loop on hook. ** Retain
loops on hook and draw up loop in each of next
5 bars (6 loops on hook), draw up loop in next st
and thru first loop on hook (yo and thru 2 loops)
5 times. Rep from ** twice. Insert hook in 2nd
bar, yo and thru bar and loop on hook (1st
bound off). Bind off 4 more sts, 1 sc in next st.
Rep from *, ending bind off 5 sts, sl st in top of
turning ch. Ch 1, turn.

These algorithms require varying degrees of technical knowledge in order for

someone to carry them out, or execute them. The first algorithm is expressed in
a language that almost everybody can understand. The second requires some
knowledge of pastry-making to understand, while the third requires
considerable experience with crocheting and reading crochet patterns.

Section 2.1

Preview

31

There is also a difference in the level of detail provided in each algorithm:

the first is at a h i g h - l e v e l and provides almost no detail, whereas the third is
at a low-level and provides much detail the making of each individual
stitch is defined. Algorithms for use on computers are called program and can
also be expressed at varying levels of detail. In this chapter, we will consider
several examples of representations of simple algorithms.
Programming Languages are methods for representing and communicating
algorithms, both to people and to computers. As with the algorithms we just
viewed, different programming languages provide varying levels of detail. We
will be mainly concerned with languages convenient for people, referred to as
high-level programming languages. A low-level programming language, that
expresses an algorithm in terms of its primitive operations, is so full of small
detailslike the crocheting patternthat it is difficult for people to
understand. Luckily, computers can easily translate an algorithm expressed in
a high-level programming language into a low-level computer language. In
this chapter, we will present a payroll program in a few different languages to
provide an insight into the similarities and differences among programming
languages.

2.2

Problem Solving and the Computer

This book is about programming, and it is important to know that programming
exists solely to solve problems on a computer. Programming is, first and
foremost, a problem solving activity.
The mathematician George Polya, an authority on problem solving, has
divided 1 problem solving into a four step activity:
1.

understanding the problem: This first step can be very difficult but is
absolutely crucial. Although it happens all of the time, it is foolish to
attempt to answer a question that is not fully understood. In general,
one must find the given data, what is the unknown (the required result)
and what is the relationship that links the given data with the
unknown. It is also important to verify that the given information is
sufficient to solve the problem.

2.

devising a plan: Once the problem is understood, one must devise the
plan of action to solve the problem. A plan is formed by proceeding
from the data to the result according to the relationship that links
them. If the problem is trivial, this step will not require much
thinking. General techniques include the following:
Finding if there are known similar problems,
Reshaping the original problem so that it resembles a known
problem

George Polya, How to Solve It, Princeton, New Jersey: Pinceton

University Press, 1945.

32

Chapter 2

An Overview

Restricting the problem to a shorter solvable form,

Generalizing a restricted problem, and
Finding existing work that can help in the search for a solution.
3.

executing the plan: Once the plan is defined, it should be followed

completely. Each element of the plan should be checked as it is
applied. If parts of the plan are found to be unsatisfactory, the plan
should be revised.

4.

evaluating: Finally, the result should be examined in order to make

sure that it is valid and that the problem has been solved.

As we all know, there is usually more than one correct way of solving a problem.
When several people are faced with the same problem, it is likely that each
individual will reach a solution in a different manner. However, to be
efficient, a person must adopt a systematic method of problem solving. When
using a computer to solve a problem, the use of a systematic method is crucial.
Without one, people tend to rush over the steps and find out too late that they
should have spent more time in preparation and planning.
Based on the Polya problem solving method, we introduce here a seven-step
problem solving method that can be adapted to each persons own problem
solving style. This method is closely related to what is known as the software
life cycle (the various stages in the life of a program).
The seven steps of the method are:
1.

Problem Definition

2.

Solution Design

3.

Solution Refinement

4.

Testing Strategy Development

5.

Program Coding and Testing

6.

Documentation Completion

7.

Program Maintenance

Step 1

Problem Definition

Polyas first step is to fully understand the problem. The initial description of
a problem is usually vague: it must be made precise. The poser of the problem
the userand the problem-solver must work together in order to ensure that
both understand the problem. This should lead to complete specifications of
the problem including the precise definition of the input datathe given
dataand of the desired outputthe result.

Section 2.2

Step 2

Problem Solving and the Computer

33

Solution Design

In this step, we want to define the outline of a solution. Starting from the
original problem, we divide it into a number of subproblems. These
subproblems, being necessarily smaller than the original problem, are easier to
solve and their solutions will be the components of our final solution. The same
divide and conquer method is applied in turn to the subproblems until the
whole problem has been converted into a plan of well-understood steps.
To illustrate this step, lets take a simple non-computer problem such as the
recipe for Cream Horns given in the previous section. Based on this recipe, we
can break down the problem into three subproblems:
1.

Make the horns,

2.

Prepare whipped cream, and

3.

Finish the horns.

In turn, the subproblems themselves can be divided until we reach extremely

simple subproblems. One of the products of this step is a chart that illustrates
the structure of our solution (Figure 2.1). This chart is called a structure chart
because it shows the structural components of the solution as well as the
relationships between components.
Figure 2.1

Structure chart

complete solution

component

sub-component

Make The
Horns

Recipe for
Cream
Horms

Prepare
Whipped
Cream

Finish The
Horns

Slip Off
Tins

Fill With
Cream

Dredge
WIth
Sugar

The box at the top of the chart represents our complete solution, the three boxes
at the next level below represent the components of that solution, and the three
boxes at the lowest level represent the sub-components of the component Finish
The Horns. Similarly, all components can be broken into smaller subcomponents.

34

Chapter 2

An Overview

Step 3

Solution Refinement

The solution designed in the preceding step is in a very high-level form. It

shows a general task divided into several sub-tasks with no indication given as
to how all of these tasks are to be accomplished. This general solution must be
refined by adding more detail.
Each box in the structure chart produced in Step 2 (Figure 2.1) must be associated
with a precise method to accomplish each task. A precise method consists of a
sequence of well defined steps which, when carried out, perform the
corresponding task. This sequence of steps is called an algorithm.
Algorithms are usually developed in pseudocodea language used to describe
the manipulations to be performed on data. This language is a simple mixture
of natural language and mathematical notation. Pseudocode is independent of
any programming language.
For example the pseudocode for the task Prepare Whipped Cream might
resemble Pseudocode 2.1.
Pseudocode 2.1

Prepare Whipped Cream

This particular solution is not complete because the level of detail is

insufficient: the stiffness of the whipped cream has not been specified. Each
pseudocode instruction might have to be expanded to refine the solution into a
usable form. This process of refining the pseudocode instructions to avoid any
misunderstanding is called stepwise refinement.
Had we been working instead on solving another problem, that of computing the
weekly pay for the employees of the ACME company, we might have written
the following pseudocode:
Pseudocode 2.2

Setting an employees gross pay

Here we have used the verb Set to associate the name Gross Pay with a
computed value. We could also have used a more mathematical notation like
the following.

Section 2.2

Pseudocode 2.3

Problem Solving and the Computer

35

Mathematical notation in pseudocode

Care should be taken to make the algorithm check the data values for
reasonableness. If any data item is out of range, an error message should be
produced instead of computing a meaningless result. This process of checking
that the input data are acceptable is called data validation.

Step 4

Testing Strategy Development

The preceding step produces the algorithms that will be used to write the
computer program that corresponds with our solution. This program will be
executed by the computer and be expected to produce the correct solution for our
problem. It is necessary to try this program with several different combinations
of input data to make sure that the program will give the correct results in all
cases
Each of these tests consist of different combinations of input data, each of
which is referred to as a test case. To test the program thoroughly, we must
define an assortment of test cases that cover, not only normal input values, but
also extreme input values that will test the limits of our program. In addition,
special combinations of input values will be needed to test particular aspects of
the programs
For example, test cases for a payroll program should include values covering
the full range of pay rates including limit values, a maximum number of hours
worked, and so on. A typical test case would define the hourly rate, hours
worked, and expected result as follows:
Rate = $10.00 Hours = 35 Result = $350.00
It is best to develop test cases before writing the program because the test cases
can be used to check our algorithms at this stage, and because the pressure to
complete a program might lead to a loss of objectivity when testing on the fly.
Note:

Step 5

For all test cases, the expected results must be computed and
specified before proceeding to the next step. Complete test cases can
then be used to check algorithms and programs efficiently.

Program Coding and Testing

Pseudocode algorithms cannot be executed directly by the computer. Pseudocode

must first be translated into a programming language, a process referred to as
coding.

36

Chapter 2

An Overview

The pseudocode produced by solution refinement, in Step 3, is used as a blueprint

for the program. Depending on the programming language used, this coding step
may be somewhat mechanical; however, programming languages all have
limitations. These limitations can sometimes make the coding step quite a
challenge. Among the most commonly used languages are COBOL, Fortran,
Pascal, C, Modula-2, and Ada. To give an example, the pseudocode shown
earlier for the gross pay computation could be written in Pascal in as illustrated
in Figure 2.2
Figure 2.2

Pascal version of Pseudocode 2.2

Notice that the pseudocode Set...to has been replaced by := and that
multiplication is indicated by an asterisk. Most programming languages use a
notation similar to this one. Names like GrossPay are called variables and
can be thought of as named information holders whose contents can be used
and changed by statements in the program. The above Pascal code would only
be a small part of a complete Pascal program that calculates a weekly payroll
Once the algorithms have been coded, the resulting computer program must be
tested using our testing strategy. The program must be run and, for each test case
developed in Step 4, the results produced must match those computed during the
development of the test strategy. If there is a discrepancy, the produced results
must be analyzed in order to discover the source of the error. The error may lie
in one of four places:
The coding: The error could have been formed when the algorithm was
translated into the programming language.
The algorithms: The error could have existed in the algorithm and has
never been noticed.
The designof the program: The programs design may be flawed and
lead to errors during execution.
The computation of the expected test results: The results for a test case
may have been calculated wrong.
Once the error has been discovered, the appropriate revision must be made and
the tests rerun. This is repeated until we are sure that our program produces a
correct solution to the problem under all circumstances. This process of coding
and testing is called implementation.

Section 2.2

Step 6

Problem Solving and the Computer

37

Documentation Completion

Documentation begins with the first step of program development and continues
throughout the lifetime of the program. A programs documentation must
include the following:
Explanations of all of the steps of the method,
The design decisions that were made, and
The problems that were encountered during the writing and testing of
the program.
The final documentation must also include a printed copy of the program, called
a program listing. This listing should be made readable by careful layout as
one does with a technical reportwhich is what the written form of the
program really is: a written description of the computer solution of the
problem. Programs can be made easier to understand by the reader if all of
their complex parts include explanations in the form of comments. Later, when
the program must be changed, these explanations will make the changes easier
to implement.
To be complete, the documentation must include some user instructions. For
programs that will be used by people unfamiliar with computers, it is necessary
to include a users manual that explains, without using technical jargon, how to
use the program, how to prepare the input data and how to interpret the
programs results.

Step 7

Program Maintenance

Program maintenance is not directly part of the original implementation

process. It includes all activities that occur after a program becomes
operational. The term maintenance, when applied to programs, has a
somewhat different meaning from normal usage. Houses, cars and other objects
need maintenance because they deteriorate through use. Programs, on the other
hand, have no physical properties, only logical propertiesthey do not need
repainting and they do not wear out through use.
When we run the same program a thousand of times, some of the hardware
components of the computer may wear out and need maintenance but the
program cant wear out. However, a program can work properly nine hundred
and ninety-nine times and then fail during the thousandth run. This may give
the appearance that the program has worn out, but actually the program
encountered an unusual set of circumstances. In other words, the program did not
fail because it had worn out, it failed because it did not work properly to begin
with; it was never tested for this particular set of circumstances. If the unusual
curcumstances had occurred on the first run instead of the thousandth, the
program would have failed on the first run. Thus, program maintenance is
largely completing the process of implementation.

38

Chapter 2

An Overview

Program maintenance also includes implementing improvements discovered

while using the program. Program maintenance includes:
eliminating newly detected program errors
modifying the current program
adding new features to the program
updating the documentation
Maintenance documentation, produced specifically to help the maintainers in
their work, may include design documents, program code, and information about
testing. Often, the cost of program maintenance over the lifetime of a program
surpasses the development costs for the original program.

Using the Problem Solving Method

The preceding sections describe the seven steps in a nice, sequential manner.
However, it should be understood that, in practice, all of these steps are not
strictly sequential. The boundaries between various steps are somewhat fuzzy
and some steps might have to be reworked as a result of a later step.
In particular, you may have already noticed that documentation takes place
throughout the whole process. Sometimes, the problem definition step and the
first stages of the solution design step overlap, as design decisions require more
precision from the problem definition. Also, the end of the solution design step
may overlap with the beginning of the solution refinement step; this explains
why the refinement step is sometimes called detailed design. We have also
indicated that the definition of a testing strategy sometimes uncovers missing
pieces in the earlier steps.
The point is that you should get used to the idea of revising and reworking some
of your earlier steps. This going back and forth makes it easier to progress when
solving a problem becomes difficult. The important thing is for you to adopt a
problem solving method that is well adapted to your way of working.
You should also be aware that the problem definition step is often difficult
because the person with the problem may not be able to state it clearly. Most
often, a vague perception of the problem or a weak technical understanding are
sufficient to lead to this situation. In these cases, an extended period of work
with the user may be required in order to produce a more precise problem
definition and to determine whether a computer solution is possible.

Problems and Plans

Dividing and Conquering

As we have seen above, planning and problem solving are the main concerns of
this book. The problems may be large and complex (like controlling a factory or
managing an inventory) or they may be smaller (such as making engineering
calculations, or computing statistics). In all cases, well need to use our seven
step method.

Section 2.2

Problem Solving and the Computer

39

Even in problems that seem simple, such as computing a weekly payroll, there
could be considerable complexity. For example, actions that depend on various
changing conditions, such as income tax rules, can turn computing a weekly
payroll into a complex task.
When faced with complexity, use Step 2, Solution Design, of our seven step
method to develop a systematic way of thinking about such problems. As we
have already mentioned, the best way to go about solving a problem is to break
the problem into smaller subproblems: the divide and conquer approach.
But breaking up a problem into smaller subproblems is not always as easy as it
seems. There are many ways to break up anything with some ways being better
than others. In addition, the number of subproblems required for computing are
often so numerous that they create another problem: the complexity of
quantity. Our challenge is to organize this complexity while avoiding
confusion.
To avoid confusion, a complex problem can only be viewed by looking at a small
number of its subproblems at any one time and seeing how they fit into the
bigger problem.
Note:

Solving a problem is essentially the same as the age-old method

for cooking a mammoth...
...Break it into smaller pieces!

2.3

Break-Out Diagrams
One useful way of making the complexity of problem solving manageable is to
use a tree-like or hierarchical skeleton for viewing problems in levels, as
illustrated by the structure chart in Figure 2.1. The following figures (Figures
2.3 through 2.6) show four hierarchical representations called break-out
diagrams.. These are another form of structure charts.
Time can be broken down into years, months, days (and further) as suggested in
Figure 2.3. This break-out diagram, if completely expanded, would create one
sequence of 365 (or 366) days at the second level, and one sequence of 8760 (or
8784) hours at the next level.

40

Chapter 2

An Overview

Figure 2.3

Time break-out diagram, vertical

Year
January

February

March

April

May

November December

Month
day 1

day 2

day 3

day 15

day 30

Day
hour 1

hour 2

hour 24

The space in this book, represented in Figure 2.4, is broken down horizontally.
First the book is broken into chapters, then into sections. This book space could
be broken down further by including sentences, words and finally letters.
Figure 2.4

Book space break-out diagram, horizontal

Preview

Book

Section 1

Chapter 1

Table of Contents

Section 2

Chapter 2

Main body
Index

Review

Chapter 10

Problems

Actions, such as computing a weekly payroll, can be broken down into smaller
actions (determine the gross pay, determine the deductions) as shown in Figure
2.5. Each of these sub-actions may also be broken down further. In fact, the rest
of this chapter will mainly be concerned with the subproblem of computing an
employees gross pay
Figure 2.5

Actions break-out diagram

Compute Weekly Pay

Sub-Actions
Determine Gross Pay

Get Hours

Get Rate

Calculate

Determine Deductions

Find Taxes

Find Misc.

Section 2.3

Break-Out Diagrams

41

D a t a, such as the various attributes describing a person, are also easily

described by break-out diagrams (Figure 2.6).
Figure 2.6

Data break-out diagram

Person

Attributes
Name

First Name

Sex

Seniority

Address

Last Name

Supervisor

Birthyear

BirthDate

Birthmonth

Birthday

Notice how break-out diagrams can describe four entities as varied as time,
space, actions and data. These diagrams essentially show how the long, linear
list of small leaves at the right, or at the bottom, is organized or grouped
together (into branches) forming a two-dimensional tree. More importantly,
these structure charts show how to break a problem into its subproblems.

More on Break-Out Diagrams

Break-out diagrams or BODs are very useful tools for showing the structure of
many kinds of systems. However, not everything that looks like a BOD is
actually a BOD. To be useful, BODs must have a certain structure as well as
being:
Consistent: Each break-out must be of the same kind. For example, if
the first box involves time (as in Figure 2.3), then all of the other boxes
in the break-out should involve time. In other words, since time is being
refined, then all break-outs should involve time, but at a different
level of detail.
Orderly (indepent or exclusive): all blocks at the same level must be
separate or independent; there should be no overlapping of two breakouts. For example, the first break-out of Work Day in Figure 2.7 shows
Lunch as part of the morning and of the afternoon; it should be either
part of only one of these, or be a separate box on the same level as AM
and PM.

42

Chapter 2

An Overview

Figure 2.7

An incorrect and a correct break-out of Work Day

Pre-Coffee
Coffee Break
AM

Work
Day

PM
EVE

Post-Coffee
Lunch
Pre-Tea-Time
Tea-Time

Problem: Lunch is a part of

both AM and PM.

Dinner Time
Snack Time

Pre-Coffee
Coffee Break
Post-Coffee
AM
Work
Day

Pre-lunch snack

Lunch

Lunch

PM

Coffee

EVE

Pre-Tea-Time
Tea-Time

Solution: Lunch is on the

same level as
AM, PM and EVE.

Dinner Time
Snack Time

Refined: each box of a given level must be a break-out of a box at the

previous level. This means that all of the boxes at the right of a BOD
must fit back into the boxes at their left. There can be no boxes
introduced that do not fit into previous ones. For example, in the second
impossible break-out of Work Day in Figure 2.8, the box labeled Read
Newspaper does not fit into the Eat box. Also, as the refinement
continues, there should be no merging or rejoining of boxes.

Section 2.3

Figure 2.8
Routine

Break-Out Diagrams

43

An incorrect and correct break-out of Morning

Sub-actions cannot be combined.

Morning
Routine

Get Out of Bed

Wake Up

Shower

Drink Coffee

Eat

Eat Cereal

Drive to Work

Read Newspaper

Read Newspaper may be in

order chronologically, but it
is not a sub-action of Eat.

Get Out of Bed

Wake Up
Morning
Routine

Shower
Drink Coffee

Breakfast
Eat
Drive to Work

Read Newpaper

Eat Cereal

This BOD
is much
more
orderly.

Cohesive: All of the items within a breakout box must fit together.
Frequencies, shown in the break-out diagram in Figure 2.9, range from a
few cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz), to thousands of cycles per second
(kHz), to millions of cycles per second (MHz) and beyond. At the left of
this diagram, there is great cohesion. However there is some lack of
cohesion in the part at the right. The VHF frequencies have a mixture
of TV channels and FM ranges. There is a gap between TV Channels 6
and 7 in which some FM channels are used. These mixtures and gaps
show a lack of cohesion.

44

Chapter 2

An Overview

Figure 2.9

The electromagnetic frequency spectrum

Cosmic rays
Gamma rays
X-rays

Problem:
TV channels and
FM ranges are
mixed together.

TV
Channels
13

Visible light

300 GHZ

12
HI
Freq

11

UHF

10
9

TV
300 MHZ

Frequency

VHF

MID
Freq

FM

TV

300 KHZ

5
AM
Radio

4
3

LOW
Freq

Sonic waves
cohesive

not cohesive

Alternative forms of break-out diagrams are often used and variations are
possible. Some common alternatives to BODs are called: Warnier Diagrams2 ,
Orr Charts3 , or SADT diagrams 4 . Some of these involve boxes in three
dimensions, others involve parentheses and other notations

2
3
4

Jean Dominique Warnier, Logical Construction of Programs,

3rd Edition, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1974.
Kenneth R. Orr, Structured Systems Development, New York:
Yourdon Press, 1977.
Douglas Ross, Structured analysis (SA): a language for
communicating ideas, IEEE Transactions on Software
Engineering, vol. SE3, no. 1, January 1977.

Section 2.4

2.4

Algorithms and Their Representations

45

Algorithms and Their Representations

In the third step of our method, solution refinement, we refine the solution
whose structure was defined in the preceding step. This means that we must
give a precise definition of the actions to be performed to accomplish each task
defined in our structure chart. This is done by defining an algorithmfor each
task. It is these algorithms that will be carried out to produce the desired
solution.

For more
information on
the different
possible
algorithm
representations,
see Chapter 3.

As an example, lets consider the computation of the weekly gross pay of an

employee. Here, the data are numbers while the actions are arithmetic
operations. The algorithm well consider is very simple and will be used to
illustrate many concepts.
Algorithms may be represented in a number of ways, as discussed below.
Verbal representations of an algorithm can be given as statements in
any natural language. A verbal description of a common pay algorithm
is shown in Figure 2.10. The pay rate (of $10 an hour) was chosen
simply to make multiplication easy. Usually, more important reasons
determine an employees pay rate.
Figure 2.10 A verbal algorithm
Gross Pay
If the hours worked are less than (or equal to) 40, the pay is the product of the number of hours
worked and the rate (of $10.00 an hour). Also, if more than 40 hours are worked, the pay is $15.00 an
hour (time-and-a-half) for each of the hours over 40.

With this algorithm, if, for example, the number of hours worked is 25,
then the pay is simply determined by multiplying the rate by the hours
(1025 = 250). But if the hours are 50, then the pay is the sum of two
parts, a regular part and an overtime part. The pay for the first 40
hours is the regular rate multiplied by 40 which is (1040 = 400). For
the 10 hours over 40 we use the higher rate of 15 (time-and-a-half) to
get (50 40)15 = 150. The total pay is the sum of these regular and
overtime amounts (400 + 150 = 550). So a total pay of $550 is the final
output of the algorithm.
Flowchart representations of an algorithms are made of various boxes
joined by arrows as in Figure 2.11. In flowcharts the following symbols
are used:
Oval boxes indicate the start and the end.
Square boxes represent actions, while
Diamonds, or boxes with pointed ends, represent decisions to be
made. Decision boxes contain the conditions that determines which
arrow will be followed out of them.

46

Chapter 2

An Overview

This graphical form makes it easy for people to follow the sequence of
actions, or flow of control, provided the flowchart is small. Figure 2.11
represents the pay algorithm we just described. Notice that in the
computation of the pay for more than 40 hours (the box on the right of
the diagram), the pay for the basic 40 hours is shown as 1040 and not
as 400. To have shown 400 in the algorithm, would have hidden the
two components of the product. The 400 would appear as an
anonymous magic number and the algorithm would be more difficult
to understand.
Figure 2.11 The pay algorithm expressed as a flowchart
begin
Input Hours

Hours

True

False

40
Set Pay to
10 Hours

Set Pay to
10 40 +
15 (Hours - 40)

Output Pay
end

Graphs (or plots) are diagrammatic representations that help people

understand the execution of algorithms. The graph of the pay
algorithm in Figure 2.12 shows how the rate of pay depends on the
number of hours worked. In this graph, the total pay for any number of
hours is actually the shaded area. For example, for 50 hours, the total
pay corresponds to the shaded area consisting of the three smaller
rectangles labeled a, b and c. The total pay is:
PAY = 10 40 + 10 10 + 5 10 = 550.
Figure 2.12 Graph of pay rate versus hours worked
R rate of pay
15
10
5

20

40

60
50

H
hours worked

Data-flow diagrams represent algorithms as black boxes where you

cant see what happens inside. Only the data input and output are

Section 2.4

Algorithms and Their Representations

47

shown as in Figure 2.13. In this case, the data50 hoursflows into

the Gross-Pay computation box, and the resulting data (pay of $550)
flows out the bottom. These diagrams hide the details of an algorithm,
but they will be useful later to describe interaction and flow of data
between algorithms.
Note:

Data-flow diagrams indicate what is being done, whereas

flowcharts indicate how it is done.

Figure 2.13 Data-flow diagram

Hours
50 hours
H
Gross Pay
P
$550
Pay

As we have already seen, pseudocode representations of an algorithm

are short descriptions using a notation that is a mixture of
mathematics, logic, and natural language. Our pay algorithm in
pseudocode is given in Figure 2.14.
Figure 2.14 A pseudocode algorithm

More representations of algorithms, such as flowblocks, tables, and trees, are

possible and will be considered in the next chapter.

Modifying Algorithms
Once a useful algorithm has been defined, it often goes through many changes in
its lifetime. It may be made more powerful, more useful, more convenient,
more efficient, or more foolproof. Sometimes, it is used as part of larger
algorithms. The five processes for modifying are detailed below.
Generalizing algorithms is the process of making them apply to more
cases. For example, the previous pay algorithm, shown in Figures 2.10
and 2.13, applies only to people paid at the same constant basic hourly
rate of $10. This algorithm could be generalized by requiring the input

48

Chapter 2

An Overview

of the hourly rate in addition to the number of hours worked. By

implementing this generalization, the algorithm would work not only
for $10, but for any hourly pay rate.
Figure 2.15 Generalized pay algorithm
begin
Input Hours, Rate

Hours

40

True

Generalization: The rate is no longer

fixed at $10 an hour.
Any pay rate can
now be used.

False

Set Pay to
Rate 40 +
1.5 Rate (Hours - 40)

Set Pay to
Rate Hours

Output Pay
end

This modified algorithm, Figure 2.15, can be used to compute the pay
for people working at different pay rates, and is thus more general and
more widely useful. Actually the overtime limit of 40, which is used
three times, could be replaced by a variable Maximum-Hours
indicating the overtime threshold, thus making the algorithm even
more general. Thus, if Maximum-Hours is set to 35, the overtime rate is
applied to all hours worked over 35, and not over 40 as in the
algorithms of Figure 2.14 and 2.14.
Extending algorithms to include more cases is also very common. For
example, the original algorithm pays time-and-a-half for hours
worked over 40. Often, the overtime rate becomes even larger (up to
twice the regular rate) when more than a certain number of hours have
been worked (usually 60). The original algorithm of Figure 2.15 can be
extended to include a second rate of overtime. In this case, the original
pay algorithm applies for the first 60 hours, and the hours over 60 are
paid at double rate. An extended version of the original algorithm,
that allows for a double rate, is shown in Figure 2.16.

Section 2.4

Algorithms and Their Representations

49

Figure 2.16 Extended pay algorithm

begin
Input Hours, Rate

True

Hours

40

True

Set Pay to
Rate Hours

Hours

60

False

False

Set Pay to
Rate 40 +
1.5 Rate (Hours - 40)
Set Pay to
Rate 40 + 1.5 Rate 20 +
2 Rate (Hours - 60)

Extension: All hours worked

above 60 are
now paid at
double rate.

Output Pay
end

Lets execute or trace this algorithm with an input value of 100 hours
and an hourly rate of $10.00. First the number of hours and rate are
input, then the number of hours is compared to 60 and the rightmost
path is taken out of the decision box into the following computation.
Pay

= Rate 40 + 1.5 Rate 20 + 2 Rate (Hours - 60)

= $10.00 40 + 1.5 $10.00 20 + 2 $10.00 (Hours - 60)
= $400.00 + $15.00 20 + $20.00 40
= $400.00 + $300.00 + $800.00
= $1500.00

This formula (and others) can be derived from finding the area of
various rectangles under a new graph of Rate versus Hours, an extension
of Figure 2.12 shown in Figure 2.17. Notice that by doubling the number
of hours worked (from 50 to 100), the resulting Pay more than doubles
(from $550 to $1500). In fact, the Pay almost triples.

50

Chapter 2

An Overview

Figure 2.17 Extended graph of Rate versus Hours

R rate of pay
20
15
800

10
300
5

400
20

40

60

80

100

H
hours worked

Foolproofing is the process of making an algorithm more reliable, failsafe, or robust, by anticipating erroneous input or other difficulties. For
example, if the number of hours input is more than the number of hours
in a week (724 = 168), then an error message should be produced. The
resulting foolproofed, or robust, algorithm is given in Figure 2.18. It
could be improved further to recognize the input of a negative number of
hours, and output another error message.

Section 2.4

Algorithms and Their Representations

51

Figure 2.18 Foolproofed pay algorithm

begin
Input Hours, Rate

True

Foolproofing: Abnormally high numbers of

hours input are detected
False
here, and when
encountered, the program is
automatically terminated.

Hours
>
7 24

True

True

Set Pay to
Rate Hours

Hours

40

Hours

60

False

False

Set Pay to
Rate 40 +
1.5 Rate (Hours - 40)
Set Pay to
Rate 40 + 1.5 Rate 20 +
2 Rate (Hours - 60)
Output Pay

Output "Error"

end

Embedding: Part of the

Extended pay
Algorithm is
re-used here
(the shaded part).

Embedding an algorithm is the process of re-using that algorithm

within another algorithm. For example, the extended pay algorithm
from Figure 2.16 is shown in the shaded box embedded in Figure 2.18. If
the number of hours input is smaller than the maximum number of hours
permitted in a week, this algorithm computes the pay.
Notice that the original algorithm from Figure 2.11 also appears in
slightly modified form embedded in Figures 2.14 and 2.15. This shows
that, when algorithms are well structured, they can be modified
without destroying already existing parts. On the other hand, when
algorithms are structured poorly, small modifications can cause great
problems. Reuse of existing algorithms is also efficient and usually
saves coding and testing time and effort.
Modification of a finished product is not common in other disciplines. For
example, painters do not try to touch up another painters painting, and
engineers do not add a few extra wheels to an existing car. However, in
computer science, algorithms are modified all the time. It is therefore

52

Chapter 2

An Overview

important to keep in mind that the algorithms that you write are likely to be
modified during their lifetimes. In other words, create algorithms with the
intent to make them easy to modify. When algorithms are well designed, their
modification can lead to better algorithms. Otherwise, a modification may
lead to disaster.

Alternative Algorithms
In computing, as is the case with many disciplines, there are often many ways
of accomplishing the same thing. This means that a choice must be made
between the various possibilities. For example, lets consider the previous
simple pay algorithm from Figure 2.11, which is repeated on the left side of
Figure 2.19.
Figure 2.19 Equivalent algorithms
begin

begin

Input Hours

Input Hours
Set Pay to
10 Hours

True

False

Hours

40

Set Pay to
10 40 + 1.5
10 (Hours - 40)

Set Pay to
10 Hours

Equivalent
in
behavior

True

Hours

40

False
Add to Pay
5 (Hours - 40)

Output Pay

Output Pay

end

end

The algorithm next to it, on the right side of Figure 2.19, shows an alternative
way to compute the gross pay.
First, the hours are input and the pay is computed by multiplying these hours
by the regular hourly rate ($10). For instance, in the case of 50 hours of work,
this would yield a value of 50 10 = $500.
Next, the hours are compared to 40 and, if they are greater than 40, the hours in
excess of 40 (overtime) are multiplied by 5 (half the regular rate) and the result
added to the first value. If the hours are not greater than 40, then nothing is
added to the first value. In the case of 50 hours of work, the overtime is
(50 - 40), or 10 hours, multiplied by the extra $5 per hour, which yields $50.
This overtime pay is then added to the first $500 for a total of $550 dollars.

Section 2.4

Algorithms and Their Representations

53

Equivalence of Algorithms
The two algorithms of Figure 2.19 are different in structure, but they are
equivalent in behavior. In other words, for identical input data, they will
produce identical results. Which do you prefer? Why?
In this example (Figure 2.19), there is no serious reason to prefer one algorithm
over the other. However, in some cases, one algorithm may be considerably
smaller, faster, simpler, or more reliable than another. The interesting thing is
that one embedded algorithm can be replaced by another with the same
behavior, like a spare part or a module, without changing the behavior of the
whole program. This plug-in capability of modules or building blocks can be
very useful.
Let us consider a more complex algorithm; the extended gross pay algorithm of
Figure 2.16 is repeated on the left side of Figure 2.20 with an equivalent
algorithm on the right.
Figure 2.20 More equivalent algorithms

True

True

begin

begin

Input Hours

Input Hours

Hours
> 7 24 or
Hours
<0
False

Hours

60

True

Set Pay to
10 Hours

False

True
True

Set Pay to
10 Hours

Hours

40

False

Set Pay to
10 40 +
15 (Hours - 40)

end

False

Add
5 (Hours - 40)
to Pay

True

Output Pay

Hours
>
40

Equivalent
in
behavior

Set Pay to
10 40 + 15 20
+20 (Hours - 60)

Output "Error"

Hours
> 7 24 or
Hours
<0
False

Hours
>
60

False

Add
5 (Hours - 60)
to Pay

Output "Error"

Output Pay

end

Because the equivalence of these two algorithms may be less obvious, let us try
the algorithm on the right for an input of 100 hours. After the first condition is
False, the pay is computed from 10 HOURS, giving $1,000. Then the second
decision (100 > 40) adds the amount 5 (100 - 40) or $300. The third decision
(100 > 60) adds the amount 5 (100 - 60) or $200. Finally, the output is the

54

Chapter 2

An Overview

sum of these three amounts (1000 + 300 + 200) or $1500. This output is identical
to the previously computed output for the algorithm on the left.
Note:

It is extremely important to realize that comparing outputs for one

single input value is insufficient to determine an equivalence for all
values! Several different values must be tried before equivalence
can be proven. Once you encounter an input value that produces
different outputs for both algorithms, you have proven that the
two algorithms are not equivalent.

Testing
The fourth step of our problem solving method, Testing Strategy Development,
leads us to define the following:
1.

A strategy, and then

2.

a collection of test cases for the particular problem being solved.

In the example seen in Figure 2.20, there are only a few ranges of values that
could be used to test the algorithms. The left side of Figure 2.21 shows how the
input values could be split into the following five distinct ranges:
Input values less than zero and those greater than 168 indicate errors.
Values from 0 to 40 (inclusive) belong to the regular range,
Values above 40 and up to 60 belong to the time-and-a-half range, and
Values above 60 to 168 belong to the double-time range.
To compare these two algorithms, we must test them with input data taken
from each of these ranges. Only one value from each range is required since all
values within a particular range will follow the same path through the
algorithms (check it for yourself!).
Figure 2.21 Range of input values for testing
Input
Hours

Data range

Output
Test
Value

Left

Right

Out of Range

H > 168

200

Err

Err

Double Time

60 < H 168

100

1500

1500

40 < H 60

50

550

550

Regular Time

0 H 40

20

200

200

Out of Range

H<0
Err

-20

Err

168
60
Time-and-a-half
40

within
range

Section 2.4

Algorithms and Their Representations

55

So, to compare these algorithms, we must take one typical test value from each
of the ranges. Let us try -20, 20, 50, 100 and 200. These five values will exercise
all possible paths in the flow charts. Other equally good test values could be
-50, 30, 55, 150 and 170, or -5, 5, 45, 65 and 205. In addition, it is always useful to
test critical values, or limit values, such as -1, 0, 40, 41, 60, 61, 168, and 169.
The right side of Figure 2.21 displays a table of test values with the
corresponding output of each algorithm. This table shows identical outputs for
all of the input values. Verify for yourself that the two algorithms behave
identically for the limit values.
We can now say that the algorithms in Figure 2.20 are equivalent because the
test values were chosen carefully to cover all possible cases and the results of
the test values come on the same for both algorithms. It should be realized
that it is not always easy to test algorithms in this way. In some algorithms,
there may be hundreds or thousands of possible paths and test cases. Testing on
this scale will be discussed in Chapter 5.
Now that the two algorithms have been shown to be equivalent, which of them
is better? The difference between them is not great, but most people feel that
the second (the one on the left) is simpler and clearer because it consists of a
long and thin series of smaller decisions. Algorithms with a long and thin form
usually appear simpler than a nesting of short-and-fat decisions.
Because the two algorithms of Figure 2.20 are equivalent, there is a single
description of w h a t they both do; however, there are two different descriptions
of h o w they do it. This illustrates the difference between Step 2, Solution
Design, and Step 3, Solution Refinement. Solution Design gives us a description
of w h a t each sub-task must do to solve the problem, while Solution Refinement
gives us descriptions of h o w each sub-task is to be done. This distinction is
extremely important because the definition of w h a t is to be done should be
made independently from h o w it will be done. Defining w h a t generates the
plan for the solution, while defining h o w comes with the application of the
plan.

2.5

Programming Languages
Communicating Algorithms
The subject of this book is programming, and as you progress, youll write
programs to run on a computer. To do this, youll need to use a specific
programming language.
Programming languages are notations used for communicating algorithms
between people and computers. There are now hundreds of such languages; to
give you a taste of these, Figures 2.20 to 2.25 show the same payroll algorithm
(taken from Figure 2.11) expressed in six different programming languages,
Basic, Fortran, Pascal, C, Modula-2 and Ada.

56

Chapter 2

An Overview

If you dont understand all of these examples perfectly, dont worry! These
examples are here only to suggest similarities and differences. All of these
programs have a similar meaning (semantics) but differ greatly in the details
of their form (syntax). For example, they all input the number of hours, but
each program specifies this input differently: Basic uses the command INPUT,
Fortran and Pascal use READ, C uses scanf, Ada uses Get and Modula-2 uses
ReadInt.

Basic
BASIC(Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was developed by
John Kemeny at Dartmouth College around 1967. It is a simple programming
language, designed to be easy to learn and to use. Many versions (or dialects) of
BASIC have appeared since and are still in use.
Figure 2.22 A simple pay program in Basic
The REM keyword
introduces comments.

100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190

REM
SIMPLE PAY IN BASIC
REM
H IS THE NUMBER OF HOURS
REM
P IS THE GROSS PAY
INPUT H
IF H > 40 THEN 170
LET P = 10 * H
GOTO 180
LET P = 10 * 40 + 15 * (H-40)
PRINT 'GROSS PAY IS ', P
END

Single-letter variable name

Symbol for multiplication

In Basic, the numbers at the beginning of each line are reference numbers for use
in the program. The word REM is used to introduce a remark, a comment to
help people understand the program. Each of the programming languages
shown here have their own way of marking comments. Some versions of Basic
limits the names of variables to a single letter, possibly followed by a single
digit. Here, we have used H for HOURS and P for PAY. Also notice that the
asterisk, *, is used as the symbol for multiplication instead of the from
mathematics. This use of the asterisk as a symbol for multiplication is common
to most programming languages.

Fortran
Fortran (FORmula TRANslation), developed by John Backus around 1957, was
intended for engineering and scientific computations. Revised versions of
Fortran are still extensively used for numerical work.

Section 2.5

Programming Languages

57

Figure 2.23 A simple pay program in Fortran

This symbol, at the beginning of a
line, introduces a comment.

*
SIMPLE PAY IN FORTRAN 77
INTEGER HOURS, PAY
READ *, HOURS
IF (HOURS .LE. 40) THEN
PAY = 10 * HOURS
ELSE
PAY = 10 * 40 + 15 * (HOURS - 40)
ENDIF
PRINT *, 'Gross pay is ', PAY
END

Proper variable names.

In Fortran, a line that starts with an * is a comment, corresponding to a line

that starts with REM in Basic. Fortran also uses the * as the symbol for
multiplication, and to refer to the keyboard and screen in the READ and PRINT
statement.

Pascal
Pascal, created by Niklaus Wirth around 1970, was based on an international
language called Algol 60. It is somewhat similar to both Basic and Fortran, but
incorporates many refinements in structure. It was designed as a teaching
language for beginning students. Comments in Pascal are enclosed in braces, {
and }.
Figure 2.24 A simple pay program in Pascal
PROGRAM SimplePay(INPUT, OUTPUT);
{ Simple pay in Pascal }
VAR
hours, pay: INTEGER;

Comments begin and

end with braces, { }.

BEGIN
Read(hours);
IF hours <= 40 THEN
pay := 10 * hours
ELSE
pay := 10 * 40 + 15 * (hours - 40);
Writeln('Gross pay is ', pay:6);
END.

Modula-2
Modula-2 was also created by Niklaus Wirth in the late 1970s. Not only is it
an extension of Pascal, but a totally new language that retained Pascals good
features while adding some other important features. Its clarity, simplicity
and unity make it suitable for first time programmers and programming
professionals alike. Comments in Modula-2 start with (* and end with *).

58

Chapter 2

An Overview

Figure 2.25 A simple pay program in Modula-2

Comments begin and
end with parentheses
and asterisks.

MODULE SimplePay;
(* Simple pay in Modula-2 *)
FROM InOut IMPORT WriteString, ReadCard, WriteCard;
VAR hours, pay: CARDINAL;
BEGIN
ReadCard(hours);
IF hours <= 40 THEN
pay := 10 * hours;
ELSE
pay := 10 * 40 + 15 * (hours - 40);
END;
WriteSring("Gross Pay is ");
WriteCard(pay, 6);
END SimplePay;

C
C is a programming language created at the Bell Laboratories in the early 1970s
when low level access to the machine was considered important. Comments in C
start with /* and end with */.
Figure 2.26 A simple pay program in C
/* Simple pay in C */
#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
int hours, pay;

Comments begin and end

with slashes and asterisks.

scanf("%d", &hours);
if(hours <= 40)
pay = 10 * hours;
else
pay = 10 * 40 + 15 * (hours - 40);
printf("gross pay is %d", pay);
}

Ada
A d a is a language created to the specifications of the U.S. Department of
Defense. It is a large, complex language named after Ada Lovelace, who is said
to have been the first programmer, and was a colleague of Charles Babbage as
well as the daughter of Lord Byron. Comments in Ada are introduced by the
characters -- and continue to the end of the line.

Section 2.5

Programming Languages

59

Figure 2.27 A simple pay program in Ada

-- Simple pay in Ada
Comments begin
with two dashes.
with Text_IO;
procedure Simple_Pay is
hours, pay: integer;
begin
Text_IO.Get(hours);
if hours <= 40 then
pay := 10 * hours;
else
pay := 10 * 40 + 15 * (hours - 40);
endif;
Text_IO.Put("Gross pay is ");
Text_IO.Put(pay);
end Simple_Pay;

Other programming languages

Many other interesting programming languages have been developed. Here are
some important landmarks:
Lisp(LISt Processor), developed by John McCarthy about 1960, is a
language based on mathematical concepts. Its objective is the
processing of data represented as lists of items. It is mainly used in
artificial intelligence applications.
COBOL (COmmon Business Oriented Language), developed by a
committee (CODASYL) of representatives from various computer
manufacturers in the late 1950s, is a language particularly suited for
business applications. Like Fortran, COBOL has been revised several
times.
APL (A Programming Language), developed by Kenneth Iverson in 1962,
is a programming language that uses a very esoteric mathematical
notation.
Algol 60: for scientific computation and for the communication of
algorithms between computer scientists,
GPSS and Simscript: for the simulation of discrete events such as the
functioning of a set of elevators or the service provided by a group of
bank tellers,
Logo: for the introduction of the principles of computer programming to
children through graphical manipulations,
PL/I: a large language intended to be suitable for all applications,
Prolog: for logic programming used, for example, to automate the
proving of theorems,
Simula 67: for the simulation of networks of discrete events,
Smalltalk: for a style of programming where data takes an active
rather than passive role; this is known as object programming,

60

Chapter 2

An Overview

Snobol 4: for the processing of text strings.

2.6

Life Cycles Stages of Programming

We have mentioned that our seven-step method was related to what is known
as the software life cycle. Programs, like all dynamic things, are created, live
and then ultimately die. The three most common sizes of programs are
presented below, with a comparison of their problems and life-cycles.:
Small programs, created simply for learning purposes, have a very
simple life, as shown in Figure 2.28. First the algorithm is created, and
only then is it coded or translated into a programming language. It is
run and tested (sometimes repeatedly) on a computer. Finally, small
programs are used and ultimately thrown away. Sometimes, they are
modified and included within larger programs.
Figure 2.28 A small program
Run (of computer)
Enter the program
Create the
algorithm
Short Life
(student job)

Code it in
a language

Translate it
assemble, compile
Set up
link, load

Run it
Test it
Use it

Execute
run & monitor
Terminate

The run (or execution) of a program is shown in the last break-out

diagram of Figure 2.28. First the programa task or job is entered or
input. It is then translated or compiled into a language that the
computer understands. This version is loaded into memory and linked to
other programs from a library of programs. The complete program is
then run and monitored for time duration, space access and errors. It
finally terminates with some results: either data output or error
messages.
Medium-sized programs are larger than small programs that can still
be created by one person. The life cycle of medium-sized programs
depends heavily on the programmers style. Individual programmers
have differing styles, with differing consequences. Here are a few
programming personalities.:
The Programming Pervert who spends no time on design or
algorithm creation, but starts coding immediately. This leads to
frequent throwing away of code and re-starting. The program is
seldom finished in time.
The Poor Programmer who spends little time on design and planning
the algorithm, rushes to coding, and spends most of the time testing.

Section 2.6

61

Life Cycles: Stages of Programming

This programmer claims to be 90% finished for over 90% of the

time.
The Persistent Plodder who spends more time designing and
planning the algorithm, starts slower on the coding, requires less
time for testing, and finishes just in time.
The Perpetual Planner who starts very slowly, spends much time in
design, and never gets far into coding before the deadline.
The Perfect Programmer who spends a reasonable amount of time in
design and creating the algorithm, which results in fast coding and
testing, and may be finished before the deadline.
Large programs, or programming systems, are those programs that
require more than a single person. Not only are such programs usually
complex, but the task of creating them is made more complex by the
difficulties inherent in maintaining good communication between
members of the programming team. The larger the program, the larger
the team and the greater the possibility of the communication
problems.
After large programs are completed, they are frequently modified
throughout their lives. This modification, or maintenance, is shown in
Figure 2.29 as taking 60% of all of the time, money and effort spent on a
program. Often, maintenance takes over 70%!
Figure 2.29 A large project

Long Life
programming
product

40%

Produce

60%

Use

20%

Planning and
Specifying

8%

30%

Designing and
Developing

12%

Testing and
Evaluating

20%

Operating and
Maintaining

60%

50%

Life Cycles of large programming projects have the typical form shown
in Figure 2.29. The four steps in this figure are explained as follows:
1.

Planning and specifying involves studying the problem,

analyzing the requirements, specifying functions (actions) and
data. It encompasses Steps 1 and 2 of our seven step method.

2.

Designing and Developing involves decomposing the whole

project into parts, refining the parts, coding them, and
documenting (describing) the design. It comprises Steps 3, 4,
part of 5, and 6 of our seven step method.

3.

Testing and Evaluating involves verifying the function, testing

the performance, optimizing (improving time or space), and

62

Chapter 2

An Overview

validating usefulness. It makes up part of Step 5 of our seven

step method.
4.

Operating and Maintaining involves the training of users,

operating the program, and correcting its errors. It also includes
extending the uses, optimizing, and modifying to transport the
program to another computer or system. It represents Step 7 of
our seven step method.

Section 2.7

2.7

Review

Review: Top Ten Things to Remember

63

Top Ten Things to Remember

1.

Problem solving with a computer is best done by following a method. A

seven step method was introduced to help you solve problems. This
method can be adapted to your way of working. It includes the
following steps:
1.

Problem Definition

2.

Solution Design

3.

Solution Refinement

4.

Testing Strategy Development

5.

Program Coding and Testing

6.

Documentation Completion

7.

Program Maintenance

2.

The Seven-Step Method is not strictly sequential. You may find it

necessary to go back and rework previous steps as a result of a later step.
For example, sometimes the problem definition step and solution design
step may overlap because design decisions may require more precision
than has been provided by the problem definition.

3.

Problems are solved by breaking them into subproblems, a method

called divide and conquer. Break-out diagrams are particularly useful
for breaking up problems. Their hierarchical structure reduces
complexity by showing how sub-parts relate to the whole. Break-out
diagrams can be used to represent space, time, objects, actions, and data,
as well as the stages in a programs life-cycle.

4.

Break-out diagrams can be drawn vertically or horizontally.

Vertically, the main problem is the top-most box, followed by each
level. Horizontally, the main problem is the left-most box with each
break-out level placed to its right.

5.

Break-out diagrams, or BODs, must possess four properties to be correct

representations of problems and subproblems:
Consistency: Each break-out must be of the same kind. If the first
box involves time, then the whole diagram must involve time.
Orderliness: All the blocks at the same level cannot overlap. Each
block must be separate or independent.
Refinement: Each box on a given level must be able to fit back into
the boxes at the previous level.
Cohesion: All of the boxes within a breakout box must fit together.

64

Chapter 2

An Overview

6.

Algorithms may be represented in a variety of ways. This chapter

discussed the following five different representations:
Verbal algorithms use any natural language.
Flowcharts use different shaped boxes joined by arrows indicating
the flow of control.
Graphs (or plots) express algorithms in a tabular structure.
Data-flow diagram represent algorithms as black boxes which
hide the tasks involved in obtaining the output from the input.
Pseudocode uses a notation that is a mixture of mathematics, logic,
and natural language.

7.

There are many ways to modify an algorithm. The following methods

were covered in this chapter:
Generalizing involves making the algorithm apply to many cases.
Extending makes the algorithm include more cases.
Foolproofing makes an algorithm more reliable by anticipating
erroneous input or other difficulties.
Embedding reuses an algorithm within another algorithm.

8.

Alternative algorithms are equivalent methods of achieving a correct

solution to a particular problem. To prove that alternative algorithms
are equivalent, both algorithms must be tested using the all the test
cases that were defined in Step 4, Testing Strategy Development. If the
outputs are identical, then the algorithms are equivalent. Remember,
comparing the outputs using one single input value is insufficient to
determine equivalent algorithms.

9.

Many programming languages can be used to code an algorithm. Some

languages are more suited to certain needs than others. For example,
Fortran is best suited for scientific applications while Pascal is used for
teaching purposes.

10.

The seven-step method is based on the life-cycle of programs. For large

programs, maintenancewhat happens to the program after it has
been completed and put into operationtakes as much as 60% of the
life cycle.

Section 2.8

2.8

Glossary

65

Glossary
Action: An operation performed in an
algorithm or program.

Design: The activities preceding the

actual code writing.

Algorithm: A finite set of welldefined rules for the solution of a

problem in a finite number of steps;
e.g., a full statement of an arithmetic
procedure for evaluating an
employees weekly pay.

Detailed design: The elaboration of

an outline solution into a set of
algorithms.
Digital value: Numerical value.
Discrete value: Digital value.

Artificial intelligence: A field of

study in computer science that aims at
designing systems that exhibit
intelligent behavior.
BOD: Break-out diagram.
Bottom-up design: A method of
design by which the definition of a
system starts with its innermost
components.
Break-out diagram: A diagram used
to represent a hierarchical
decomposition.
Coding: The actual writing of a
computer program.
Computer: A complex device that can
input, store, process, and output
information.
Continuous value: A value
corresponding to some physical
phenomenon.
Data-flow diagram: A diagram
showing what happens to the data.
Data validation: Verification that
the data conform to some given
constraints.

Divide and conquer: A method by

which a complex problem is divided
in smaller and easier subproblems
Documentation: An important and
necessary part of any program
development
Embedding: The use of an already
existing algorithm as part of another
algorithm.
Execute: Perform the actions
associated with an algorithm.
Flow of control: The sequence of
actions in an algorithm or the order of
execution of the various instructions
of a program.
Flowchart: A graphical
representation of an algorithm.
Foolproofing: Making an algorithm
resistant to errors.
High-level language: A
programming language specially
designed for a particular field of
applications and not for a particular
computer.

66

Chapter 2

An Overview

Implementation: Practical
realization and installation of an
abstract design.

Specification: The precise and

complete description of a problem to
be solved on a computer.

Low-level language: A programming

language designed for a particular
computer and specially adapted to
that computer.

Stepwise refinement: A method by

which an algorithm is developed
step by step, each step elaborating
the previously defined steps.

Maintenance: The last part of the

life cycle of a program: whatever
happens to the program once it has
been developed, tested and released
to the users.

Structure chart: A hierarchical

diagram showing the structure of a
computer solution to a problem.

Program: n. A plan for precisely

defined actions to be performed by
the computer to obtain the solution to
the problem; v. To formulate such a
plan.
Program listing: A printed list of the
instructions in a program.
Programming Language: An artificial
language established for writing
computer programs.
Pseudocode: An informal language
used to define algorithms; pseudocode
is usually a mixture of natural
language and mathematical notation.
Reuse: see Embedding.

Task: A part of a solution to solve a

problem on a computer.
Test: An attempt to verify that a
program operates in conformity with
its specifications.
Test case: A set of input data
together with the corresponding
expected results.
Top-down design: A manner of
designing a computer solution in
which one starts from the global
problem and decomposes it into
smaller subproblems.
Trace: The execution of an algorithm
with some specific values and the
representation of the various
variables at various steps of the
execution.

Run: Execute.
Software: The collection of programs
needed to operate a particular
computer hardware.
Software life cycle: A description of
the various phases of a programs
life.

Variable: An information holder

whose contents can be used or changed
by the program.

Section 2.9

2.9

Problems

67

Problems
1.

Price Break Problem

Suppose that the selling price P of something depends on the quantity Q
that is purchased. If the quantity is less than or equal to 3 then the
price is $4 for each one, and if the quantity is over 3 then the price is $3
for each one. For example, when the quantity Q = 4, the price P = 3 and
the total cost T is
T = P Q = 3 4 = $12
Graphs of the unit price P versus quantity Q are shown below. The first
graph describes items which are discrete or non-divisible (such as pens,
pumpkins or puppies) and the second one describes items which are
continuous or divisible (such as electric power or pounds of peanuts)
which can have fractional or decimal values.
P

1
2

Discrete Quantity

Q
8
2
4
6
Continuous Quantity

a. Represent: Show
Draw a flowchart corresponding to this algorithm where the
quantity Q is input and the total cost T is output.
b. Analyze: Observe
Compute the total cost T when the quantity Q varies from 0 to 8.
Draw this as a table with three columns, Q, P and T. Then, draw a
graph of total cost T versus the quantity Q in both the discrete and
continuous cases. Observe this graph for surprising insights.
Hint: How many items can be purchased for 12 dollars?
c.

Extend: Grow
Modify this algorithm if the price is further reduced to 2 dollars a
unit when the quantity purchased is more than 5. Draw the
flowchart for the extended algorithm. Draw also a graph of T
versus Q for the discrete and continuous cases both shown on one
graph.

68

Chapter 2

An Overview

d. Foolproof: fail-safe
Modify the above extended flowchart to include any foolproofing
that would be necessary.
e.

Embed: Repeat
Modify the above flowchart to repeat the process for as long as the
input quantity Q is not zero.

f.

Integrate: Generalize
Redraw all of the above features onto one flowchart, and
generalize all numeric constants to named constants P1, P2, Q1, Q2,
and so on.

g. Test: Evaluate
Select a set of test values to evaluate the final algorithm.

2.

Scissors Search
Indicate which of the following verbal algorithms is better for finding
an object, such as a pair of scissors, and explain why:
a. Look on the rightmost end of the lower shelf of the middle cabinet
in the garage.
b. Look in the garage, in the middle cabinet, on the lower shelf, at the
rightmost end.

3.

Break-Out Problems
Create break-out diagrams describing four of the following:
a. a telephone number
b. the arrangement of five books on a shelf
c.

performing some process (laundry, cooking)

d. your entire past life

e.

the plan for your present day

f.

the plan for the next five years

g. the layout of newspaper sections

h. anything else of interest to you.

4.

Language Look
Even without knowing any programming languages, you can now make
meaningful comparisons among the six programming languages
presented in this chapter.

Section 2.9

Problems

69

a. Is multiplication represented by an asterisk (*) in all of these

languages?
b. What different symbols are used to represent the relation is
greater than?
c.

What different verbs describe the output instruction?

d. When some statements (formulas, etc.) are too long to fit on a line
and continue on to another line, how is this indicated (if at all)?

5.

e.

Write a prompt Enter hours and rate for each language.

f.

Describe any other differences and similarities that you find.

More Pay
a. If the condition for overtime in the original payroll problem were
changed, from (Hours 40) to (Hours < 40), would this change the
amount of pay?
b. If Hours is input as a negative amount (say -50 by mistake), is the
output correct except for its sign?
c.

6.

Modify the extended pay algorithm of Figure 2.16 to allow for

triple-pay when the hours are greater than 80. Draw the
corresponding graph and flow chart.

Constant Vehicle Velocity

Suppose that a vehicle travels at a constant velocity of 40 miles an
hour for one hour, then at 20 miles per hour for another hour and finally
at 60 miles per hour for the last hour. The distance D covered at
constant velocity V for a given time T is the product D = V x T. The
total distance covered is the area under the V versus T curve.
a. Draw a graph of the above Velocity versus Time curve.
b. Create a flowchart to compute the distance traveled over the three
ranges of time.
c.

7.

Draw a graph of D versus T.

Beware Of Improper BODs

The following BODs are not proper. Why not? Redraw each of them in
a better form.

70

Chapter 2

An Overview

Get Spoon
Get Bowl
Improper
Cereal

Wash Spoon

Pour Cereal
Pour Milk

Add Sugar
Eat

San Diego
Los Angeles

In the state
(California)

San Francisco
Improper
Trip

Portland
Seattle

Out of state

Vancouver
Out of country
Calgary

8.

Energy Rates
a. Not encouraging excessive use
Electrical energy rates are set in such a way that the rates decrease
for higher usage. However, the rates should not encourage
excessive use of energy, so the lower rates apply only to the higher
energy amounts; not all of the energy used is at the low rate.
For example, the rate is constant $4 per unit for the first 4 units and
drops to $3 a unit for more than 4 units. So when 6 units are used
only the last 2 units are at the $3 rate. Energy is a continuous
quantity; it is not used in discrete steps.
(i)

Represent, show
Draw a graph showing the price per unit versus the number
of units used.

(ii)

Analyze, observe
Create an algorithm to determine the total cost of energy,
given the number of units used. Draw the graph of cost
versus units.

(iii)

Extend: grow
Modify this algorithm if the price per unit drops to $2 a
unit for more than 8 units. reuse. Draw the graph of cost
versus units.

(iv)

Foolproof, embed, and generalize

Complete this system in any way you see fit and draw the
final algorithm in all of its detail.

(v)

Test, evaluate
Select a set of test values to evaluate the final algorithm.

Section 2.9

Problems

71

b. Discouraging Excessive Use

To discourage high energy use the rates could be set in such a way
that the rates increase for higher usage. For example, the rate is a
constant $4 a unit for the first 4 units, and then increases to $5 a unit
for those amounts over 4 units.
Show the algorithm for this system, analyze it, foolproof it, and
generalize it.
Draw the graph of cost versus units again.
c.

Severe Discouraging of Excessive Use

An even more severe pricing policy would be a modification that
when the higher quantity is used then the higher rate would be
charged for all of the energy consumed, even the amounts at the low
levels.
Show the algorithm and draw the corresponding graph again.

d. Comparison of Pricing Policy

Compare the above three policies by computing the cost for using 6
units of energy. Then compare by putting all policies onto one
graph.

9.

Ideal Weight
A man should weight 106 pounds for the first 5 feet, and 7 pounds for
every inch above that. A woman should weigh 100 pounds for the first
5 feet, and 6 pounds for every inch over that.
a. Create an algorithm in flowchart form that outputs the ideal
weight when input the sex and height (feet and inches).
b. Represent this algorithm as two tables from 5 feet to 6 feet 5 inches.
c.

10.

Represent this algorithm in a graphic form, with 2 graphs on one

grid.

Dogs Life
An algorithm that relates a dogs age to the corresponding humans age
follows:
A one year old dog is equivalent in age to a 15 year old human. In the
second year, the dog grows 10 human years older, and each year after
that, it grows 5 human years.
a. Create an algorithm as a flow chart to show the human age for any
given dog age.
b. Represent this algorithm as a table, with the dogs age varying
from 1 to 10.

72

Chapter 2

An Overview

c.

11.

Represent this algorithm as a graph both discrete and continuous.

Sales Commission
A salesman receives a commission or rate of profit of 4% for sales up to
$300K (where K is $1000); then the rate doubles to 8% only for the sales
at or above this level. Create an algorithm in flowchart form which
describes this profit policy. Provide also a table and graph of profit
versus rate for the rate varying from 0 to 1000K in steps of 100K.
Another profit policy begins at a higher rate of 5% and changes to 7%
for sales over 600K. Create a table of this algorithm and draw it on the
above graph. What is the significance of the intersection of these two
graphs?

12.

Telephone Rates
The rate for use of a telephone depends on the time of call, which is
measured as MPMs or minutes past midnight (ranging from 0 to 60 24).
The day rate from 6am to 6pm is given in dollars per minute, and the
night rate as a proportion of this day rate.
If the rate is determined at the beginning of the call and remains fixed
at that value, create an algorithm that computes the total cost for any
call given the start time and the terminating time, both in MPMs.
If the rate can change during a call (when it lasts past the 6 oclock
times) then create the new algorithm to compute the cost.

Chapter Outline

73

Chapter 3 Algorithms
In this chapter, we study algorithms in some depth, discuss their necessary and
desirable properties, provide examples of them and show various ways of
representing them.

Chapter Outline
3.1
3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6
3.7
3.8

Preview....................................................................74
What Are Algorithms?.............................................75
Algorithm Definition................................................75
General Properties of Algorithms..............................75
Desirable Attributes for Algorithms..........................77
Different Algorithm Representations........................78
Verbal Representations.............................................80
Algebraic Representations (formulas and
expressions).....................................................82
Tabular Representations (tables, arrays, and
matrices).........................................................86
Data-Flow Diagrams................................................89
Black Boxes vs. Glass Boxes.......................................89
General Data-Flow Diagrams...................................91
Integer Data-Flow Diagrams.....................................94
Logical Data-Flow Diagrams....................................98
Data Flow Black Boxes.............................................101
More on Data Flow Components and Diagrams...........105
Flow of Control Diagrams..........................................107
Flowcharts...............................................................107
Larger Flowcharts Using Subprograms......................110
Flowblocks................................................................113
Pseudocode................................................................115
Review Top Ten Things to Remember........................118
Glossary...................................................................119
Problems...................................................................121

74

Chapter 3

3.1

Preview

Algorithms

Our problem solving method requires the development of algorithms as part of

its third step, Solution Refinement. To be able to complete this step, we need to
know a lot more about algorithms. This chapter will help us do just that, for we
will:
Study algorithms in some depth
Discuss their necessary and desirable properties
Provide many examples of algorithms, and
Show various ways of representing algorithms.
Analgorithm is a plan for performing a sequence of actions on data to achieve an
intended result. To be useful, the algorithm must be precise, unambiguous, and
specify, for all possible cases, a unique and finitesequence of actions that
achieve a predictable result. In addition, an algorithm should be applicable to
a number of problems rather than to a single instance, have a simple structure,
and be easy to use efficiently.
Algorithms can be represented in many different ways. For any algorithm,
there may be many different representations, some much better than others. No
one representation is best for all algorithms. The representations considered in
this chapter are as follows:
Verbal: The algorithm is expressed in words.
Algebraic: The algorithm is expressed mathematically with symbols
and formulas.
Tabular: The algorithm is represented by one or more tables
Hierarchical: The algorithm is presented as a break-out diagram.
Data-flow diagram: The algorithm is shown as a set of boxes that
show the actions to be performed. These boxes are linked by lines
showing how data flows from one action to another. This is referred to
as the flow of data.
Flowchart: The algorithm is represented in the form of a diagram with
action boxes linked by lines showing the order in which they are
executed, or the sequence of actions. This is referred to as the flow of
control.
Flowblocks: Like flowcharts, the algorithm is represented by action
boxes. Instead of connecting the boxes with lines, the flow of control is
illustrated by stacking boxes on top of each other, or by nesting boxes
within other boxes.
Pseudocode: The algorithm is presented as a set of instructions written
using a mixture of natural language and mathematical notation. The

Section 3.1

Preview

75

form of instructions in pseudocode is similar to that of programming

languages.
Flow of data and flow of control provide the so-called black box and glass box
representations of algorithms. The black box view, corresponding to flow of
data, represents an action as accepting inputs and producing outputs. This view
hides the internal details and concentrates on w h a t the action is. The glass box
view, on the other hand, corresponds to flow of control and shows the details of
how an action is performed. Both black box and glass box views can be broken
out in a top-down manner.
Many examples of small algorithms are shown in this chapter. You should scan
all the algorithms and concentrate on those that interest you.
Although the many representations of algorithms seem overwhelming, not all
forms are equally important; the forms of lesser importance are included for
completeness and are only described briefly. Ultimately, you will come to
prefer some representations over others.

3.2

What Are Algorithms?

Algorithm Definition
An algorithm is a precise plan for performing a sequence of actions to achieve
the intended purpose. Each action is drawn from a well-understood repertoire
of actions on data. Here are some examples of algorithms:
Prepare breakfast.
Decide how much to charge for admission to a cinema.
Calculate the average of a group of values.
Change a car tire
Play a dice game
Notice that each of the above algorithms specify two things.
1.

An action specified by verbs such as prepare, change, and play

2.

The data to be acted on, specified by a noun or noun phrase such as

breakfast, a car tire, and a dice game.

Many of these algorithms will be considered in detail later, for now it is

sufficient to understand that algorithms are common to everyday life, and do
not necessarily involve computers.

General Properties of Algorithms

An algorithm must possess the following four properties:

76

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Complete: For an algorithm to be complete, all of its actions must be

exactly defined. Consider the algorithm from Chapter 2 for getting
to Freds Pizza Parlor, for example:
Directions for Getting to Freds Pizza Parlor
1.

Take Route 116 until you come to the T-junction at Route 9.

2.

Turn onto Route 9 and go about three-quarters of a mile and you will come to it on the
left side. You cant miss it!

When your get a set of directions that finishes with You cant miss
it!, you know you are in trouble. For starters, in which direction
should we drive on Route 116, north or south? If we had some knowledge
of the area, it might be reasonable to expect us to know. But the
directions, as they stand, are not precise, and do not represent an
algorithm!
Unambiguous: A set of instructions will be unambiguous if there is only
one possible way of interpreting them. For example, even if we accept
the directions to the pizza parlor as being precise enough, they are still
ambiguous about the direction to turn when we reach Route 9. We can
not assume local knowledge because, if we knew which way to turn, we
would know how to get to Freds. The ambiguity can only be resolved by
trial and error. When we get to the junction of Route 116 and Route 9, we
can try going left to see if we find the parlor. If Freds is not left, it must
be to the right.
Deterministic: This third property means that if the instructions are
followed, it is certain that the desired result will always be achieved.
The following set of instructions does not satisfy this condition:
Algorithm for becoming a Millionaire
1.

Take all your money out of the bank and change it into quarters.

2.

Go to Las Vegas

3.

Play the slot machines until you either win four million quarters or you go broke.

Clearly, this algorithm does not always achieve the desired result
of becoming a millionaire. It is most likely that you will finish with no
money. However, you just might achieve the goal of becoming a
millionaire, winning four million quarters. The point is that we cannot
be certain what the result will be. This makes the set of instructions
non-deterministic, and thus does not constitute an algorithm.
Finite: The fourth requirement means that the instructions must
terminate after a limited number of steps. The algorithm for
becoming a millionaire fails this criterion too. It is possible that you
will never reach either the stage of having four million quarters or of
going broke. In other words, if you follow the instructions, you might
end up playing the slot machines forever.
The finite requirement not only means termination after a finite number
of steps, it also means that the instructions should use a finite number of
variables to achieve the desired result.

Section 3.2

What Are Algorithms?

77

Desirable Attributes for Algorithms

Although an algorithm may satisfy the criteria of the previous section by being
precise, unambiguous, deterministic, and finite, it still may not be suitable for
use as a computer solution to a problem. The basic desirable attributes that an
algorithm should meet are explained below.
Generality: An algorithm should solve a class of problems, not just one
problem. For example, an algorithm to calculate the average of four
values is not as generally useful as one that calculates the average of an
arbitrary number of values.
Among its other failures, our algorithm to get to Freds Pizza Parlor
lacks generality for it does not help us get to all pizza parlors. For
example, it would not get us to Romanos Pizza Palace.
Good Structure: This attribute applies to the construction of the
algorithm. A well-structured algorithm should be created using good
building blocks that make it easy to...
Explain,
Understand,
Test, and
Modify it.
The blocks, from which the algorithm is constructed, should be
interconnected in such a way that one of them can be easily replaced
with a better version to improve the whole algorithm, without having
to rebuild it.
Efficiency: an algorithms speed of operation is often an important
property, as is its size or compactness. Initially, these attributes are
not important concerns. First, we must create well-structured
algorithms that carry out the desired task under all conditions. Then,
and only then, do we improve them with efficiency as an objective.
Ease of Use: This property describes the convenience and ease with
which users can apply the algorithm to their data. Sometimes what
makes an algorithm easy to understand for the user, also makes it
difficult to design for the designer (and vice versa).
To see an
example of
elegance, see
Figure 3.21.

Elegance: This property is difficult to define, but it appears to be

connected with the qualities of harmony, balance, economy of structure
and contrast, whose contribution to beauty in the arts is prized. Also, as
with the arts, we seem to be able to know beauty when we see it in
algorithms. Sometimes the term beauty is used for this attribute of an
algorithm.
Other desirable properties, such as robustness (resistance to failure when
presented with invalid data) and economy (cost-effectiveness), will only be
touched upon in this chapter. Not because these properties are unimportant, but
because the basic attributes of an algorithm should be understood first.

78

Chapter 3

3.3

Different Algorithm Representations

Algorithms

Algorithms may be specified in many formsthese are called representations

or notations. The representation of an algorithm is extremely important
because it must rapidly convey the algorithms meaning with the least amount
of effort by the reader. No one representation is suitable for all algorithms.
The best representation for one algorithm may be the worst for another.
A representation should serve as a mental beast of burden. It serves to relieve
the brain of unnecessary work by reducing the perceived complexity of what is
being described. Since we all have a limit to the amount of complexity we can
handle, a good representation sets us free to concentrate on more advanced
problems.
The significance of proper representation becomes obvious when you consider
the many ways that numbers may be represented. For example, the following
forms all refer to the year 1984:
1984: Hindu-Arabic notation, base 10
Nineteen eighty four: English words
MCMLXXXIV: Roman numerals
11111000000: Binary, base 2
3700: Octal, base 8
84: Shortened form
Each of these forms is useful for a specific purpose. The binary form is used by
computers and the shortened form (84) is useful when writing a check and so on.
For some purposes, certain forms are much better than others. For example, the
Hindu-Arabic numerals are a much better representation for arithmetic than
Roman numerals, as the following example attests.
63
7
441

versus

LXIII VII = L V + L + L + X V + X + X + V + I+ I + V +
I+I+V+I+I
= L+L+L+L+L+L+L+X+X+X+X+X+
X+X+V+V+V+I+I+I+I+I+I
= C+C+C+L+L+X+X+X+V+V+I
= C+C+C+C+X+X+X+X+I
= CDXLI

Before we look down on the Romans for their number system, we must remember
that their numerals were not developed for arithmetic. When they came into
existence, almost the only use for numbers was counting and the Roman numerals
I, V and X were very simple to notch on tally sticks. Carpenters to this day still
form these numerals with their axes when they number the beams and timbers
they have fashioned. The other Roman numerals for larger numbers, M, C, D

Section 3.3

Different Algorithm Representations

79

and L, did not have much place in early counting. They are thought to have
evolved from these counting marks.
Normally, for arithmetic purposes, there is one standard form or notation
(Hindu-Arabic, base 10 form). Unfortunately, in computing, there is no such
standard when it comes to representing algorithms.
Selecting the proper representation for algorithms is not a simple task for there
are no guidelines which we can follow. The only way to determine the best
representation is to try at least two forms and see which one you like the best.
After a few tries, youll find a representation that you prefer, or youll have
developed your own by combining a couple of the representations introduced
here. In any case, you should develop your algorithms using the representation
that best fits your style.
Without a good representation, it is very difficult to express an algorithm. For
example, we probably know the algorithm for making change for 12 cents when
given a dollar. We would add from the 12 cents up to the dollar. For our
specific example, we would first give 3 pennies (to make 15 cents), then a dime
(to make 25 cents), and then 3 quarters to finally add up to the dollar tendered.
Although we know how to add up to a dollar from 12 cents without the help of
a cash register, we would have difficulty describing how to make change for an
arbitrary amount. To describe this algorithm precisely to a computer would be
even more difficult for us. The point is that knowing how to do something is
very different from being able to describe precisely how to do it! To use the
words of St. Augustine,
If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to he who asks, I do not know.

If we possess a way of representing algorithms, then we will be able to express

ourselves. In fact, representation can be viewed as a powerful tool that helps us
think of things that we would have not have been able to think of without it.
We must also realize that there may be many ways of creating an algorithm
that makes change. This might help us find a method that is simpler in some
ways than the one we usually use. This will lead us to the change-making
algorithm that we will see later in this chapter. It is a convenient algorithm
for us to communicate to a computer, but at the same time, its an algorithm that
we would not want to used for ourselves. In this book, we will meet about half a
dozen different algorithms that accomplish this same change-making task.
In the rest of the chapter we will consider many algorithm representations, and
for each representation, we will give several example algorithms. Look briefly
at all the examples, but consider in detail only a few that are of interest to you.
These algorithms are meant to communicate to people. Later some may be
modified to run on machines. Please realize that it is not required that you
understand all the algorithms. On the other hand, you should be able to follow
them, for that is precisely what computers do.

80

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Verbal Representations
The following figures (3.1 to 3.5) present some very common examples of
algorithms. They appear here in a simple verbal form (representation) and
will be transformed into other forms later. Remember, For any particular
algorithm, one representation may be much better than another; therefore, it is
worth getting familiar with a number of alternative forms.
The algorithm Charge admission, of Figure 3.1, specifies an admission charge
that depends on the age of the person being admitted; it consists of a procedure
to determine the charge and some examples showing the results of applying the
procedure.
Figure 3.1

First verbal algorithm

Charge admission

Kids under 12 pay $2

All others pay $3
For example:
12 year olds pay $3.
21 year olds pay $3.
2 year olds pay $2.

Figure 3.2 shows another algorithm expressed in a verbal form which specifies
a method to determine which years are leap years. It is usually sufficient to
check if 4 divides evenly into the year, but if the year marks a century, then
the algorithm is more complex. For example, the year 1900 was not a leap year,
while the year 2000 will be a leap year.
Figure 3.2

Second verbal algorithm

Leap Year

A leap year is divisible by 4 but, if it is divisible by 100, then it is not a leap year, unless it is
also divisible by 400.
For example:
1984 was a leap year.
1900 was not a leap year.
2000 will be a leap year.
2100 will not be a leap year.

Our third verbal algorithm example, Dice Game (Figure 3.3), specifies how a
simple game is played, using two dice having one to six dots on each side.

Section 3.3

Figure 3.3

Different Algorithm Representations

Third verbal algorithm

81

Dice Game

Two dice are thrown. If their sum is 7 or 11, you win, and if the sum is 2, 3 or 12, you
lose. If neither rolls come up, remember the sum, the point count, and keep throwing
until either:
the sum equals the point count, or
the sum equals 7 and you lose..
For example, consider these sequences:
7

you win

6, 7

you lose

4, 2, 11, 3, 4

you win

9, 3, 4, 12, 2, 8, 3, 7

you lose

Figure 3.4 shows a fourth example, Ideal weight, which describes one view of
the relationship between height and weight.
Figure 3.4

A fourth verbal algorithm

Ideal Weight

A man should weigh 106 pounds for the first 5 feet of height plus 7 pounds for every
inch above that; a woman should weigh 100 pounds for the first 5 feet of height plus 6
pounds for every inch above that.
For example:
A woman 5ft. 10in tall should weigh 100 + 6 x10 = 160lbs.
A man 6ft. 0in. tall should weigh 106 + 7 x 12 = 190lbs.

Our final example for the verbal representation of algorithms, ISBN, shown in
Figure 3.5, describes the way to determine the last digit for the International
Standard Book Number. Most recent books have on their back covers a special
ten-digit ISBN such as:
0-06-500871-5

(the hyphens are not important)

The first digit, 0, represents the books area of origin. 0 means that it was
published in an English-speaking country. The second group represents the
publisher; 06 means that it was published by Harper Collins. The third group,
500871, represents the books title and is assigned by the publisher. The last
digit, 5, is a check digit that is computed from the nine preceding digits as
shown in the algorithm.

82

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.5

A verbal algorithm

ISBN Checksum Code

Find the sum of:

the first digit and
two times the second digit and
three times the third digit and
...so on to ...
nine times the ninth digit.
Divide this sum by 11 and find the remainder.
If the remainder is less than 10, then the remainder becomes the checksum, otherwise
the checksum is the character X.
For example:
0-06-500871 has the checksum 5.
0-387-96939 has the checksum X.

For example, the weighted sum of the first number in Figure 3.5 is...
1 0 + 2 0 + 3 6 + 4 5 + 5 0 + 6 0 + 7 8 + 8 7 + 9 1 = 159
Dividing this sum by 11 yields a remainder of 5, which is the checksum. This
code is used for error checking when ordering a book, for example. If the
computed checksum does not equal the last digit of the ISBN, then an error has
been made in copying this book number. This is a very useful error detecting
method because it detects the most common copying error, that of transposing
adjacent digits.

Algebraic Representations (formulas and expressions)

Many algorithms, especially in mathematics and engineering, are expressed in
a mathematical form as a formula or algebraic expression. This is often a
concise form, convenient for computers. Some examples of this algebraic form
follow. Again, look quickly at all of these, but concentrate on just a few. The
first examples are simple and become more and more complex as you go on.
The algorithm Charge Admission, that we saw earlier in a verbal
representation (Figure 3.1), is redefined in Figure 3.6. This example computes
the total admission charged, given the number of adults A and the number of
kids K.

Section 3.3

Figure 3.6

Different Algorithm Representations

83

A formula algorithm version of Charge Admission

C = 3 x A + 2 x K where
A is the number of Adults
K is the number of Kids
For example:
For 2 Adults and 3 Kids
C= 3 x A + 2 x K = 3 x 2 + 2 x 3 = $12

As a second example of a formula algorithm, lets look at Time Conversion in

Figure 3.7. This is an algorithm for converting days, hours, minutes, and seconds
into seconds. This conversion is done in two ways: the first way seems natural,
while the second way is derived from the first by factoring out common terms,
which results in half as many multiplication operations. Check that the
second way produces the same result for the example shown.
Figure 3.7

A second formula algorithm

Time conversion

T = S + 60 x M + 60 x 60 x H + 24 x 60 x 60 x D
or alternatively
T = S + 60 x (M + 60 x (H + 24 x D)), where
S is the number of Seconds,
M is the number of Minutes,
H is the number of Hours,
D is the number of Days.
For example:
For 1 day, 2 hours, 3 minutes, 4 seconds
T = 4 + 60 x 3 + 60 x 60 x 2 + 24 x 60 x 60
= 93 784 seconds

Another conversion algorithm is shown in Figure 3.8. Temperature Conversion

shows two alternative pairs of formulas for converting between Celsius and
Fahrenheit temperatures. You may wish to check that -40 Celsius converts to
-40 Fahrenheit and back.
The alternative formulas present another way of performing the conversions.
These alternative formulas also present an elegant symmetry that avoids the
necessity of remembering when to add or subtract the 32.

84

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.8

A third formula algorithm

Temperature Conversion

C = 9 x (F - 32)
9

F = 5 x C + 32
or alternatively
5
C = ( 9 x (F + 40)) - 40
9

F = ( 5 x (C + 40)) - 40
For example:
For F = 212F
5

C = 9 x (212 - 32) = 100C

For C = 20C
9

F = 5 x 20 + 32 = 68F

The next example, Figure 3.9, shows two different algorithms that compute the
square of any positive integer number N. In the first formula, the number N is
added to itself N times. Alternatively, in the second formula, the square of an
integer N is determined by summing the first N odd integers. This Square
example illustrates again that there may be many ways to do the same thing.
Figure 3.9

A Square formula algorithm

S = N + N + N +. .. + N (N times)
or alternatively
S = 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 +. .. + (2N - 1)
For example, if we denote the Square of 7 as Square(7):
Square(7) = 7 + 7 +7 + 7 +7 + 7 + 7 = 49
Square(7) = 1 + 3 +5 + 7 +9 + 11 + 13 = 49

Statistical measures like mean and variance are shown as formulas in Figure
3.10. The mean of N given values, M, is found by summing all the values and
dividing this sum by N. For example, here is the Mean of the 4 values 10, 20, 30
and 40:
M = (10 + 20 + 30 + 40) / 4 = 25

Section 3.3

For other
methods of
finding the
variance, see
Problem 18 in
Section 3.8 and
see Chapter 8.

Different Algorithm Representations

85

The variance, V, is a measure of the amount of variation of the values about

this mean value. It is computed by taking the average of the square of the
differences of the values from the mean, M, as shown in Figure 3.10.
Figure 3.10 A Mean and Variance formula algorithm
M = (X 1 + X2 + X3 +. .. + XN ) / N
V = [(X 1 M) 2 + (X2 M) 2 +. .. + (X N M) 2 ] / N
For example, for the four values 10, 20, 30, 40:
M

= (10 + 20 + 30 + 40) / 4 = 25

= [(10 25)2 + (20 25) 2 + (30 25) 2 + (40 25) 2 ] / 4

= 125

The Factorial of a number N, denoted by N!, may be computed by the algorithm

shown in Figure 3.11. The factorial N! is computed as the product of N with all
the positive numbers less than N. For example:
7! = 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 = 5 040
10! = 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
= 10 9 8 7!
= 362 800
Notice that as N increases, Factorial N increases very quickly.
Figure 3.11 A Factorial formula algorithm
N! = N x (N 1) x (N 2) x. .. x 2 x 1
For example:
5! = 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120

Figure 3.12 shows a formula to compute the trigonometric sine of an angle X

expressed in radians. This sine formula refers to the factorial formula shown in
Figure 3.11.
Only a few terms of the series are required since their values decrease very
quickly (because of the rapidly increasing value of the factorial in the
denominator). If the value of X is 1, then the first two terms of this series yield
this approximation:
SIN(X) = X - X3/(3 2 1) = 1 1/6 = 5/6 = 0.83333
Comparing this approximate value of 0.83333 to the actual value of 0.842 shows
that using only two terms still yields a good approximation. The value of the
next term in the series is 0.00833: if we add this, we get 0.8416, a very close

86

Chapter 3

Algorithms

approximation. The more terms of the series we use for our computation, the
more accurate the approximation we obtain.
Figure 3.12 A Sine formula algorithm
SIN(X) = X X 3 /3! + X5 /5! X7 /7!
For example:
SIN(1)

= 1 - 1/(3 x 2 x 1) + 1 /(5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1)
= 1 1/6 + 1/120
= 0.8416

Figure 3.13 shows a formula to convert binary numbers (base 2) into decimal
numbers (base 10). For example, the binary number 11001 can be converted to the
decimal number 25:
(11001)2 = 24 1 + 23 1 + 22 0 + 21 0 + 20 1
= 16 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 25
This process can be generalized to any other base B by replacing the base value
of 2 by B. For example, this algorithm can convert octal to decimal numbers
simply by changing the base from 2 to 8.
Figure 3.13 A Base conversion formula algorithm
Binary to Decimal Conversion
(B n.. .B3 B2 B1 B0 ) 2 = 2nBn + 2n-1Bn-1 +... + 2 2 B2 + 2B1 + B 0
For example:
(110) 2

=4+2+0=6

(1101) 2

= 8 + 4 + 0 + 1 = 13

(1000000) 2

= 26 x 1 = 64

Tabular Representations (tables, arrays, and matrices)

Tables are rectangular grids which store values. They are often convenient for
representing algorithms. Tables of various kinds are encountered in
mathematics (matrices), in business (decision tables or spreadsheets), in logic
(truth tables) and in computing (arrays).
An algorithm for computing the number of days in a month is shown as a table in
Figure 3.14. Here the months are represented by integers from 1 to 12.
Corresponding to each integer is a number indicating the number of days in that
month.

Section 3.3

Different Algorithm Representations

87

In the square for February there is a break-out diagram because, depending on

whether or not its a leap year, February may consist of 28 (normal year) or 29
(leap year) days. By using a break-out diagram to illustrate these two possible
values, an important point is presented: one algorithm (a sub-algorithm) may
be used within another algorithm.
Notice that almost every second month has 31 days; the exceptions occur in July
and August. This came about because Julius Caesar could not stand that the
month named after him had fewer days than the month named after Caesar
Augustus.
Figure 3.14 First table algorithm

Days in a month

Days in a Month
(1 Index)
Month Days
1
31
2
Leap
3
31
4
30
5
31
6
30
7
31
8
31
9
30
10
31
11
30
12
31

For more on the

property of
completeness,
consult Section
3.2 under
General
Properties of
Algorithms.

Leap Sub-table
Leap
Year

Feb
Days

NO

28

YES

29

The Charge Admission algorithm, which we have encountered twice

previously in Figures 3.1 and 3.6, is shown as a table in Figure 3.15. In this
algorithm, admission is $3 per Adult and $2 per Kid, some frequent
combinations of Adults and Kids are computed once and then can be referred to
later to save further computation. Although the property of completeness is not
satisfied (not all combinations are shown), this table is still convenient and
useful since it specifies the charge for the most common combinations of Adults
and Kids.

88

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.15 Second table algorithm

Charge admission

Charge Admission
(2 indices)
Charge Table
in two dimensions
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3

This algorithm is
incomplete: not all
combinations are
shown here.

0
1
2
3
0
1
2
3
0
1
2
3

3
5
7
9
6
8
10
12
9
11
13
15

Charge
Kids
0

11 13 15

Adults

10 12

As an alternative, the two-dimensional version of this algorithmwith the

same combinations, is shown at the right of Figure 3.15. In this table, for
example, the Charge corresponding to 2 Adults and 1 Kid can be determined by
moving along row 2, and down column 1. The point where the row and column
intersect (Charge = 8) indicates the amount to charge for this combination.
The next algorithm, Majority, shown in Figure 3.16, compares three variables
A, B, and C. This algorithm determines which of two values (0 or 1) appears
the majority of the time. For example, if A = 1, B = 0 and C = 1, then the
Majority value is 1, as indicated in the third from last row. In Logic, similar
tables are called truth tables.
Figure 3.16 Third table algorithm

Majority

Majority
(3 indices)
A

0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1

0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1

0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1

0
0
0
1
0
1
1
1

Majority alternative as
Decision Table
A

? is for irrelevant

Decision tables are alternative forms of truth tables. They are used in many
business applications that involve complex combinations of decisions because
decision tables provide an easy way to check for completeness and consistency,
since all combinations are listed.

Section 3.3

Different Algorithm Representations

89

A decision table for Majority is shown at the right of Figure 3.16. This table is
smaller than the table on the left of Figure 3.16, because it has only 6 rules
(combinations of the conditions A, B, C). For example, consider the first column
(rule); if A and B conditions are both 0, then regardless of condition C the
Majority action is 0. Often the conditions are labeled with values of Yes and
No, or True and False instead of 0 and 1.
Indices refer to a position in a table. For example, the tables corresponding to
Days in a Month and Leap, shown in Figure 3.14, only have one index each
(Month and Leap Year). The table for Charge Admission, shown in Figure 3.15,
has two indices labeled Adults and Kids. The tables for Majority in Figure 3.16
have three indices labeled A, B, C. Indices are also called subscripts.
Note:

3.4

In the decision table in Figure 3.16, the ? indicates a value that

has no effect on the outcome and, therefore, that does not need to be
examined.

Data-Flow Diagrams
Black Boxes vs. Glass Boxes
Algorithms can be considered from two points of view, both involving flows:
data flow and control flow. Data flow emphasizes the flow of data between
the actions, while control flow emphasizes the sequence of actions.
In Data-Flow Diagrams (or DFDs), the actions that constitute the algorithms
are represented as black boxes and the lines show data flow between them. The
temporal sequence of actions is not represented. This view is in direct contrast
with flowcharts, which emphasize the sequence of actions. Data-flow
diagrams describe mainly the function of an algorithm: w h a t it does, rather
than h o w it does it.
Figure 3.17 shows this difference with a Divide algorithm that divides a
Numerator by a Denominator and produces a Quotient and a Remainder. The
data-flow diagram is at the left of the figure and provides no indication as to
how the Divide operation is done. This diagram only shows the following
three things:
What the Divide algorithm does,
What Divide takes as input, and
What Divide produces, or outputs.
On the right side of Figure 3.17, a flowchart for the same Divide operation
shows how the division is done, hence the name glass box.

90

Chapter 3

Examples of the
black box view
are shown later
in this section.

Examples of the
glass box view
are shown in
section 3.5, using
three different
representations:
flowcharts,
flowblocks and
pseudocode.

Algorithms

A Black box describes a system that accepts inputs, and produces outputs, while
hiding the internal details of the transformation. This view shows what is
being done by each box and how the boxes interconnect. It provides a higher
level birds eye view, as the low level details are not shown. This is the
black box view provided by data-flow diagrams which use arrows to indicate
the flow of data in and out of each box.
A Glass box describes the inner details of a system. This view shows how
things are done within a box. It provides a lower level worms eye view.
This view is represented by flowcharts and flowblocks, with arrowhead lines
showing the flow of control between various boxes.
Figure 3.17 Black box vs. glass box
Flowchart
, or
Glass box
Divide N by D
Set
Q to 0
R to N
Data flow diagram,
or
Black box

N
Black boxes are
opaque: all the
details are hidden.
We can only see
what goes in and
what comes out of
the operation.

RD

False

D
Divide

True

Subtract
D from R

Glass boxes are

transparent. We
can see all the
details of the
operation.

Increase
Q by 1

Q is quotient
R is remainder

It is important to understand that these two views, black box and glass box, are
complementary, and that each has its appropriate place. The black boxes are
generally used first to give an initial, high-level specification of a system.
The black boxes prevent us from filling our minds with details too early. The
glass boxes are used, at lower levels, to deal with the details.
Choosing the right type of boxes to use is not simple. Sometimes it is very
difficult to put an algorithm into one form, yet very easy to put it into the other
form. Sometimes the black box data flow method is best; at other times, the

Section 3.4

Data Flow Diagrams

91

glass box control flow method is best. Sometimes we need to switch back and
forth between these two views.
Top-down break up of systems into boxes is an important process. The larger
boxes (usually black boxes) are broken-out into collections of smaller boxes. The
smaller boxes, in turn, are broken down further until all boxes are sufficiently
simple and can be transformed into glass boxes. Much more will be done with
these two views later.
Black boxes hold a special significance. Each black box may be viewed as a subalgorithm with input arrows representing values passed in and output arrows
representing some result passed out. This allows us to consider some
important concepts without having to get into great detail. For now, the boxes
simply allow us to break out and manage the complexity of systems. Later, we
will explore important concepts like sub-algorithms

General Data-Flow Diagrams

Lets now concentrate on the black box approach and look at examples of dataflow diagrams.
Data Types describe the kind of data items that are considered: a data type
encompasses values and the operations that can be applied to those values. It
is not sufficient to say that the data are numbers, since in computer science, a big
distinction is made between Integers (or whole numbers) and Real Numbers
(those with a decimal point). The main reason for the distinction is that
Integers and Real Numbers are represented differently by computers. We can
say that Integers arise from counting, while Real Numbers come from
measuring.
Real Numbers usually arise from measuring and are normally expressed with a
decimal point such as 3.1415, -2.5 and 0.7. Sometimes, when the values are
either very large or very small, they are expressed in a scientific or exponential
notation such as 3.2E12, which means 3.2 1012 (which is 32 000).
The operations on Real Numbers are the four arithmetic operations shown in
Figure 3.18: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Each operation
is applied to Value1 and Value2 and produces a Result.
In Figure 3.18, the operations are considered at a high level to indicate what
they do and not how they do it. Later we will consider how division is really
done. For now, we will use the division operator to create larger functions.
Remember, it often helps to hide details!

92

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.18 Real Number data flow components

Value 1 Value 2

Value 1 Value 2

Result

Result

Addition

Subtraction

Value 1 Value 2

Value 1 Value 2

/
Result
Multiplication

Result
Division

Formulas, or arithmetic expressions, specify how numbers are grouped and

manipulated. Data-flow diagrams present this information graphically. For
example, Figure 3.19 presents a data-flow diagram for the expression A + B
C.
Figure 3.19 Formula data-flow diagram

D = A

Note that the multiplication

is done before the addition.
6
+
7

In Figure 3.19, the arithmetic operators addition and multiplication, are shown
as black box operators with two inputs and one output each. The two values at
the inputs are transformed by the operator into one value at the output. The
flow of these values leads to one resulting output value, at the bottom of this
diagram.
The precedence of an operator is a common convention that helps specify the
order in which the operations of an expression are to be performed. This
corresponds to the rule that we learned in high-school: that multiplication
and division are done before addition and subtraction.

Section 3.4

93

Data Flow Diagrams

For example, the formula 1 + 2 3 should be evaluated as 1 + (2 3) = 7

instead of (1 + 2) 3 = 9 because multiplication has precedence over addition.
Parentheses can be used in an expression to show the order of evaluation, as we
did above.
Another way of describing precedence is to say that multiplication and division
bind their operands more tightly than addition and subtraction. This idea of
binding of operands is clearly shown in Figure 3.19. When multiplication and
division occur together in an expression. It is evaluated from left to right as
shown in Figure 3.20.
Figure 3.20 Temperature conversion data-flow diagram
CONVERT degrees C to F
9

32

CONVERT degrees F to C
68 F = 20 C

32
20

Note that the

multiplication
and the
division are
done in the
equation:
from left to
right.

(F

32 )

(5

32

9)
9

68

/
-

1.8

/
36

0.5555...

36
+
19.9999...

68
F

Figure 3.20 shows the data-flow diagrams for the conversion of temperatures
between Fahrenheit and Celsius scales. The diagram on the left of Figure 3.20
shows the conversion of 20C to 68F, and on the right of the same figure, the
conversion of 68F back to 19.9999C! In other words, we did not finish up with
what we started with! This illustrates a problem of possible inaccuracy when
dealing with repeating decimals, such as 5/9 (0.55555555555). Because it is
impossible to store an infinite number of decimals in a computer, only
approximations to such numbers can be stored and used, which leads to a loss of
precision in the computations.
Polynomials are formulas (arithmetic expressions) that involve a single
variable, say X, taken to certain powers and multiplied by various coefficients
as in the following example:
Y = A + B X + C X2 + D X3 + E X4
Such polynomials can usually be factored to yield a formula which, in the case
of our example above, will look like this:
Y = A + X (B + X (C + X (D + X E)))
The first way of writing the polynomial may seem like a natural way to think
about the evaluation of the formula, but it involves much more multiplication

94

Chapter 3

Algorithms

than the second way, which only requires four instances of multiplication. The
difference is shown in the two data-flow diagrams of Figure 3.21. The second
method, shown on the left, has a more elegant data flow structure.
Figure 3.21 Polynomial data-flow diagram
Y = A + X (B + X

(C + X (D + X

E) ) )

Y=A+B X+C

X2 + D

X3 + E

X4

This algorithm is more

elegant since there are
fewer multiplications
required than for the
algorithm shown at right.

Integer Data-Flow Diagrams

Integers are whole numbers (such as 7, 0, -32, 365, 12 345), which usually arise
from counting. Integers are represented differently from Real Numbers in
computers and, although they have similar arithmetic operations, these
operations are often handled differently. The four fundamental functions on
Integer numbers are shown as data-flow diagrams in Figure 3.22.

Section 3.4

Data Flow Diagrams

95

Figure 3.22 Integer components

Add
Z

F
S
Subtract
D

A
Multiply
C

D
Divide

In particular, you should note that the division of Integers is different from the
division of Real Numbers. Dividing an Integer N by another Integer D yields
an Integer quotient Q and an Integer remainder R: for example, dividing 23 by 7
yields a quotient of 3 and a remainder of 2. There are two outputs (Q and R)
from Integer division, whereas there is only one output from the division of
Real Numbers. In the case of the division of 23 by 7, the Real Number operation
yields this never-ending, repeating decimal:
23/7 = 3.285 714 285 714 285 714 285 714...
The conversion of any number of grams to the corresponding number of kilograms,
hectograms, decagrams and grams, illustrates the use of Integer Divide data
flow boxes. The various conversion factors are shown in Figure 3.23.
Figure 3.23 Conversion factors
1 decagram
= 10 grams
1 hectogram
= 10 decagrams
1 kilogram
= 10 hectograms

= 100 grams
= 1000 grams

Because the metric system has the same base as our decimal counting system
(base ten), we are able to make conversions between these measures in our head
without difficulty. However, to make these conversions on a computer, we need
an algorithm. Figures 3.24 to 3.26 provide three different ways of expressing
something that we can compute in our heads, as an algorithm.

96

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.24 Convert grams

first conversion method

G
100

2403 Grams
N
Q

Divide

D
R
3 Grams

24 Hectograms

10

10

N
Q

Divide

2
Kg

4
Hg

Kilograms Hectograms

Divide

D
R
3

0
Dg
Decagrams

G
Grams

Well illustrate three different ways of performing the conversion. First,

consider the conversion method shown in Figure 3.24, where values are shown
for one typical example of 2403 grams converted to 2 kilograms, 4 hectograms, 0
decagrams and 3 grams. These typical values help make the result concrete;
they do not prove anything.
The first Divide block divides the number of grams by 100 (100 grams = 1
hectogram), yielding a quotient of hectograms and a remainder of grams. The
second Divide, at the left, divides the hectograms by 10 (10 hectograms = 1
kilogram), yielding a quotient of kilograms and a remainder of hectograms.
The third Divide, at the right, divides the number of grams in the remainder
from the first division by 10 (10 grams = 1 decagram), yielding a quotient of
decagrams and a remainder of grams.

Section 3.4

Figure 3.25 Convert grams

Data Flow Diagrams

97

second conversion method

Grams
G
2403 Grams
N

Divide

10
D
R
3 Grams

240 Decagrams

N
Q

Divide

24 Hectograms

N
Q

Divide

10
D
R 0 Decagrams
Dg
10
D
R 4 Hectograms
Hg
2 Kilograms
Kg

The second conversion method, Figure 3.25, begins by dividing the number of
grams by 10, yielding a quotient of 240 decagrams and a remainder of 3 grams.
Next the 240 decagrams are divided by 10 again (10 decagrams = 1 hectogram)
yielding a quotient of hectograms (24) and a remainder of decagrams (0).
Finally the 24 hectograms are divided by 10 (10 hectograms = 1 kilogram),
yielding a quotient of kilograms (2) and a remainder of hectograms (4).

98

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.26 Convert grams

third conversion method

Grams
G
2403 Grams
N

Divide

Q
Kg

N
Q

Divide

N
Q

100

D
R

4 Hectograms
3 Grams

Dg

2 Kilograms
403 Grams

Hg

1000

Divide

10

D
R

0 Decagrams

3 Grams

Figure 3.26 shows yet another conversion method that works in the opposite
direction from Figure 3.25.
First, it divides the number of grams by 1000, yielding a quotient of 2 kilograms
and a remainder of 403 grams. This number of grams is then divided by 100,
yielding a quotient of 4 hectograms and a remainder of 3 grams. For this
example, the task is already complete at this point and it is tempting to stop
now. However, in general, we need to proceed further. The number of grams is
divided by 10 yielding a quotient of 0 decagrams and a remainder of 3 grams.
Oftentimes, it is possible to solve a problem in many ways. Our rather simple
conversion problem had three different solutions. Larger problems may have
many more solutions. None of the above solutions seem much better than the
others for they all involve three divisions. In some problems; however, the
solutions may be very different and some will be highly preferred over others.

Logical Data-Flow Diagrams

George Boole made significant contributions to the field of logic around 1850,
showing in particular how it was possible to combine logical relationships into
expressions just as we can combine Integer or Real Number values into
expressions. Such logical expressions are called Boolean expressions. Logical

Section 3.4

Data Flow Diagrams

99

quantities (constants, variables and expressions) are used very often in

programming.
Propositions, or logical statements, can have one of only two values: either True
or False, often abbreviated to T and F. Here are a few examples of some
propositions:
2 + 2 = 4
(True)
7 is even
(False)
It is raining here now
(True)
Predicates are logical functions that, for given values of their arguments,
become propositions with values True or False. Here are a few examples of
predicates:
(X < 10):
True when X is 7;
False when X is 11.
(X = Y):
True when X=7 and Y=7;
False when X=7 and Y = 11.
(It is raining there):
Value depends on what there is referring to.
Symbolic logic is the study of logic based on the use of symbols. As arithmetic
possesses operators (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division),
symbolic logic has its own set of operators, which include AND, OR and NOT as
shown in Figure 3.27.
Figure 3.27 Logic components

A
F
F
T
T

AND
C

B
F
T
F
T

C
F
F
F
T

P
F
F
T
T

OR
R

Q
F
T
F
T

R
F
T
T
T

X
NOT
Y

X
F
T

Y
T
F

Truth tables for each operation (bottom of Figure 3.27) describe the output
behavior for all given combinations of input values. These truth tables can be
viewed and used as tiny arithmetic operation tables, somewhat like
multiplication tables.
The AND operator, applied to two propositions A and B, has output True when
both A and B are True. Otherwise its output is False. For example:
(2 + 2 = 4) AND (7 is even) is False.

100

Chapter 3

Algorithms

The OR operator, applied to two propositions P and Q, has output True when
either P or Q or both are True. It only has the output False if both P and Q are
False. For example:
(2 + 2 = 4) OR (7 is even) is True.
The NOT operator (or negative), applied to a False proposition, gives True, and
NOT, applied to a True proposition, gives False. For instance:
NOT (7 is even) is True.
Logical operators can be combined to build logical expressions or new logical
functions as shown in Figures 3.28 and 3.29.
Figure 3.28 NOR logical operator
K

L
OR
NOR operator
NOT
M

K
F
F
T
T

L
F
T
F
T

K OR L
F
T
T
T

M
T
F
F
F

Figure 3.28 shows the complement (NOT) of the OR of propositions K and L, and
the corresponding truth table. Notice that the resulting output M is True only
when neither K nor L is true; this is called the NOR operator.
Complex logical expressions that involve the negation operator NOT can often
be simplified by the application of DeMorgans Laws. DeMorgans First Law
has this form:
NOT(P OR Q) = NOT(P) AND NOT(Q)
This states that, to negate the OR of two propositions, you negate each
proposition and change the OR to an AND. Consider this statement:
I will go out, if it is not raining or freezing.
This is equivalent to
I will go out, if it is not raining and not freezing.
As another example of DeMorgans First Law, lets take the negative of an
expression involving a baseball game with inning I and scores S1 and S2:
NOT {(I 9) OR (S1 = S2)}
This is equivalent to

Section 3.4

Data Flow Diagrams

101

(I > 9) AND (S1 S2)

Data-flow diagrams of DeMorgans First Law are shown in Figure 3.29.
Figure 3.29 DeMorgans first law
Not(P Or Q)
P

OR

Not(P) And Not(Q)

P

NOT

NOT

=
NOT

AND

Proof of DeMorgan's First Law

P
F
F
T
T

Q
F
T
F
T

Left
T
F
F
F

=
=
=
=

Right
T
F
F
F
The results
are the same
in all cases.

A proof of the first law is given at the right of Figure 3.29; the logical
expressions corresponding to the diagrams at the left and right are the same in
all four possible cases.
DeMorgans Second Law is:
NOT(P AND Q) = NOT(P) OR NOT(Q)
This law will be further discussed in Chapter 5.

Data Flow Black Boxes

In data-flow diagrams, all actions to be performed on data are represented by
black box components. Some of these components are shown in Figure 3.30 and
will be used in the following chapters. Some of these components are directly
available in programming languages, others can easily be created by
programmers and used to create yet larger components and systems.
In Figure 3.30, notice the differing numbers of data inputs and outputs.
Remember that the data flow view is concerned with what is done, not how it
is done. The emphasis is on the use and reuse of these components. But, we first
need to know what they do, not how.
Also notice that the first two components in this figure (Square and Days) have
a single input (arrow pointing in) and single output (arrow leaving ). The other
examples have more inputs and outputs.

102

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.30 Data flow components

7

X
Square
Y

M
Days
D

Y
Max2
M

49

30

1
A

B C
Maj3
M
1

13

50

10

H
R
Gross Pay
G

11

N
D
Divide
Q
R

A B C
Sort3
L M S

550

7
D
Mod
R

The data flow components in Figure 3.30 are explained as follows:

Square: The first component in Figure 3.30 is a simple example shown
with an input value of 7 flowing into the box, and the resulting data
value of 49 being output. It does not indicate how the square of X was
computed within the box. It could have been done by X successive
additions of X, or by summing the first X odd integers, or by
multiplication.
Days: The second component is another very common component that,
given a month number M returns the number of days D in that month, as
previously seen in table form in Figure 3.14. In the example shown, the
input value is 4 for April, and the output value is 30.
Max2: The third component takes two numbers X and Y as input and
returns the maximum value of these two numbers, M. With inputs 3 and
4, the returned result is 4.
Gross Pay: The next component takes two input values, a number of
hours worked H and a pay rate R, and it returns the gross pay G
calculated from the input values. The example shows an output of $550,
for 50 hours of work and a pay rate of $10 an hour. Based on what we
saw in Chapter 2, you can probably guess how the computation was
done.
Maj3: The first component in the bottom row of Figure 3.30, Maj3 takes
three inputs, A, B and C with values 0 or 1, and returns the value of the
majority of the inputs. For example, with inputs 1, 0, and 1 the majority
value returned is 1.

Section 3.4

Data Flow Diagrams

103

Divide: The next component has two inputs (Numerator N and

Denominator D) and two outputs Q, the quotient of the division and R,
which is the remainder of the division of N by D. For example, with
inputs 13 and 5, the results are 2 and 3.
Sort3 shows three input values, A, B and C, and three output values L,
M and S. These are the sorted input values, with L having the largest
of A, B and C as its value, and S the smallest. M holds the middle
value.
Mod: The last component in Figure 3.30 takes two inputs: the numerator
N and the denominator D and produces one output value: the
remainder, R, when N is divided by D.
Data-flow diagrams are mainly used to show the data interaction among a
number of algorithms. Since they hide the inner details of individual
algorithms, they simplify the study of complex interconnections of algorithms.
Lets now look at some examples of such interconnected components.
Figure 3.31 shows the computation of the hypotenuse H of a right triangle
(whose right sides are X and Y). If the details of the Square and Square Root
algorithms were shown, this Hypotenuse algorithm would look much more
complex.
Figure 3.31 Data flow connections
Y

X
Square
Y

X
Square
Y
9

16
Add
25
Square
Root
5
H

Another example shown in Figure 3.32 illustrates an algorithm to make change

using Integer Division. It begins by subtracting the cost C from the amount
tendered T (in the example here, 32 cents is subtracted from a dollar leaving a
remainder of 68 cents). This remainder is then divided by 25 to determine the
number of Quarters, the resulting remainder divided by 10 to determine the
number of Dimes, and the result divided by 5 to determine the number of
Nickels and Pennies.

104

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.32 Change Maker

T

Integer Divide

C
100

32

DIV

MOD

Subtract
68
25

Divide

Q
18
10

Q Quarters

Divide

Q
8

Dimes

Nickels

Pennies

Divide

Q
1

We would not normally use such an algorithm for making change because the
division is too difficult. We would probably choose to make change by
avoiding even subtraction. We often do things differently than computers.
Notice too that this Change Maker algorithm could be represented as a black
box with two inputs and four outputs (as shown in Figure 3.33, a slight variation
from what we saw in Figure 3.30).
Figure 3.33 Change Maker as a black box
T

100

32
Change Maker

2
Q

1
D

1
N

3
P

Section 3.4

Data Flow Diagrams

105

More on Data Flow Components and Diagrams

One of the most common problems encountered when creating algorithms is that
we get into details too quickly and become bogged down in their complexity.
The use of data-flow diagrams prevents this tendency, or at least postpones it.
Data-flow diagrams allow us to think in bigger blocks.
Lets look at an algorithm to average three exam grades of a student where the
lowest grade is excluded. We could do this in two different ways, as Figure 3.34
indicates.
Figure 3.34 Forgiving Mean
X

Y
3

Z
5

B
Sort3
M

two ways
Y
3

Z
6

C
S

Add

Sum
14

Min
3
Subtract

11

Divide

11

Divide

5.5
M

5.5
M

The left side of Figure 3.34 shows an algorithm that begins by sorting the three
exam grades X, Y, Z into order with the largest labeled L, the middle value
labeled M and the smallest called S. Then the highest two values L and M are
added, and this sum divided by 2 to get the resulting mean M.
The Forgiving Mean algorithm at the right of Figure 3.34 finds the sum of the
three grades as well as the minimum value of the grades. It then subtracts the
minimum from the sum and divides this result by 2 to get M, the resulting mean.
At this point, it is not important to recognize which of these two methods is
preferable. However, it is important to realize that there are often a number of
ways to do anything. The first method may seem simpler, but it may be slower
or more costly. The choice between methods depends on more knowledge of cost,
speed, availability, and so on. These topics will be discussed in detail later in
this book.
In computer science, concurrency is the ability of actions to be done at the same
time, or in parallel. Data-flow diagrams often reveal the potential for
concurrency. For example the operations of Sum and Min in Figure 3.34 could be
done at the same time. Most of our present machines and languages do not take
advantage of this; they wait for one to be done before doing the other. In the
future, our systems may find this parallelism to be useful and efficient.

106

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.35 shows two more data-flow diagrams, Base Conversions, that
represent the algorithms for converting a number from binary (base 2) into
decimal (base 10), and then back into binary again.
The formula
algorithm for
base conversion
is shown in
Figure 3.13

Figure 3.35 Base Conversions

Binary to Decimal
1

Decimal to Binary
1

13
8
N

Divide

D
Q
1

Mult

Mult

Mult

4
N

D
Divide

Q
1
2

1
Add

N
R

13

Divide

D
Q
0
1

The two algorithms in Figure 3.35 are described from left to right, as follows:
Binary to Decimal: The algorithm at the left of Figure 3.35 shows how
a four-bit binary number (1101) is converted to a decimal value by
multiplying the left-most digit by 8, the next digit by 4, the next by 2
and the right-most digit by 1. Summing these values gives the decimal
value of 13.
For longer binary numbers, the leftmost digit is multiplied by successive
powers of 2. For example, if the binary number was (11101), the
leftmost digit would be multiplied by 16 or 24.
Instead of speaking of the left-most digit of a number, we refer to it as
the most significant digit. The term significant is used here in the
sense that since the left-most digit has the greatest value, it is the
most significant digit in computing the value of the complete number.
For example, in the decimal number 1234, the 1 has value one thousand,
the 2 has value two hundred, and so on. Similarly, the right-most digit
is referred to as the least significant digit.
Decimal to Binary: The data-flow diagram at the right of Figure 3.35,
shows how the decimal value of 13, obtained from the left, is converted
back into the binary form by successively dividing by 8 then 4 then 2

Section 3.4

Data Flow Diagrams

107

and so on, to arrive at the original binary sequence 1101. In general, the
first value to be used as the first divisor must be the largest power of
two (2, 4, 8, 16,) that is just less than the decimal number. For
example, since the decimal number in Figure 3.38 is 13 and since 8 is the
largest power of two that is just less than 13, 8 is used as the first
divisor.

3.5

Flow of Control Diagrams

Flowcharts
Flowcharts are one of the most common ways of showing the sequence of actions
in an algorithm. They consist of boxes joined by lines with arrows showing the
flow of action sequences. The boxes are of different shapes depending on
whether they represent actions, decisions or assertions:
Actions denote processes (such as input, output, calculate) and are
represented as rectangular boxes, as shown in Figure 3.36. Actions may
change the value of the data on which they operate. For example, the
action of incrementing a counter changes the value of the counter by
adding 1 to it.
Figure 3.36 Action representations

Charge $3

Sum N values

Output result

The actions that can be performed on data depend upon what kind of
data are involved. For example, Real Numbers may be added,
subtracted, multiplied and divided to yield Real Numbers. On the
other hand, the logical operators, AND, OR and NOT do not apply to Real
Numbers or Integers; they only apply to logical quantities which have
the value of True or False.
Decisions usually take the form of tests or questions such as Age < 12?
or Color? that have two or more results (mostly, but not always True
or False), depending upon the values being tested. Decisions are
represented by diamonds or boxes with pointed ends. Each decision box
must have an outgoing arrow labeled for every possible result, as shown
in the examples of Figure 3.37. These arrows lead to the next action or
decision to be performed. If the possible results are True and False, you
might find it easier to follow a certain convention, like having a True
result always take the left path out of the decision box as we do in our
flowcharts.

108

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.37 Condition and assertion representations

Age 12

Increasing

Age < 12

True

(A < B)
and
(B < C)

Color

False

Green Yellow Red

True

False

Assertions are statements or facts (such as Age 12 or Increasing)

about the values of variables at some point in a flowchart. They are
shown in Figure 3.37 by dotted boxes pointing to the places where the
assertions hold true.
Boxes representing actions, decisions, and assertions are combined to represent a
complete algorithm. In fact, they can be grouped into specific forms that
indicate the ways actions and objects may be connected. There are only Four
Fundamental Forms, as illustrated in the examples of Figure 3.38.
Figure 3.38 Four basic building block forms for flowcharts
Sequence Form

Selection Form

Average

Repetition Form
Charge

True

Age < 12

False

Sum N values
Divide by N

Loan

True
Charge
$2

Charge
$3

Balance > 0

False

Make Payment
Change Balance

Invocation Forms
Average

Charge

Loan

Each of the forms in Figure 3.38 are described in detail below:

Sequence: The algorithm Average (also known as Mean) performs two
actions in sequence: one after the other.
Selection: The algorithm Charge involves a choice of actions depending
on whether the condition Age < 12 is True or False. If the age is less
than 12, then the line labeled True is followed and the charge is $2,
otherwise it is $3.
Repetition: The algorithm Loan involves the repetition of some actions
that depends on the condition Balance greater than 0 (abbreviated as
Balance>0). As long as this condition is True, a payment is made and
the Balance is changed accordingly. This means that as long as money

Section 3.5

Control Flow Algorithms

109

is still owed, the actions are repeated once for each month. Only after
the Balance has been finally reduced to zero is this loop terminated.
This form is referred to as a loop because if you look at the lines that
indicate repetition, you will see that they resemble a loop. The
condition Balance>0 is referred to as the termination condition. The
action of making the payment and reducing the Balance is known as the
body of the loop. We will see the details of the actions within this
loop later.
Invocation: Each of the three above examples could be put into a box
and labeled for future reference. These boxes are referred to as subalgorithm, and they can be invoked whenever needed. The lower part
of Figure 3.38 shows the invocation of the three corresponding subalgorithms above. A sub-algorithm is marked as a box with double
lines on each side. The invocation of a sub-algorithm is considered a
single action within a flowchart.
The examples of Figure 3.38 illustrate the Four Fundamental Forms: Sequence,
Selection, Repetition, and Invocation, which constitute the basic building
blocks from which all algorithms can be made.
Notice that each of these four forms have a single entry and a single exit.
Remember, we are representing flow of control here, not data flow. In dataflow diagrams, multiple entries and exits are possible for data, as we have seen
for instance in the Change Maker algorithm of Figure 3.33.
Figure 3.39 shows a slightly more complex algorithm, Charge More. It is an
extension of the previous Charge algorithm, shown in Figure 3.38, used to
calculate the price of admission to a movie. The old algorithm has been
modified to include a third category: persons over 21 years old. Notice that
the previous Charge algorithm is embedded in this larger algorithm and is
shaded. An assertion is delineated by a dotted box.

110

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.39 Combined forms

begin

begin
Charge More

Input Age

Divide N by D
Q is Quotient
R is Remainder

True

Age > 21

Loop
initialization

False
Age 21
True

Charge $5

True

Set
Q to 0
R to N

Age < 12

Charge $2

False

Charge $3

RD

False

Loop
Terminating
condition

Subtract
D from R
Increase
Q by 1

end

end

At the right of Figure 3.39 is another algorithm, Divide, that shows how
computers can be used to divide positive integers in a way that is very different
from how we do division. Since we plan to revisit this algorithm later, you
may wish to avoid it for now.
Divide, the algorithm at the right of Figure 3.39, divides one Integer (N, the
numerator) by another non-zero Integer (D, the denominator) to produce a
quotient Q and remainder R. This is done in a loop where each time the loop is
traversed, an iteration, 1 is added to the quotient, Q, and the divisor, D, is
subtracted from the remainder, R. This continues until R is less than D.
The body of the loop comprises the actions of subtracting the divisor from the
remainder and adding 1 to the quotient. The condition R D is the loops
terminating condition: when it is no longer true, the loop terminates.
Before the loop begins, the quotient Q is set to 0 and the remainder R is set to N.
This is called initializing the loop. This verbal description is very concise, but
is not as descriptive as the graphic flowchart. However beware! If your
flowcharts are not properly structured, they may also be confusing.

Larger Flowcharts

Using Subprograms

As algorithms become larger, it is often convenient to split them into smaller

connected algorithms. Each sub-algorithmmay then be considered separately,
making the entire algorithm more manageable. Two such decomposed
algorithms are shown in Figures 3.40 and 3.41.

Section 3.5

Control Flow Algorithms

111

Figure 3.40 Decomposed algorithms

MAIN
algorithm

SUBalgorithm

Days
Input Month

Leap
Input Year

True

Month is
April, June
Sept, Nov

Output
30

False
Month
is Feb

True

True

True
False

False
100
divides
Year

True
Leap
Output
31

This Days
algorithm was
previously seen
in Figures 3.2
and 3.14.

400
divides
Year

Out
29

Out
28

Out
29

False
4
divides
Year

False

Out
28

Days is an algorithm that determines the number of days in any month. It does
this first for all the months except February. Finding the number of days in
February requires determining whether a leap year is involved. Since this is a
fairly complex operation, this part of the Days algorithm is separated from
the main algorithm as a sub-algorithm named Leap. The Leap sub-algorithm
is broken out at the right of Figure 3.40.
Leap decides if a year is a leap year by determining if the year can be divided
evenly by various numbers (400, 100 and 4). Notice that the sub-algorithm Leap
may seem more complex than the main algorithm Days.
Decomposing, or breaking up this algorithm into two parts a main algorithm
connected to a sub-algorithm is not necessary in this case because the
algorithm is simple. However, adopting this break-out habit early, will be
beneficial when you attempt to develop more complex systems.
Lets develop an algorithm to play the simple dice game introduced in Figure
3.3. Here are the rules for this game:
First, two dice are thrown.
If their sum is 7 or 11, you win, and if the sum is 2, 3 or 12, you lose.
Otherwise remember the sum, the point count, and keep throwing until either:
the sum equals the point count (you win), or
the sum equals 7, (you lose)..

The two dice used for this game have each side marked with 1 to 6 dots. When
the two dice are thrown, the resulting sum of dots is a value between 2 and 12.

112

Chapter 3

Algorithms

The flowchart of Figure 3.41 describes this game. Notice that point count is
referred to by the variable Point.
Figure 3.41 Dice flowchart
MAIN
algorithm

SUBalgorithm

Dice
Point is
4, 5, 6,
8, 9, 10

begin

begin
More

Throw Sum
Throw Total

True

Sum is
7 or 11

True

Win

Lose

False
Sum is
2,3,12

True

False
Set Point
to Sum

More

(Total 7)
and
(TotalPoint)

False

Throw Total

Total = 7
or
Total = Point
True

Total = 7

Lose

end

False
Win

end
More

The main algorithm describes the first throw and the sub-algorithm More
describes all subsequent throws (if any). A third sub-algorithm, Throw, is used
several times and is shown in Figure 3.42.

Section 3.5

Control Flow Algorithms

113

Figure 3.42 Throw flowchart

Roll Die D1

Throw Sum

Roll Die D2

Sum = D1 + D2

Flowblocks
Flowblock diagrams are an alternative to flowcharts as a way of representing
the flow of control in an algorithm. Flowcharts can be useful when creating and
communicating algorithms; however, flowcharts often do not flow! The lines
joining each box often meanders in complex paths. This makes an algorithm
difficult to understand which destroys the simple beauty of the graphic form.
Also, when creating flowcharts, many dangling lines or arrows can easily get
connected to the wrong boxes, resulting in error-prone algorithms.
Flowblocks (or Nassi-Shneiderman diagrams) are graphic alternatives to
flowcharts. They consist of a series of rectangular boxes which are easier to
draw than flowcharts. The boxes can be placed (connected) only in certain
patterns (usually one above the other so the single exit of one is the single entry
of another), thus preventing the creation of bad structures. So, flowblocks flow!
Figures 3.43 to 3.45 show algorithms illustrating the four basic flowblock forms
of Sequence, Selection, Repetition and Invocation. They are shown next to their
equivalent flowcharts for comparison.
Figure 3.43 Sequence form in flowcharts and flowblocks
Average

Average
Input N values

Input N values
Sequence
Sum all the values

Sum the values

Divide sum by N

Output result

Invocation

Divide sum by N

Output the result

114

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Sequence: Figure 3.43 illustrates the flowblock representation of the

Sequence form using the Average algorithm as an example. The
flowblock version is essentially the same as the corresponding
flowchart with the action boxes sitting on top of one another and the
flow lines removed. Note that the boxes can be enlarged because room is
not needed for lines and arrows.
Invocation: The Divide blocks in Figure 3.43 provide a comparison of
the flowchart and flowblock subprogram forms. In the flowblock form,
subprograms are denoted by a box within a box, which is easier to see
than the two vertical lines of the flowchart form.
Selection: The flowblock selection form, illustrated by the Maximum
algorithm in Figure 3.44, is derived from the flowchart selection box by
removing its upper half and lower tip. The block is entered at the top
and then, depending on the condition specified in the trapezoidal part,
the exit is by one of the two sides into one of the corresponding boxes
below. Finally, the two paths join at the bases of the two boxes, in the
output Max box. The flow continues from here.
Figure 3.44 Selection form in flowcharts and flowblocks
Maximum
True

Maximum
False

X>Y

Max is X

Selection

X>Y

Max is Y
Max is X

Max is Y

Output Max
Output Max

Repetition: The flowblock repetition form(illustrated by Integer

Divide in Figure 3.45) consists of an inverted L-shaped box that
encompasses the body of the loop: the part of the algorithm that is
repeated while the condition is true. As with the selection form, the
exit flows into the top of the next block of the diagram (not shown).

Section 3.5

Control Flow Algorithms

115

Figure 3.45 Repetition form in flowcharts and flowblocks

Divide

Divide

Set Q to 0
R to N

True

RD

Set Q to 0
Set R to N
False

Subtract
D from R
Increase Q

Repetition

RD

Decrease R by D

Increase Q

As algorithms become more complex, flowcharts become harder to draw and to

follow. By comparison, the complexity of the equivalent flowblocks does not
increase as much.

Pseudocode
Another way of representing the flow of control in an algorithm is
through pseudocode, a mixture of natural language and mathematical
notation independent of any programming language. Figure 3.46 shows
a comparison between the flowblock representation of an algorithm and
its pseudocode equivalent using the Dice Game algorithm as an
example.

116

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Figure 3.46 Dice Game flowblock and pseudocode

The flowchart
version of this
algorithm is
shown in Figure
3.41.

Dice Game
Throw Sum
Sum is 7 or 11

T
Flowblock
representation

Sum is 2,
3 or 12

Set Point
to Sum
Win

Lose

More Throws
Throw Total
While (Total 7 ) and (Total Point)

More
Throws

Throw Total
Total = 7

T
Lose

Pseudocode
representation

F
Win

Dice Game
Throw two dice and get Sum
If Sum = 7 or 11
Win
Else
If Sum = 2, 3, or 12
Lose
Else
Set Point to Sum
Throw two dice and get Total
While (Total 7) and (Total Point)
Throw two dice and get Total
If Total = 7
Lose
Else
Win
End Dice Game

The Payroll algorithm, shown as a flowblock diagram in Figure 3.47, is an

extension of the flowchart in Figure 2.17, modified to continue computing
employees pay until a negative number of hours (Hours) is entered.
It is interesting to see the nesting of the blocks in this rather complex
algorithm. The flowblock version is more compact, easier to draw, simpler to
understand and easier to modify. This last advantage is important during the
development of an algorithm, as there is likely to be considerable modification
during this process. Pseudocode is also easy to modify. As another comparison
or representation, the equivalent pseudocode is also shown.
Note:

In both Figure 3.46 and 3.47, the vertical lines in the pseudocode are
not essential. They are merely present to help us notice the levels
of indentation (nesting) of the algorithm.

Section 3.5

Control Flow Algorithms

Figure 3.47 Payroll flowblock and pseudocode

Input Hours, Rate
Hours 0
Hours > 7 24

T
T

Hours > 60

Hours 40

Output
Error
Message

Set Pay to T
40 Rate +
1.5 20
Set Pay to
Rate + 2
Rate Hours
Rate
(Hours 60)

Set Pay to
40 Rate +
1.5 Rate
(Hours - 40)

Output Pay
Input Hours, Rate

Payroll
Input Hours, Rate
While Hours 0
If Hours > 7 24
Output "Error"
Else
If Hours 60
If Hours 40
Set Pay to
Else
Set Pay to
Else
Set Pay to 40
2
Output Pay
Input Hours, Rate
End Payroll

Hours Rate
40 Rate + 1.5 Rate (Hours 40)
Rate + 1.5 20 Rate +
Rate (Hours 60)

117

118

Chapter 3

3.6

Review

Algorithms

Top Ten Things to Remember

1.

Algorithms are plans for performing a sequence of actions on data. The

actions or data need not have anything to do with computers.

2.

All algorithms must be:

Complete, all actions exactly defined,
Unambiguous, to allow only one interpretation,
Deterministic, to always produce a predictable result, and
Finite, restricted to limited time and space,
In addition, algorithms should be:
General: applicable to a class of problems,
Well-structured: built from standard building blocks,
Efficient: economical of resources, and
Elegant: showing harmony of elements and economy of structure.

3.

Representations of algorithms are forms for describing, denoting or

presenting them. There are many such ways, some better than others, so
it is important to try various representations.

4.

Verbal forms involve words, in sentences and paragraphs. This

representation is usually very verbose, long, and often inaccurate.

5.

Algebraic forms involve mathematical symbols in expressions or

formulas. This is usually a very concise representation.

6.

Tabular forms involve rectangular grids (tables, arrays or matrices)

with entries in the grids. This method is useful for summarizing large
selections.

7.

Flowchart forms involve boxes joined by lines, describing the flow of

control of actions. They are very clear for smaller algorithms, but may
become confusing if not structured well.

8.

Flowblock forms involve only rectangular boxes, with very limited (but
significant) ways of connecting them. They also describe only the flow
of control of actions.

9.

Data flow forms also involve boxes, but describe the flow of data. This
form is most useful at higher levels when dealing with sub-algorithms.
The flowblocks are also useful for concurrent programming.

10.

Pseudocode is a mixture of natural language and mathematical notation

independent of any programming language.

Section 3.7

3.7

Glossary

119

Glossary
Action: operation or process.
Algorithm: a plan to perform some
actions on some data.
Array: a collection of memory cells to
store some data.
Assertion: a statement which is
either true or false.
Black box: the representation of
what a process does, the input(s) it
takes and the output(s) it produces,
while hiding the internal details of
the process.
Complete: a property of algorithms
specifying that all actions must be
precisely defined.

Flow of control: sequence of the

actions of an algorithm.
Flowblock: a diagram to represent
the flow of control of an algorithm.
Flowchart: a diagram to represent
the flow of control of an algorithm.
Generality: a quality of algorithms
that are applicable to a class of
problems.
Glass box: a representation showing
the inner details of a system.
Hierarchical: a presentation of an
algorithm in the form of a breakout
diagram.
Integer: whole number.

Data type: a description of the kind

of data including the values and the
operations that can be used on them.

Logical expression: an expression

involving quantities that can have
only two values, True or False.

Data-flow diagram: a diagram

representing the flow of the data
through various processes.

Operand: the data element on which

is applied an operator.

Decision table: a table listing all the

possible combinations of the various
conditions in a problem.

Operator: a symbol describing the

operation to apply to one or several
operands.

Deterministic: a property of
algorithms by which an algorithm
always produces a predictable result.

Precedence: priority of an operator

with respect to another one.
Predicate: a logical function.

Elegance: a quality of algorithms

showing harmony between its
elements.

Proposition: a logical expression

having a value of True or False.

Finite: a property of algorithms

specifying that they must terminate
in a finite time and use finite space.

Pseudocode: a representation of
algorithms based on a mixture of
English and mathematical notation.

120

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Real Number: a number having an

integer part and a fractional part.
Repetition form: a basic form of
algorithms indicating the repetition
of a number of actions.
Robustness: a desirable property of
an algorithm that is resistant to
failure.
Selection: a choice between
alternatives.
Selection form: a basic form of
algorithms indicating a choice
between a number of actions.
Sequence form: a basic form of
algorithms which indicates the
performance of a number of actions,
one after the other.
Sub-algorithm: an algorithm that is
used by another algorithm.
Symbolic logic: a system of logic
based on the use of symbols.
Table: two-dimensional grid used to
store data.
Unambiguous: a property of
algorithms requesting that there is
only one possible interpretation for
the algorithm.
Well-structured: a desirable quality
of algorithms requiring them to be
built from simple basic blocks.

Section 3.8

3.8

Problems

121

Problems
1.

Binary Number Drill

Convert the following binary numbers to decimal numbers (base 10):
a. 10

b. 1010

c. 101010

and then convert the following decimal numbers to binary (base 2):
d. 7

2.

e. 17

f. 170

Small Binary Numbers

Create a table of the binary numbers from 0 to 15, and notice the
alternating structure of the columns.

3.

Time Base
Draw a data-flow diagram showing how to break up a Military time
into hours and minutes past midnight, and then convert this into
minutes after midnight. Military time is in 24 hour notation, where
1430 means 2:30pm. Use Divide, Multiply and Add data flow
components. For example, the military time 1430 is:
14x60 + 30 = 870
or 870 minutes after midnight.

4.

Decimal to Binary: Another way

Converting decimal numbers into binary can be done by dividing
successively by 2 with the resulting remainders forming the binary
number. Draw a data-flow diagram showing this process for the
decimal number 13 converted to the binary number 1101.

5.

Octal Numbers
Octal numbers have a base of 8, with digits 0, 1, 2, 3...7.
Convert the following octal numbers to decimal:
a. 11

b. 23

c. 132

122

Chapter 3

Algorithms

6.

Hex Numbers
Hexadecimal numbers have a base of 16, with the values being 0, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F (where A is 10, B is 11, .. F is 15).
Convert the following hex values to decimal:
a. 11

7.

b. CC

c. F00

Other Bases
Other bases have been used, including 3 (ternary), 5 (quinary), 12, 20,
and 60 (sexagesimal). Where and why would they have been used?

8.

Bad Min
What is wrong with the following definition of Min, the minimum of
two values X and Y?
If X is less than Y then Min is X and
if Y is less than X then Min is Y.

9.

ISBN Check
Check whether the following ISBN numbers are proper numbers:

10.

a. 0-387-90144-2

b. 0-13-215871-X

c. 0-574-21265-4

d. 0-88236-115-5

e. 3-540-90144-2

e. 1-1-1111111-1

Resistor Color Code

Electrical resistors have three colored bands, where each color
represents an integer: Black is 0, Brown is 1, Red is 2, Orange is 3,
Yellow is 4, Green is 5, Blue is 6, Violet is 7, Gray is 8 and White is 9.
The resistance is determined by taking ten times the code of the first
band, adding to this the code of the second band and adding a number of
zeros equivalent to the code of the third band.
For example, if the bands are Red, Yellow and Orange (with values
2,4,3) the resistance is: 24000. Find the resistance of a patriotic
resistor having band colors of Red, White, and Blue.

11.

Charge Tree
For the previous Charge algorithm, with at most 3 adults and 3 kids,
create a representation in the form of a tree. Do this in two ways, first
beginning with adults.

Section 3.8

12.

Problems

123

Simpler Binary
Find the decimal equivalents of these binary numbers:
a. 11111111

b. 100000000

Use the above to find a simple way to obtain the decimal equivalent of
a binary number consisting of any number N of ones in succession.

13.

Binary Octal
Draw a data-flow diagram showing how binary numbers can be
converted to octal numbers by bunching each group of three binary
numbers (from the right or least significant bit) and replacing this by
the octal equivalent. Show it for the decimal value of 299 which is 100
101 011 in binary and 453 in octal.

14.

ISBN Data Flow

Draw a data-flow diagram describing the ISBN algorithm. The inputs
are the individual digits and the output is the check digit.

15.

Expression Trees
Create a tree (data flow) diagram corresponding to the following
expressions, and compare them:

16.

a. (XY) (X + Y)

b. X X Y Y

c. S + 60M + 6060H

d. S + 60 (M + 60H)

e. AB + B4 + C2 + D

f. 2 (2 (2A + B) + C) + D

Leaping Again
Represent the Leap algorithm of Figure 3.40 as a table, with three
conditions (4 divides Y, 100 divides Y, and 400 divides Y) and eight
rules (combinations). Then create another table with fewer rules.

17.

Change Change
Modify the data-flow diagram describing Change Maker in Figure 3.32,
to allow for half-dollars.

18.

Variation On Variance
Another way to compute the variance of N values is to subtract the
square of the averages of the values from the average of the squares of
the values. Compute this for the four values: 10, 20, 30 and 40.

124

Chapter 3

Algorithms

19.

Hot One
Since humans hate division, they often create algorithms to avoid it.
For example, instead of converting temperatures by this formula:
F = 95 C + 32
the following algorithm is sometimes used.
First, multiply C by 2 and subtract from this amount its first (most
significant) digit. Then add 32 to this and the result should be the
Fahrenheit value.
For example, 20C becomes:

40 4 + 32 = 68

Check this algorithm for some numbers and indicate any limitations,
problems or inaccuracies.

20.

Find Algorithms
There are many algorithms guiding everyday things, but we may not be
aware of them. Investigate and determine some similar to the
following. Attempt to express them using different methods (verbal,
tabular, data-flow diagrams, flowblocks, and so on):
a. Sales commission (For the first thousand sold, pay at the rate of ...
)
b. Numbering of state highways (Odd numbers go south to north,
increasing)
c.

Rental agreement of items (For the first 24 hours charge ...)

d. Library fines for late books (For every day after 5 days ... )
e.

Labeling of rooms in a building, campus, etc. (Floors, even/odd)

f.

Directions to a party (If you are heading North on ...)

g. Price of Movies (Bargain prices Monday through Friday before 6

and ...)
h. Schedules of planes or buses, (Every hour, on the half hour until ... )
i.

Meeting times (Every first Friday, except ...)

j.

Weight (Men should weight 106 pounds plus 6 pounds for every inch
over 5 feet)

k. Temperature (The high for the day is 18 degrees above the

temperature at 6 am)
l.

Dogs age equivalent to a human (First year is 15 years, second is 10,

each year after is 5)

m. Proportional rule of two (Twice around the wrist is once round the
neck)
n. Ideal Athlete (Weight in pounds is twice the height in inches)

Section 3.8

o.

Problems

125

Mortgage check (Limit of 30% of total income on principal interest

and insurance).

p. Date of Easter (Involves much division)

q. Postal regulations (For sizes of envelopes, girth of packages, etc.)
Many other such algorithms can be found in the book: Rules of Thumb
by Tom Parker, published by Houghton Mifflin.

126

Chapter 3

Algorithms

Chapter Outline

127

Chapter 4 Algorithm Structure

The main concern of this chapter is the structure of algorithms. Even for small
algorithms, good structure is important. Algorithms that are well-structured
are usually simpler to understand, explain, modify, test, analyze and verify.
For large algorithms, good structure is crucial for clarity.

Chapter Outline
4.1
4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6
4.7
4.8

Preview....................................................................128
Building Blocks for Structured Programming...............128
The Four Fundamental Forms.....................................128
Connecting Several Forms Sequences and Nests..........131
Deep Nesting............................................................133
Different Algorithms, Same Problem.........................135
Equivalent Algorithms..............................................135
Alternative Algorithms............................................137
Top-down Algorithm Design......................................140
Job Description Example............................................144
Change Maker Example............................................145
A Game Example, Fifty.............................................148
How Data and Algorithms Fit Together....................152
Structured Data........................................................153
Chili Recipe Example...............................................155
Card Trick Example..................................................158
Binary Conversion Example.......................................159
Guessing Game Example............................................160
Review Top Ten Things to Remember.........................164
Glossary...................................................................166
Problems...................................................................167

128

Chapter 4

4.1

Preview

Algorithm Structure

Now that we have just finished learning what algorithms can look like
(chapter 3), you may feel you are ready to begin solving problems by writing
algorithms. However, before you can do that, you need to learn more about the
structure of algorithms.
Structured Programming is a method of building algorithms from a small
number of different basic blocks (or forms) with simple interconnections.
The Four Fundamental Forms (called Sequence, Selection, Repetition and
Invocation) are the building blocks from which all well-structured algorithms
are constructed. Initially, we will use flowcharts to describe these structures;
however, the emphasis will soon shift to flowblocks and then pseudocode.
These last two representations make it impossible to create poorly structured
algorithms.
Top-Down Design is another significant concept that is introduced in this
chapter. It is the process of creating algorithms in stages, by successively
refining them into smaller sub-algorithms, each refinement providing more
details.
The D a t a and the Actions described by our algorithms in this chapter are
common to everyday experience which shows that algorithms need not involve
computers or mathematics. In the chapter that follows this one, computing
algorithms (or programs) will be considered and their data (numbers) will
actually be simpler than the common data treated here. For this reason, we
make our data very detailed and explicit here.

4.2

Building Blocks for Structured Programming

Step 3 of the problem solving method, introduced in Chapter 2, is called
Solution Refinement. It refines the definition of the various algorithms
included in the structure chart of the solution. To elaborate these algorithms,
we first need to know what building blocks are available.

The Four Fundamental Forms

Structured programming is a method of organizing algorithms using a small
number of different kinds of building blocks (forms), with simple
interconnections.
Basically, there are four building blocks or forms (Sequence, Selection,
Repetition and Invocation) and, with them, we can construct all algorithms.
Each of the fundamental forms has a single entry and a single exit, making
their flow of control very clear. Figures 4.1 to 4.4 represent the Four
Fundamental Forms as flowcharts, flowblock diagrams, and pseudocode.

Section 4.2

Building Blocks for Structured Programming

129

The Sequence form (also referred to as the Series or Concatenation form)

indicates the linear temporal sequence in which actions are to be
performed. Although we can find examples where the order of actions
is unimportant, this is usually not the case. The Sequence form fixes
actions to be performed sequentially (one after the other). In Figure 4.1,
A and B are perform one after the other.
Figure 4.1

The Sequence form

Flowchart

Flowblock

Pseudocode

A
B
B

The Selection form (also referred to as the Conditional, Alternative, or

Decision form) specifies a condition that determines which action is to
be done next. For example, in Figure 4.2, if condition C is true, the path
leading to action D is taken. If C is false, the path to action E is
followed. The actions D and E themselves may be sequences of many
actions.
Figure 4.2

True

False

The Selection form

If C
D
Else
E

After the actions on either path have been performed, the two paths
rejoin to provide a single exit from the form. This form is sometimes
called the if-then-else form because it is expressed in many
programming languages as:
IF C THEN D ELSE E.
The Repetition form (also referred to as the Iteration or Loop form)
indicates that one or more actions must be repeated a number of times.
As shown in Figure 4.3, this form begins by specifying a condition, G. If
this condition is true, action H, the body of the Repetition form, is
performed and condition G is re-tested. In other words, action H is
repeated until condition G is evaluated as false. At this point, the

130

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

repetition stops and the form is exited. This form is also called the
While-loop form for it is expressed in many programming languages as:
WHILE G DO H.
Figure 4.3

The Repetition form

G

True

False

While G
H
H

The Invocation form (also referred to as the Abstraction form and as a

sub-algorithm) corresponds to a group of actions which have been given
a name. This group of actions is invoked using its given name as if it
were a single action. This enables an algorithm to be defined once, and
then, whenever it is needed, its invoked or called by its name. For
example, we could group the actions that calculate the average of some
data together under the name Average. These actions could then be
performed by invoking or calling Average as if it were a single action.
Programming languages invoke such sub-algorithms with statements
such as:
CALL Average, or
PERFORM Average ,or simply
Average.
Figure 4.4

Sub

The Invocation form

Sub

Sub

Forms other than these basic four are possible and are sometimes useful, but
they are neither necessary nor fundamental as they can be built from the four
basic forms. These additional forms will be introduced in the next chapter.

Connecting Several Forms Sequences and Nests

It is easy to interconnect the four basic forms in order to construct a complete
algorithm: to do this, we only have to replace an action in one of the forms

Section 4.2

Building Blocks for Structured Programming

131

mentioned above with another form. Thus, interconnection of the four forms is
possible using one of the following two methods:
Serial, where one form follows another, like simple actions, or
Nested, where one form is within the other.
Such interconnections yield a composition where all blocks have a single entry
and a single exit.
Of these two methods for combining forms, the method of nestingis the more
complex. Figures 4.5 through 4.8 show different nests as both flowblocks and
pseudocode. These different nests can easily be identified because the inner
form is shaded in each figure.
Figure 4.5

A Selection form nested in a Selection form

Compare
(A < B) and (B < C)

T
Output
"Increasing"

(A > B) and (B > C)

Output
"Decreasing"

Output
"Neither"

Compare
If (A < B) and (B < C)
Output "Increasing"
Else
If (A > B) and (B > C)
Output "Decreasing"
Else
Output "Neither"
End Compare

The algorithm Compare, in Figure 4.5, is an algorithm that compares three

values A, B, and C to determine if the values are:
Increasing

(such as 1, 2, 5 or -1, 0, 3),

Decreasing

(such as 5, 2, 1 or 3, 0, -4),

Neither

(such as 1, 0, 2 or 1, 1, 1).

This algorithm should not be seen as five boxes (two conditions and three
actions), but should instead be seen as two forms: a Selection nested within a
Selection. Viewing algorithms as forms, rather than as the parts of forms,
reduces the apparent complexity of the algorithm, thus keeping it simple.
In this case (Figure 4.5), the reduction of complexity is from 5 boxes to 2 forms.
Although this may not seem significant, in other cases a reduction from 50 boxes
to 20 forms could prove very helpful.
Extending this algorithm is very easy. The last box (Output Neither) could
be expanded by further nesting to determine whether the values are constant
(such as 7, 7, 7) or non decreasing (such as 2, 2, 3) or undulating (such as 3, 0,
3 or 3, 5, 3). A problem asking you to extend this algorithm can be found at the
end of this chapter.
The Service algorithm, of Figure 4.6, describes a queue or waiting in line. It
illustrates a Repetition form that is nested within a Selection form.

132

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Figure 4.6

A Repetition form nested in a Selection form

Service
Available

Get in line
Not at head
Go away
Wait
Get Served

Service
If Available
Get in line
While not at head of line
Wait
Get served
Else
Go away
End Service

In Figure 4.6, if the service is available, then the following sequence of actions
are performed:
Get in line.
While its not your turn, wait (Repetition form).
When its your turn, get served.
If the service is not available, the action is to go away.
The Guess algorithm of Figure 4.7 determines an unknown value by a series of
guesses, each guess getting closer to the final correct result. It illustrates a
Selection form nested within a Repetition form. This guessing method will be
used later in the Bisection or Binary Search algorithm.
Figure 4.7

A Selection form nested in a Repetition form

Guess
Set Limits
Try a Guess

While Guess is not correct

T

Guess is too high

Lower
High limit
(to Guess)

Raise
Low limit
(to Guess)

Guess middle of High & Low

Guess
Set Limits High and Low
Try a Guess
While Guess is not correct
F
If Guess is too high
Lower High limit to Guess
Else
Raise Low limit to Guess
Guess the mid of High and Low
Output the Guess
End Guess

Output the Guess

The Pay algorithm, shown in Figure 4.8, illustrates a deeper level of nesting,
where a Selection contains a Selection within a Selection.

Section 4.2

Figure 4.8

Note:

H > 60

133

Nested Selection forms

H > 7 24

Building Blocks for Structured Programming

Pay

If Hours > 7 24
Error
Else
If Hours > 60
Double Pay
Else
If Hours > 40
Extra Pay
Else
Regular Pay
End Pay

H > 40

an algorithm should be analyzed by looking at how many forms are

used, and how they are interconnected. An algorithm should not be
analyzed by looking at how many instructions are used.

Deep Nesting
When complex algorithms are represented as either flowblocks or pseudocode,
they are easy to split into their nested components. Figure 4.9 shows an
example algorithm of moderate complexity, represented as a flowblock
diagram with its pseudocode equivalent. We are only concerned here with the
structure of the algorithm and not with the details of the actual conditions or
actions. We have therefore symbolized them by single letters, (A, B, C,, G)
for the actions and (P, Q, R) for the conditions. Both representations show two
nested components in shaded areas.
Figure 4.9

A complex algorithm showing components

P

F
R

A
D
Q
C
E

If P
A
While Q
B
Else
If R
C
Else
D
E
G

134

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Each of these shaded areas could be given an action name, say W and X, and be
shown as simple actions. This makes for a less complex representation of the
algorithm, as in Figure 4.10.
Figure 4.10 Simpler version of algorithm of Figure 4.9
P

F
R

If P
A
W
Else
If R

C
Else
X

This process of replacing nested components by simple named actions to produce

simpler representations of the algorithm can be continued to produce, for
example, the version shown in Figure 4.11, where the shaded areas of Figure
4.10 have been renamed Y and Z.
Figure 4.11 Simpler version of algorithm of Figure 4.10
P

If P
Y

Else
Z

In this process, simplification is achieved by hiding details inside a box and

giving it a new name. For the name to be more understandable, it should
describe what the action does. For example, if Y or Z sorts a group of numbers or
calculates change, they should be named either Sort or Give Change. The
process of reducing the complexity by hiding the details is known as
abstraction. Eventually, the whole algorithm could be represented by a single
named action box through simplification and abstraction.
Successive simplification of algorithms represented as flowblocks or
pseudocode is always possible because such algorithms are always well
structured. Why? Because it is impossible to produce a badly structured
algorithm in either of these representations while using the four basic forms.
However, this does not always hold true for algorithms represented as
flowcharts.

Section 4.2

Building Blocks for Structured Programming

135

Figure 4.12 shows an improperly structured flowchart, which cannot be

represented either as a flowblock or in pseudocode without having its structure
changed. To find out why the flowchart is badly structured, remember that our
basic forms have only one way in and one way out; try to cut the flowchart into
blocks that have this property. A corrected and different version of this
flowchart, as a flowblock, is shown on the right of Figure 4.12.
Figure 4.12 Avoiding badly structured flowcharts with flowblocks

A
A
P
P
T
B

C
B

Q
Q
D

R
E

F
D

Any process can be represented as a well-structured algorithm. For this reason,

we will represent algorithms as either flowblock diagrams or pseudocode in the
rest of this book.

4.3

Different Algorithms, Same Problem

Equivalent Algorithms
Before going any further, its is important to realize that two algorithms may
behave the same way, but be structured differently. For example, consider the
problem of determining whether or not a given year is a leap year.
The algorithm Leap1 was considered previously in Figure 3.40, and is shown in
Pseudocode 4.1. It begins with a Selection asking if the year is divisible by 400.
The algorithm has two other Selections nested within it.
All paths in this algorithm can be tested by the four test cases: 2000, 1900, 1984,
and 2001. For example, the year 2001 follows the Else path at each of the three

136

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Selections. The paths taken by the four test cases are indicated by the
assertions at the right of the pseudocode.
Pseudocode 4.1

Algorithm Leap1

Leap 1
If Year is divisible by 400
Year is a leap year
Else
If Year is divisible by 100
Year is not a leap year
Else
If Year is divisible by 4
Year is a leap year
Else
Year is not a leap year
End Leap 1

{Year 2000 will finish here}

(Year 1900 will finish here}
{Year 1984 will finish here}
{Year 2001 will finish here}
A typical year (such as 2001)
must go through 3 selections.

The algorithm Leap2, shown in Pseudocode 4.2, works in the opposite direction
to Leap1. It begins with the Selection asking if Year is divisible by 4. Notice
that in this version, the year 2001 requires only one Selection. The assertion on
the right show where each path for the four test cases finish.
Pseudocode 4.2

Algorithm Leap2

Leap 2
If Year is divisible by 4
If Year is divisible by 100
If Year is divisible by 400
Year is a leap year
Else
Year is not a leap year
Else
Year is a leap year
Else
Year is not a leap year
End Leap 2

{Year 2000 will finish here}

(Year 1900 will finish here}
{Year 1984 will finish here}
{Year 2001 will finish here}
A typical year must go
through only 1 selection.

These two algorithms (Leap1 and Leap2) are identical in behavior because
they produce the same results in all possible cases. In other words, they are
equivalent. They are, however, different in structure as is shown by the fact
that the same test cases encounter different numbers of selections in the two
algorithms. Which algorithm do you prefer?
The important thing now is not which one you prefer, but that you have a
choice of one or the other. If two algorithms are equivalent in one sense, this is
an opportunity for selecting the optimal one in another sense. The selection
depends on your goals.
For efficiency reasons (minimizing time by having fewer Selections), you might
prefer Leap2 because in most common cases (when the year is not divisible by 4

Section 4.3

Different Algorithms, Same Problem

137

which occurs 75% of the time), the number of Selections is smaller. Only one
Selection is encountered in Leap2, compared to three Selections in Leap1.
Efficiency, or speed, is not always the best goal. Other goals include
convenience, elegance, ease of communication, robustness and some others that
will be considered in later chapters.
We can define yet another algorithm that is equivalent to the Leap1 and
Leap2 algorithms. Pseudocode 4.3 illustrates such an algorithm, Leap3, which
begins with the Selection checking if the year is divisible by 100. The structure
is quite different from the others, because all test cases go through exactly two
Selections; there are no short paths here.
Pseudocode 4.3

Algorithm Leap3

Leap 3
If Year is divisible by 100
If Year is divisible by 400
Year is a leap year
Else
Year is not a leap year
Else
If Year is divisible by 4
Year is a leap year
Else
Year is not a leap year
End Leap 3

{Year 2000 will finish here}

(Year 1900 will finish here}
{Year 1984 will finish here}
{Year 2001 will finish here}
Any type of year must
go through 2 selections.

There are still more algorithms that determine whether or not a year is a leap
year, some of these will be considered later. For now, the important idea is not
to concentrate on optimization, but simply to realize that there can be many
different ways of writing an algorithm to solve the same problem.

Alternative Algorithms
There are often alternative ways of creating algorithms, some ways more
convenient or better than others. Figure 4.13 illustrate algorithms that are not
equivalent. Alternative algorithms are not equivalent when the output is not
the same for all possible cases.

138

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Figure 4.13 Various triangles

Equilateral

Right

A
C

Isosceles

Non-triangle
Rightisosceles
Isosceles

Triangle

In Figure 4.13, the problem is to determine whether three given numbers A, B, C

(representing lengths of sides) could create a triangle and, if so, whether it is
one of the following three types:
Isosceles: two sides are equal, or
Equilateral: all three sides equal, or
A right triangle: one 90 angle.
Triangles of various kinds are shown in Figure 4.13. From the non-triangle, we
can see that a triangle is formed only if the sum of the two shorter sides exceeds
the longest side. If the sides are given in increasing order (say A B C ), the
condition for a triangle is:
(A + B > C )
Similarly, for an equilateral triangle, the general condition is:
(A = B) AND (B = C)
But if A, B, and C are in order, this condition becomes simply:
(A = C)
For an isosceles triangle, the general condition is:
(A = B) OR (B = C) OR (A = C)
which becomes the following when sides are ordered:
(A = B) OR (B = C)
The point is that if the data values are structured, then this structure could be
used to simplify the algorithm. In the triangle example, if the data has the
structure of being ordered, then simpler tests can be used. There are various
ways to put A, B, and C in increasing order.
One way is to request that the values be entered in increasing order, but we
would have to check to see if these values were entered as instructed, and we

Section 4.3

Different Algorithms, Same Problem

139

would have to repeat this process until the values are entered correctly.
Another way would be to create a sub-algorithm that puts any three input
values into increasing order. We will use the latter method.
Two alternative algorithms for classifying the triangles are shown in
Pseudocode 4.4 and Figure 4.14. In each, the action of sorting the three numbers
A, B, C is labeled as:
Sort sides so that A B C
This algorithm, also called Sort3, will be developed later.
Pseudocode 4.4

Algorithm Triangle Classification 1

Triangle Classification 1
Input sidesA, B, C
Sort sides so that A B C
If A + B C
Output "Not a triangle"
Else
If A = C
Output "Equilateral triangle"
Else
If (A= B) OR (B = C)
Output "Isosceles triangle"
If A A + B B = C C
Output "Right triangle"
Else
Output "T r iangle"
End Triangle Classification 1

Notice the single output

if an equilateral triangle
is encountered.

The algorithm in Pseudocode 4.4 tests first for the equilateral property, and if
it holds, terminates without indicating that the triangle is also isosceles
although all equilateral triangles are isosceles. In the other cases, the
algorithm checks for the isosceles property, and then for the right triangle
property.
The second Triangle Classification algorithm, shown in Figure 4.14, appears in
two representations: a flowblock diagram and pseudocode to remind us of the
equivalence of these two notations. This algorithm first tests for isosceles
triangles and, if successful, tests for the equilateral property. Therefore, an
equilateral triangle will be shown as having both the isosceles and equilateral
properties. This may be redundant, but sometimes it is clearer than having to
recall that one property implies (or covers) another property.

140

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Figure 4.14 Algorithm Triangle Classification 2

Triangle Classification 2
Input Sides A, B, C
Sort sides so A B C
T

A+BC

A A+BB=C C
T

F
Output
"Right"
(A=B) or (B=C)

T
Output
"Not a triangle"

Output
"Isosceles"

A=C

Output
"Equilateral"

Triangle Classification 2
Input sides A, B, C
Sort sides so A B C
If A + B C
Output "Not a triangle"
Else
If A A + B B = C C
Output "Right"
If (A= B) or (B = C)
Output "Isosceles"
If A = C
Output "Equilateral"
Else
Output "T riangle"
End Triangle Classification 2

Notice the
two different
outputs if
once again,
an equilateral
triangle is
encountered.

Output
"Triangle"

Remember that in the latter case of Pseudocode 4.4, an equilateral triangle

would only show the equilateral property. For this reason, these two Triangle
Classification algorithms are not equivalent. However, either algorithm can
be used for they both classify triangles.

4.4

Top-down Algorithm Design

In step 2 of our problem-solving method, Solution Design, we use a top down
approach to build a structure chart to define a solution. For example, we could
build a structure chart to help us plan out this section (Figure 4.15).
Figure 4.15 Structure chart for this section
Top-down
Algorithm
Design

Explanation

Change
Tire
Example

Compute
Pay
Example

Job
Description
Example

General
View

Computer
Examples

Changemaker
Example

Fifty
Example

Section 4.4

Top-down Algorithm Design

141

This chart, Figure 4.15, was built top-down: we started with the section title,
then decided that we needed an explanation of the main concept, Explanation,
an illustration that uses a general description of a persons job Job Description
Example, and some computer-related examples.
The explanation itself was defined as including two small examples, Change
Tire and Compute Pay, and a general view. As you can see, the top-down
approach is useful for planning a solution to any problem. When it comes to
creating algorithms (the Solution Refinement step of our problem-solving
method), we use a similar approach.
Although there are two general approaches to algorithm design, top-down and
bottom-up, we will focus on the top-down approach.
Top-down is an important method for designing algorithms. Simply stated, it
starts at the top, with the most general viewa birds-eye viewand then
proceeds to lower levels by successively splitting the larger blocks into smaller,
more manageable blocks. Finally, at the lowest levels it treats the fine
details. The motto of this process is Divide and conquer.
Conversely, the Bottom-up method starts at the bottom with the detailsthe
worms eye viewand then proceeds to higher levels by combining smaller
blocks. Unfortunately, by concentrating on the details first, without the context
provided by the birds eye view, the building process may quickly become mired
in the details and unmanageable.
Other names for top-down design are: stepwise refinement, iterative multilevel modeling and hierarchical programming. It is often pictured with breakout diagrams as shown in the Figures 4.16 to 4.19.
Tip

Use the top down approach to create algorithms. Start from the
general view and progressively refine this view until the level of
detail becomes simple.

Design begins at the top as a single action. Then, the action is broken out or
refined into a small number of sub-actions. These sub-actions are independent of
one another and are not very detailed. This process continues by further
refining each sub-action into sub-sub-actions, gradually including more details.
For example, Figure 4.16 shows the single action Change Tire, broken into the
following three sub-actions:
Set-up,
Exchange Tires, and
Clean Up.

142

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Figure 4.16 Breaking down Change Tire

1. Start with this general
action.

2. Divide it into 3
smaller actions.

Secure Get the

the car tools

Change Tire

Set-Up

Get
spare

Jack
car up

Exchange Tires

Clean Up

Remove Remove Remove Put on Replace Replace

hubcap
nuts
tire
spare
nuts
hubcap

Jack car Put away Put away

down
tire
tools

3. Divide each smaller action into even smaller actions, making each
action at this level more precise than those at above levels. Continue
this until you arrive at a complete solution.

At the third level, each of the previous sub-actions are refined further. If any
of these smaller actions were seen as being too complex to be understood, they
too could be broken out into further details. Ultimately, a stage is reached
where every action is small enough to be understood without any further
simplification: this is the complete solution.
Figure 4.17 shows a more computer-oriented example, Compute Net Pay. Once
the last stage of stepwise refinement is reached, we are ready to express the
algorithms in pseudocode, and from there, in some programming language.
Figure 4.17 The top-down view of Computing Net Pay
Compute
Net Pay

Find Gross Pay

Input hours

Find rate

Calculate

Determine
Deductions

Take taxes

Etc.

The two diagrams shown in Figures 4.16 and 4.17 have been drawn as true topdown diagramsthey start from the top and, as one moves down the page, they
become more detailed. They are just as much break-out diagrams as are the
left-to-right versions. The orientation is incidental; clarity is the real
criterion. In Figure 4.18, we have reverted to the more familiar left-to-right
form to illustrate the top-down design method in a generic manner.

Section 4.4

Top-down Algorithm Design

143

Figure 4.18 A generic break-out diagram

How
sub-sub-action 1
2

What

sub-sub-action 3
sub-action 1
4
2

Main
Action

5
sub-action n
sub-sub-action z

The Goal

Why
z+1
z+2

The above figure illustrates the general break-out process and shows how
answers to four important questions (what, how, when and why) are found using
break-out diagrams:
What main action is being done? This is shown furthest to the left.
How is an action done? This is shown broken out at the right of an
action.
When are the actions done? This is specified by the sequence along the
far right of the diagram.
Why is a sub-action done? This is found to the left of the action.
Although, sometimes, only the step-by-step sequence of actions is required (the
When at the right), it is important to see the rest of this structure. It is also
very important to realize that each level drawn on the break-out diagram must
be complete. This means that at each level drawn, all of the sub-actions (or
sub-sub-actions) must be present.
Make each level of your break-out diagram complete. If, for example, you
decide to only develop it two levels deep, make sure that the second level
contains all of the actions necessary (even if they are very general) to solve the
problem posed. For example, in Figure 4.17, if we were to only have the first 2
levels, we would need both definitions Find Gross Pay and Determine
Deductions to make the BOD complete.
Dont leave out any actions at any of the levels of the break-out diagram. In
Figure 4.17, notice that the word etc. at the right indicates that this breakout diagram is incomplete!
The next few pages contain different examples of algorithms created using topdown design.

144

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Job Description Example

Figure 4.19 shows the algorithm that an employee at a fast food restaurant
follows. This algorithm is described in a top-down manner. It is developed in
levels to show the convenience of sub- blocks in the top-down view.
Figure 4.19 Algorithm for an employee at a fast food restaurant
Level 0

Job

While your shift is on

Level 1

All customers
helped

Clean
up

Attend to
Customer

Attend to Customer
Take Order
Level 2

Fill Order

Handle payment

Take Order

While items not ready

Take down items

Customer accepts
suggestions

Compute total

Inform cost

Get them ready

Suggest more items

Handle payment

Fill Order

Greet customer

Receive money

Pick up items

Takeout

Level 3

Make Change

Hand over items

Take
down

Put items

Put items

items

in bag

on tray

Thank customer

Section 4.4

Top-down Algorithm Design

145

Level 1, in Figure 4.19, is a high level that shows no details, but gives a general
view of how to proceed and refers to the sub-block Attend to Customer at a
second lower level. Then, Attend to Customer is further broken down into three
sub-blocks (or sub-algorithms) Take Order, Fill Order, and Handle Payment.
Finally these three sub-blocks are refined in level 3.
If the detail is still not sufficient, then more levels must be created. For
example, the last sub-algorithm, Handle Payment, refers to another subalgorithm Make Change, which could be further refined at level 4 (not shown
in Figure 4.19). To reveal how the change would be made, this Make Change
sub-algorithm will be discussed in detail later.
The top-down method forces us to devise a general overview of a system before
getting into its details. It also shows the segmenting of a larger system into
smaller, independent modules such as Take Order, Fill Order, and Handle
Payment. It is this segmenting that makes the complexity more understandable
and manageable.

Change Maker Example

Note that an
algorithm similar
to Make Change
was previously
shown in
Chapter 3
(Figures 3.32 and
3.33).

The order-taker algorithm of Figure 4.19 referred to the sub-algorithm Make

Change which, as the name suggests, makes change for a customer. We will
further illustrate the top-down algorithm design process, by developing this
Make Change sub-algorithm using only pseudocode. Notice that the difference
between an algorithm and a sub-algorithm is slight; a sub-algorithm is simply
an algorithm that can be invoked by other algorithms.
The sub-algorithm, Make Change, will make change from an amount tendered
for an item whose cost is given in cents. At the very top level, there is a simple
action Make Change.
By itself, this does not help very much, but it does provide a start from which
to develop the next level, which consists of a sequence of two sub-actions. The
next step is to expand these two sub-actions. As indicated by their names,
Compute Change computes the amount to be returned to the customer and Give
Change produces the proper coins. Expanding Compute Change is easy and
shown in Figure 4.20.

146

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Figure 4.20 Break-out of Make Change sub-algorithm

Make Change

Make Change
Compute Change
Give Change
End Make Change

Compute Change
Input Cost
Input T endered
Set Remainder to T endered Cost
End Compute Change

Give Change
While Remainder > 0
Output a penny
Decrease Remainder by 1
End Give Change

The rest of this section will be used to develop the Give Change algorithm, as
there are many ways to solve this problem. One way, shown in the shaded box
in Figure 4.20, is to output Remainder all as pennies. If the cost is 1 cent and the
amount tendered is a dollar, this means that 99 pennies are output! This is one
solution that works, is correct, complete and short.
This solution is, however, not practical or convenient because giving a customer
change in pennies creates ill will. This means that Pseudocode 4.8 must be
replaced with a solution more beneficial to the customer.
Another common way of making change involves adding up coins from the
amount Cost up to the amount Tendered. This method is often preferred by
people who wish to avoid computing the remaining amount because they prefer
not to subtract. This method will be treated in Chapter 5.
Yet another way of making change is to modify the first solution in Pseudocode
4.8. The modified version is shown in Pseudocode 4.5.
Pseudocode 4.5
Give Change
Give
Give
Give
Give

Quarters
Dimes
Nickels
Pennies

A better way of refining Give Change

{Remainder 0}

{Remainder = 0}

End Give Change

Since we wish fewer coins to be output, we first consider large coins, quarters,
followed by dimes, nickels and then pennies. What we do for each coin is a
detail not considered at this level. The sub-actions will be opened up at the
next lower level.
Assertions are very useful to list along with algorithms, here (Pseudocode 4.5)
they are shown in braces at the right of the algorithm. For example, at the

Section 4.4

Top-down Algorithm Design

147

beginning it is assumed that the amount to be returned to the customer,

Remainder, is positive {Remainder 0}. At the end, the Remainder is zero.
At the next level, each of the sub-actions of Give Change of Pseudocode 4.5 will
be shown in detail. We will combine this with the Compute Change part to
give the complete Make Change algorithm in Pseudocode 4.6.
Pseudocode 4.6
algorithm

The complete, detailed Make Change

Make Change
Input Cost
Input Tendered
Set Remainder to T endered - Cost
{Remainder 0}
While Remainder 25
Output a quarter
Decrease Remainder by 25
{Remainder < 25}
While Remainder 10
Output a dime
Decrease Remainder by 10
{Remainder < 10}
While Remainder 5
Output a nickel
Decrease Remainder by 5
{Remainder < 5}
While Remainder 1
Output a penny
Decrease Remainder by 1
{Remainder = 0}
End Make Change

Give Quarters

Give Dimes

Give Nickels

Give Pennies

The sub-actions from Pseudocode 4.5 are broken down in Pseudocode 4.6 as
follows:
Give Quarters, the first sub-action, is broken out into a Repetition form,
because more than one quarter may be output. While the Remainder is
greater than 25, a quarter is output and the remainder is decreased by
25. This continues until the Remainder is less than 25 as indicated by
the assertion {Remainder < 25}.
Give Dimes, the second sub-action, is broken out in a similar way to
Give Quarters. When its actions are done, Remainder is less than 10 as
shown in the assertion.
Give Nickels, the third sub-action, is slightly different from the
previous two because at most one nickel can be output. If Remainder is
greater than 5, a nickel is output and Remainder is decreased by 5.
Give Pennies, finally is done with a Repetition similar to the first two
sub-actions, because more than one penny may be output.

148

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Similarity is a useful property. Similar things should be treated similarly.

Most of the coins in Pseudocode 4.6 were treated similarly with a Repetition
form, but Give Nickels was done with a Selection form. This Selection form in
Give Nickels can be converted into a Repetition form as shown in Pseudocode
4.7.
Pseudocode 4.7

Two equivalent versions of Give Nickels

If Remainder 5
Output a nickel
Decrease Remainder by 5
If Remainder 5
Output a nickel
Decrease Remainder by 5

{Remainder < 10}

{Remainder < 5}

To show the equivalence in the behavior of these two versions, assertions are
also indicated. Initially the Remainder is less than ten. Considering the
Repetition form (right), if Remainder is not greater than or equal to 5, then
nothing is done. When you apply this same condition to the Selection form,
nothing is done as well. This means that when Remainder is not greater than
or equal to 5, then both forms are equivalent.
If Remainder is greater than or equal to 5 (and less than 10 as the assertion
states), then the body of the Repetition is performed (a nickel output and
Remainder decreased by 5). Once the Repetition form has been performed once,
the new value of Remainder is now less than 5, so no further Repetition is
possible. This again is equivalent in behavior to the Selection form at the left.
Hence these two sub-algorithms, in the context given by the assertions, are
equivalent in behavior.
As with all algorithms, modifications to the Make Change algorithm are
possible. For example, it could be generalized by allowing the input of any
amount to be tendered rather than at most a dollarthis is assumed by the fact
that no bills are considered in the change making.
This algorithm could also be extended to more denominations (fifty-cent coins,
dollar and two-dollar bills), and it could be made foolproof by testing that the
input values are in the proper range (cost is positive, and amount tendered is
greater than or equal to the cost). Notice that the block form suggests that
modifications can be done by inserting or substituting blocks, which encourage
modular design. More of these equivalent substitutions will be considered in
later chapters.

A Game Example, Fifty

Sports and games often provide examples of algorithms because they involve
rules that have the same properties as algorithms: generality, completeness,
consistency and finiteness.

Section 4.4

Top-down Algorithm Design

149

Games may involve chance (using dice, cards, pebbles, and so on) or they may
involve skill (using balls, bats, arrows, targets, and so on) or both. Here we will
concentrate on a simple game involving dice. Dice games have a long history;
they have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs dated 1500 BC. The earliest
dice were probably a cube shaped bone, the astragalus, from the ankle of a
sheep.
Dice usually consist of cubes (of bone, ivory, sugar, etc.) made with 1 to 6 dots on
a face, so that opposite sides add up to 7. When a die is rolled, each face has
an equal chance of landing face up. When two dice are thrown, some sums are
more likely than others. For example, a sum of two can be formed in only one
way (1 + 1), whereas the sum of 7 can be formed in many ways (1 + 6, 2 + 5,
3 + 4, ...).
Fifty is a dice game played by two people with two dice. It is described in
Figure 4.21.
Figure 4.21 Verbal description of the dice game Fifty
Fifty: a dice game for two people with two dice.
The players each take a turn in one round and the rounds continue as long as neither person's
score has reached 50.
During a player's turn, the two dice are thrown once. There is no change in score unless two
identical numbers come up.
If both dice are sixes, then 25 points are added to that player's score.
If both dice are threes, then that player's score is reset to zero.
If any other doubles are thrown, five points are scored.
The winner is the one whose score after a round is at least 50 and the higher of the two scores.
A tie is also possible.

We will use the development of an algorithm to play Fifty as another example

of the top-down development method. At the first level of detail, Fifty splits
into three sub-actions, as shown in Pseudocode 4.8.
Pseudocode 4.8

Refining Fifty into three actions

Fifty
Set up
Play
Evaluate
End Fifty

Set up initializes the scores, Play goes through a game and Evaluate decides
the outcome. These three sub-actions are explained as follows:
Set up simply sets the two scores Score1 and Score2 to zero. Notice
that the order of playing is not important; the player who goes first
does not have an advantage, since both players get a turn during every
round. In other games, the setup is often more complex.

150

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Play loops through a round during which each person gets a turn, and
this continues as long as neither player has a score of 50 or more.
Evaluate will choose the winner. It first determines whether there is a
tie. If there is no tie, then at the next level, the winner is determined.
At the second level of development, the algorithm is shown in Pseudocode 4.9.
Pseudocode 4.9

Refining each action in Fifty further

Fifty
Set Score1 to 0
Set Score2 to 0
While (Score1 < 50) and (Score2 < 50)
Turn of Player 1
Turn of Player 2
IF Score1 = Score2
The game is a T ie
Else
No-T ie

Set Up
Play

Evaluate

The sub-algorithm Turn of Player must also be broken out further into the
following stages or levels:
First, the dice are thrown to get DiceA and DiceB using the Throw subalgorithm.
Then, a Selection determines whether there are any Doubles. For
example, if the scores DiceA and DiceB are equal, another subalgorithm determines whether they are a Good Double or not.
At this level, the sub-algorithm Turn of Player is shown in Pseudocode 4.10.
Pseudocode 4.10

Defining the sub-algorithm Turn of Player

Turn of Player
Throw to get DiceAand DiceB
If DiceA = DiceB
Doubles
End Turn of Player

The sub-algorithm Doubles may then be expanded according to the rules of the
game so that the sub-algorithm Turn of Player becomes Pseudocode 4.11.
Pseudocode 4.11

Refining Turn of Player further

Turn of Player
Throw to get DiceAand DiceB
If DiceA = DiceB
If DiceA= 3
Set Player's Score to 0
Else
Good Double
End Turn of Player

Doubles

Section 4.4

Top-down Algorithm Design

151

Finally, Good Double is expanded to determine how much should be added to

the players score. The fully-expanded Turn of Player sub-algorithm is shown
in Pseudocode 4.12.
Pseudocode 4.12 The complete, detailed sub-algorithm Turn of
Player
Turn of Player
Throw to get DiceAand DiceB
If DiceA = DiceB
If DiceA = 3
Set Player's Score to 0
Else
If DiceA= 6
Add 25 to Player's Score
Else
Add 5 to Player's Score
End Turn of Player

Doubles
Good Double

The only other sub-algorithm left to be expanded is No-Tie and, when this is
done, Evaluate becomes the sub-algorithm in Pseudocode 4.13.
Pseudocode 4.13

Refining the No-Tie part of Evaluate

Evaluate
If Score1 = Score2
The game is a T ie
Else
If Score1 > Score2
Player 1 wins
Else
Player 2 wins
End Evaluate

No-Tie

We now have all the parts of algorithm Fifty and we can produce the final
solution by putting them all together. The algorithm, fully expanded, is shown
in Pseudocode 4.14.
Pseudocode 4.14

The complete Fifty algorithm

Fifty
Set Score1 to 0
Set Score2 to 0
While (Score1 50) and (Score2 50)
T urn of Player 1
T urn of Player 2
IF Score1 = Score2
The game is a T ie
Else
If Score1 > Score2
Player 1 wins
Else
Player 2 wins
End Fifty

Since Turn of Player

occurs twice, it is better to
keep it as a sub-algorithm
that will be invoked twice.

152

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

We have described this of the previous algorithms in elaborate detail as an

illustration of the top-down development method because it is so important to
the production of well structured algorithms. In practice, most of these stages
would go on in the mind of the programmer without being put on paper, but they
would take place!
These shortcuts come only with experience. If you are a beginner, you should try
to design your algorithms by mimicking what we have done in this example.
After creating a few algorithms on your own, you will adapt the method to your
particular way of thinking, and creating algorithms will become easier.
Note:

Whether you are a beginner or not, you will always need method.

Incidentally, the top-down method did not come into being with computers. It
has been known for hundreds of years. Ren Descartes, the French philosopher
and mathematician, wrote in 1637 in his Discourse on Method,
Divide each difficulty into as many parts as possible
so that it may be overcome more easily.
Starting with the simplest and easiest to understand,
consider things in order, moving by degrees
to the most complex.

4.5

How Data and Algorithms Fit Together

In Chapter 3, we defined algorithms to be plans for performing actions on data.
In this chapter, we have placed the emphasis so far on the actions, and we
have hardly mentioned the data. In fact, all the data we have used in our
earlier examples have been numbers that seem simpler than actions, but we
will soon see that data can be much more complex. Lets try to establish a more
balanced view of data and actions.

Structured Data
Emphasis so far has been on the flow of control, or sequence of actions and the
structure of this flow. Our data have been simple Integers or Real Numbers, but
data can also be structured. As with algorithms, structured data can be
described by break-out diagrams.

Section 4.5

How Data and Algorithms Fit Together

153

Figure 4.22 Card deck decomposition

Rank
Ace
Suit
clubs
diamonds

2
3
4

hearts
spades

10
Jack
Queen
King

For instance, a deck of playing cards provides an example of structured data. It

consists of 52 cards, broken into four suits, each having thirteen ranks. Figure
4.22 shows a deck as a break-out diagram that is a simple, self-explanatory
structure.
Similarly, Figure 4.23 shows how a page of text (stored in a computer memory)
consists of lines, which further break up into characters. Inside the computer,
each character is represented by eight binary digits, bits. This simple structure
shows a page of 30 lines, each having 70 characters, with each character
represented by 8 bits. So, each page uses a total of 30708 or 16 800 bits.
Figure 4.23 Text break-out diagram
Page
Line
line 1
line 2
line i
line 30

char 1
char 2
char j
char 70

Char
0

bit 0

bit 1

bit 2

bit 3

bit 4

bit 5

bit 6

bit 7

In Figure 4.24 we show again how a year can be split up into months, which are
split into days and then into hours. Since there is not a constant number of days
in each month it varies from 28 to 31 the last number in the second level is
represented by an n.

154

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Figure 4.24 Time break-out diagram

Year
Jan

Month

Feb
day 1

Mar

Day

day 2
28 - 31

Dec

hour 1
2
24
hour 24

Figure 4.25 shows an organization of people, each specified by name, address

and attributes. Each of these three parts is then broken out further. Notice
that at the first level all the break-outs were of the same form (persons), but at
the second level each break-out has a different form.
Figure 4.25 People break-out diagram
Name
First

Organization

Initial

person 1

Last

person 2
person 3

Person
name

person k

address
attributes

person n

street
city/state

Number
Name

country
code
Id number

Year

birth

Month

seniority

Day

vehicles
sex

Structured data of the type in Figure 4.25 can also be represented in a linear
form using indentation. Each level is indented from the preceding level, as
shown in the representation of the previous example in Figure 4.26.

Section 4.5

How Data and Algorithms Fit Together

155

Figure 4.26 Linear form of structured data

Person 1:
Name
FirstName
Initial
LastName
Address
Street
City/State
Country
Code
Attributes
IdNumber
Birth
Year
Month
Day

:
:
:

John
M
Motil

:
:
:
:

1234 Main Street

Northridge, CA
USA
91330

123-45-6789

:
:
:

2000
Feb
29

As you may have already guessed, structured data is very important in

computing. We introduce structured data here because we want you to be aware
that data is usually more complex than what you have seen so far. Structured
data will not be used in the next three chapters in order to concentrate on the
action parts of algorithms, only simple data values will be used. In Chapter 8,
more complex data structures will be introduced and used.

Chili Recipe Example

The recipe shown in Figure 4.27 is an almost typical cooking algorithm for
making Chili; however, it can also serve as a model for programs in many
modern programming languages. The recipe comprises two major sections: the
ingredient list (right) and the algorithm (left) which gives the sequence of
operations to be performed using the ingredients.

156

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Figure 4.27 Cooking algorithm for Chili

Instructions

Ingredients

Secret Sauce
Place all ingredients in large bowl
Mix thoroughly
End Secret Sauce

3 pounds beef
2 pounds beans
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup Secret Sauce

Chili recipe
Wash beans
Add 2 quarts water
Soak overnight
Add salt
While not tender
Simmer

2 pounds of tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
_1 teaspoon paprika
4
_1 teaspoon cayenne
8
6 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons chili powder

{finished simmering}

Drain the water

Brown the meat
Add Secret Sauce
Simmer 1 hour
If too dry
Add water
End Chili recipe

Secret Sauce is a sub-recipe, listed as a part of the ingredients at the top of

Figure 4.27, and then defined as a separate recipe in the list of instructions.
Secret Sauce is viewed as an ingredient for the main recipe, but is also viewed
as a separate recipe by the cook!
In a parallel manner, an algorithm is comprised of two parts:
the data list, and
the list of instructions which shows the sequence of operations to be
performed on the data.
The model presented by Figure 4.27 (data specifications followed by subalgorithms followed by the main algorithm), corresponds to the structure of
programs written in many modern programming languages such as Pascal or
Modula-2.
The same recipe for Chili, shown as a data-flow diagram in Figure 4.28,
contrasts the previous flow of actions. Notice how Figure 4.28 resembles a tree.
Its leaves represent the data and each node indicates how the data flows
together to make new data, eventually arriving at a final node (the root of the
tree) which indicates the final data, Chili!

Section 4.5

How Data and Algorithms Fit Together

157

Figure 4.28 Data-flow diagram for Chili

beef

beans
water

Secret Sauce
salt

wash
mix

soaked
beans

soak
add
tenderize
brown

drain
combine

water

simmer
add
Chili

Root of Data Flow Diagram

There is a huge difference between the representations (pseudocode and dataflow diagram) used in Figures 4.26 and 4.27. As we have already mentioned in
Chapter 3, pseudocode describes flow of control (the sequence of actions in time),
whereas the data-flow diagram describes the flow of data without concerning
itself with actions. Pseudocode will show repetitions and selections since its
emphasis is on actions; in a data-flow diagram, repetitions and selections of
actions have no meaning.
Assertions can be made in the two algorithm representations. We have seen
that assertions were comments that indicate the situation at any given point of
an algorithm. In pseudocode, between any two statements, we can make an
assertion about the state of the operation of the algorithm. Similarly, in a
data-flow diagram, we can put an assertion with any line joining two boxes.
The assertion in the pseudocode of Figure 4.26 is shown in braces, while the
assertion in Figure 4.28 is shown in a dotted box. Notice the difference between
what is being asserted in each case:
In the pseudocode, which is action oriented, the assertion is finished
simmering, which makes a statement about the progress of the action
in relation to time.
In contrast, the assertion in the data-flow diagram, soaked beans,
makes a statement about the state of the data.
This does not mean that we cannot use the data flow assertions in the
pseudocode, as they give indications on the data that could be the results of an
action. The opposite is also true for we could probably use most pseudocode
assertions in data-flow diagram. However, in practice, the two representations
use more specialized assertions that are action-oriented or dataoriented.

158

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

To understand an algorithm, you might find that sometimes the flow of actions
is more useful, while at some other times, the flow of data is more important.
In this example, we have overemphasized the data to remind you that the role
of data in an algorithm is of equal importance as the role of actions. Our next
examples will be more action oriented, but we will define their data as well.

Card Trick Example

For more
information on
arrays, see
Chapter 8.

Now, lets look at an algorithm that uses structured data. This example
involves a card trick.
21 playing cards are placed face-up in 7 rows and 3 columns, as shown in Figure
4.29. Such a data structure is often called an array. The cards in any column are
overlapped to maintain their order, and to make a column easy to pick up
quickly.
Figure 4.29 Arrangement of cards for Card Trick
8
Q
510
7J
4

10
26
3
K
4
2

89
J
5
A
K
A

3 columns of 7 rows

Once the cards have been arranged in this manner, perform the following steps:
1.

Ask someone to select one of the 21 cards, without picking it up.

2.

Without pointing at the card, have the person indicate the column that
contains the selected card.

3.

Pick up the columns in this order:

A non-indicated column,
The indicated column
The other non-indicated column

4.

Deal out the cards in its familiar 7 rows by 3 column structure, row by
row!

5.

Repeat steps 2 through 4, twice.

6.

Finally, count off 10 cards. The 11th card will be the card that the
person selected.

This process is entirely described by Pseudocode 4.15. Try it. Notice that it
does not take any knowledge or skill on your part, just the ability to follow
directions.

Section 4.5

Pseudocode 4.15

How Data and Algorithms Fit Together

159

The Card Trick algorithm

Card Trick
Arrange 21 cards face up row by row in 3 columns and 7 rows
Have someone secretly choose a card and indicate the column of
the chosen card
Repeat 2 times
Pick up the cards column by column, with the indicated column
placed in the middle
Place the cards on the table again, row by row in
3 columns and 7 rows
Have the person indicate the column containing the chosen card
Pick up the cards in "sandwich" order as before
Count off ten cards
Show the eleventh card: it is the chosen card
End Card Trick

Binary Conversion Example

Our next example (Pseudocode 4.16) is an algorithm to convert a positive integer
number in base 10 to its equivalent in base 2. It uses one item of data, a number N,
initially stored in a variable, whose value keeps changing during the
computation. This variable is repeatedly divided by 2 and the remainder of
the divisions is output until it reaches zero. The output values (always 0 or 1),
when reversed, make up the required equivalent binary number.
Pseudocode 4.16

Decimal to Binary algorithm

Set N to the number to convert

While N > 0
Divide N by 2 yielding Quotient and Remainder
Output Remainder
Set N to Quotient

For example, let us convert the decimal number N = 13. Figure 4.30 contains a
representation of the variable N (left) showing its successive values as the
algorithm is performed (right).
Figure 4.30 Using the Decimal to Binary algorithm to convert
N=13

N =

13 6 3 1 0

13
2

= 6 with remainder (output) of 1

6
2

= 3 with remainder (output) of 0

3
1

= 1 with remainder (output) of 1

1
2

= 0 with remainder (output) of 1

reverse order of output to get 1101

160

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

As Figure 4.30 shows, the binary equivalent of 13 is 1101, or the value of the
outputs taken in reverse order.
There are many methods to convert decimal numbers to binary. Notice that this
method (Pseudocode 4.16) is very different from a previous method used in
Chapter 3, which divided the number N by successively smaller powers of 2 (8,
then 4, and finally 2).

Guessing Game Example

A guessing game involves two players, with either one being a computer. We
have already seen one version of this game in Figure 4.7. Here we will develop
a solution using a similar method, but with a different approach.
One player, the Challenger, selects a number between 0 and 100 and the other
player, the Guesser, tries to guess it in the fewest number of tries. The only
information given to the Guesser by the Challenger is whether a guess is higher
or lower than the selected number.
Challenger, in Figure 4.31, is the algorithm that could be followed by the
player who selects the number and tells the challenger if her guess is too high
or too low. This algorithm accomplishes the following actions:
It selects the mystery number,
Rates the guess, and
Keeps count of the number of guesses.
Figure 4.31 Challenger sample data and algorithm

Note:

31

Number

Count

50

Guess

Challenger
Select a Number
Set Count to 1
Request and Get a Guess
While Guess Number
If Guess is high
Output "High"
Else
Output "Low"
Increment Count
Request and Get a Guess
Output "Congratulations"
Output Count
End Challenger

This method of halving the correct range of values at each try is

called Bisection or Bracketing. It will also be useful later in solving
equations, and efficiently searching through data.

The algorithm Guesser, Figure 4.32, describes one systematic way of making
guesses, and could be followed by the player trying to guess the Challengers

Section 4.5

How Data and Algorithms Fit Together

161

number (between 0 and 100). It simply keeps track of the high and low values
that were guessed, and chooses the middle value as the next guess. The middle
value is the average of these two values. Depending on the outcome of the
guess, one of the limits is changed (to this middle value).
Figure 4.32 Guesser sample data and algorithm

100

High

Low

50

Try

Guesser
Set High to 100
Set Low to 0
Set Try to (High + Low) / 2
Output T ry
While T ry is not correct
If T ry is high
Set High to T ry
Else
Set Low to T ry
Set T ry to (High + Low) / 2
Output T ry
End Guesser

Notice that both algorithms have a similar structure consisting of a Selection

within a Repetition. Both also involve only three numbers as data. The
Challenger must know the following data:
The Number selected,
The Count, and
The Guess.
The Guesser must know the following data:
The High values, and
The Low value.
From these two limits, the Guesser computes the middle value which
is taken to be the Try.
A typical run, trace, or conversation between the Challenger and Guesser
follows. Suppose that the Challengers mystery number is 31, which is between
0 and 100. The trace in Figure 4.33 shows how the values of the two players
data change as the game is played. Remember, each player is working
according to an algorithm so that the two algorithms are performing
simultaneously but with some kind of synchronism.

162

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Figure 4.33 Trace of data between Challenger and Guesser

Challenger Trace

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.

Guesser Trace

Number = 31
Count = 1
High = 100
Low = 0
Try = (High + Low)/2 = 50
Guess = 50
Guess Number
"High"
Count = 2
Try is not correct
Try is high
High = 50
Try = (50 + 0)/2 = 25
Guess = 25
Guess Number
"Low"
Count = 3
Try
Try
Low
Try

is not correct
is low
= 25
= (50 + 25)/2 = 37

Guess = 37
Guess Number
"High"
Count = 4
Try is not correct
Try is high
High = 37
Try = (37 + 25)/2 = 31
Guess = 31
"Congratulations"
"Count = 4"

In the above figure, the number was discovered in just 4 guesses. In general, it
would have taken at most 7 guesses. This is because the right answer always
lies between the values of High and Low, this is the Range. The Range starts
at 100 and is halved each time a guess is made. After seven tries, the range
will be 1, which must be the right answer. Often, the right number will be tried
before seven guesses. The algorithms will terminate earlier. In n tries, this
bisection algorithm can select between 2n numbers. So in ten tries, it can guess
any number between 0 and 1023. Using this technique, if the Challenger
selected a number between 0 and 1 000 000, the Guesser would take at most 20
tries to find it!

Section 4.6

4.6

Review: Top Ten Things to Remember

163

Review Top Ten Things to Remember

1.

Structured Programming is a method of organizing algorithms in a

simple form, using a small number of building blocks, with simple
limited interconnections between them. It usually results in algorithms
which are clear, orderly, understandable, efficient, modifiable and
provable.

2.

In Structured Programming, all algorithms are built from four standard

building blocks or fundamental forms:
Sequence: actions are sequentially ordered and are performed one
after the other.
Selection: a condition chooses which action will be performed.
Repetition: one or more actions will be repeatedly performed a
number of times.
Invocation: defines a group of actions and names it. These actions
are performed by invoking the group name.
Each of theses forms has a single entry and a single exit.

3.

All possible algorithms may be created using the Four Fundamental

Forms, interconnected using one of the following two methods:
Serial. one form follows another.
Nesting. one form is contained within another.

4.

Algorithms should be viewed as a collection of connected forms rather

than a number of boxes for a one large form. Viewing algorithms in this
way helps reduce their apparent complexity, thus keeping them
simple. To create well-structured algorithms, use flowblock diagrams
or pseudocode instead of flowcharts.

5.

Abstraction is the process of reducing the complexity by hiding details.

Actions are grouped and replaced by the group name, thus reducing the
amount of detail, and giving a simpler, abstract view.

6.

Equivalent Algorithms are identical in behavior, but may be structured

differently. When two algorithms are equivalent, there is an
opportunity to select one or the other, depending on your goals. For now,
it is important to remember that there can be many different ways of
constructing an algorithm to solve the same problem.

7.

Alternative Algorithms are algorithms which act the same, but do not
produce the same output for all possible cases. Alternative algorithms
are similar in behavior and may be structured differently.

8.

Top-down Design (whose motto is divide and conquer) is the process of

developing an algorithm by starting at the most general view birdseye view, and then proceeding stepwise by refining all parts until
ending up at the details worms eye view.

164

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

9.

Actions and Data are both considered in this chapter, but the emphasis
is on the structure of actions (control flow). To keep the two in
perspective, stepwise refinement can also be applied to data with
break-out diagrams.

10.

Data-flow diagrams emphasize data rather than actions and provide

another approach to the design of solutions. They are a complement of
the control flow diagrams (flowblocks and pseudocode).

Section 4.7

4.7

Glossary

165

Glossary
Abstraction: A method of conceptual
simplification through the
suppression of details that are
irrelevant to the application of the
abstraction.
Action: some small process applied to
some data.
Array: A data organization by rows
and columns.
Assertion: A statement that is either
true or false.
Binary search: A search algorithm
that repeatedly halves the area of
search until it is reduced to one
element, the object of the search or it
is found that the item is not present in
the data being searched.
Bisection search: Synonym for Binary
search.
Data: Something given or measured.
Data Structure: Organization of data
elements grouped for a given purpose.
Divide and Conquer: A method to
break the complexity by considering
small parts of a problem.
Four Fundamental Forms: The
Sequence, Selection, Repetition and
Invocation forms; each of which has
a single entry point and a single exit
point. These four forms together are
sufficient to build all programs.
Hierarchical programming: Synonym
for top-down design.
Invocation: Use of a sub-algorithm.
One of the Four Fundamental Forms.
Method: Orderly procedure.

Modular design: Software design

where the program is divided into
separate sections or modules that are
relatively independent so that any
modifications to the program tend to
be confined to only a few modules.
Nesting: The inclusion of a given
form into another.
Record: An aggregate of data values
of possibly different types arranged
in a hierarchical manner.
Repetition: One or more actions
repeatedly performed a number of
times. One of the Four Fundamental
Forms.
Selection: A condition or decision
which chooses an action to be
performed. One of the Four
Fundamental Forms.
Sequence: One of the Four
Fundamental Forms.
Structured programming: A technique
for organizing programs by building
them from a few basic blocks like the
Four Fundamental Forms.
Structured Data: data made of
several parts.
Top-down: A way of defining things
starting at a general level and
descending gradually into details.

166

Chapter 4

4.8

Problems

Algorithm Structure

1.

Change Change
The change-making program of Pseudocode 4.6 can be modified in many
ways. One way is to anticipate problems in the input values and act
accordingly. For example, the input cost may be negative, or it may be
more than the amount tendered (one dollar in this case). Draw a
flowblock diagram to take this situation into account.

2.

Friendly Time-out
The following algorithm accepts input of a time in 12-hour digital form
as hours H (ranging from 1 to 12) and minutes M (ranging from 0 to 59). It
outputs the time in a friendly form as shown on the following flowblock
diagram. However, there is an error in this algorithm; it does not work
for some values. Test this algorithm and find the error.

Problem 2
Input H, M

Output H " O'Clock"

True

Output "Half past " H

M=0

True

Output M " minutes after " H

Output (60 - M) " minutes before " H + 1

False

M = 30

True

False

0 < M < 30

False

Section 4.8

3.

Problems

167

Dispense 15
The given flowchart describes a machine that accepts a sequence of
input coins (nickels and dimes only) and outputs a 15-cent item and the
appropriate change of 5 cents, or zero.
This algorithm consists of a complex nest of Selection forms. Draw
this in the form of a flowblock diagram. Then create another simpler
algorithm by using a Repetition form.
Problem 3

Input C

True

False

C=5

Input C

True

C=5

Input C

True

C=5

Input C

False

True

C=5

Output
Item

False

Output
Change

False
Output
Item

Output
Item

Output
Item

Output
Change

4.

Chili Block
Convert the Chili recipe pseudocode, in Figure 4.27, into a flowblock
diagram.

5.

Convert
Convert the pseudocode for the Triangle Classification 1 algorithm
shown in Pseudocode 4.4 into a flowblock diagram.

168

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

6.

More Compare
Extend the Compare algorithm of Figure 4.5 so that it indicates also
whether the input values are constant, non increasing (for example 3, 2,
2), non decreasing, increasing then decreasing (like 1, 3, 2), decreasing
then increasing.

7.

Change Make Change

Modify the Make Change algorithm of Pseudocode 4.6:
a) so that any amount T can be tendered (input).
b) so that half-dollars can be given as change.
c)

8.

so that two-dollar bills can be given as change.

More-Time
Create an algorithm to convert a given number of seconds S (say one
million) into the equivalent number of days D, hours H, minutes M and
seconds S. Represent this algorithm in two different ways, in
pseudocode similar to Make Change and as a data-flow diagram.

9.

Pints
Create an algorithm to convert a given number of pints into its
equivalent number of gallons, quarts and pints. Note: 4 quarts = 1
gallon, 2 pints = 1 quart.

10.

Romanums
Create an algorithm to convert Arabic numbers (ordinary positive
integers) into their corresponding Roman numbers. Assume inputs less
than 300 at first, then extend to 3000.
a) if, at most, four consecutive occurrences of a single symbol are
allowed, where 4 is IIII, 90 is LXXXX and 1984 is
MDCCCCLXXXIIII.
b) if, at most, three consecutive occurrences of a single symbol are
allowed where 4 is IV, 90 is XC and 1984 is MCMLXXXIV
Note: I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, M = 1000
Hint: See the Change Maker problem.

Section 4.8

11.

Problems

169

Dispense 7
Create an algorithm to dispense items costing 7 cents. The inputs are
sequences of nickels or pennies only, with only one coin entered at a
time. The outputs are an item and appropriate change.

12.

General Problems on Top-Down

Design an algorithm, top-down, for four of the following. Show the
break-out diagrams for three to four levels only.
1.

Start a car.

12. Clean a fish.

2.

Make a phone call.

13. Paint a wall.

3.

Shave (face or leg).

14. Change a light bulb.

4.

Shampoo your hair.

15. Make a bed.

5.

Operate a combination
lock.

16. Sharpen a pencil.

6.

Set an alarm clock.

7.

Parallel park a car.

18. Find a name in a telephone

directory.

8.

Balance checkbook.

9.

Wash your clothes.

10. Shop for groceries.

11. Replace flashlight
batteries.

13.

17. Tie a knot (bow).

19. Fold a newspapers to create

a hat.
20. Decide which four of the
above to do.

Create Your Own

Create an algorithm describing something of your own choice. Develop
it in a structured top-down manner.
Some examples are:

operating a machine, camera, camp stove, projector, computer,

going through a process, repairing something, developing film,

playing or scoring a game, bowling, tic-tac-toe, hide and seek.

Dice Problems
Create algorithms (top-down and structured, of course) describing the following
dice games. The problems involving archery and darts are really disguised dice
problems. The dice problems could also be translated into similar games of skill
rather than games of chance.

170

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

14.

Rotation Dice
The game of Rotation is played with two dice and two people. The
players each take a turn for a round. There are 11 rounds in a game, one
for each of the combinations: 2, 3, 4, up to 12. During the first round, the
goal is to throw a 2, during the second round it is to throw a 3 and so
on up to 12. Each time a player is successful, that number of points is
added to that players score; otherwise nothing is added. The winner is
the player with the higher score after the 11 rounds.

15.

Pig Dice
The game of Pig is played with one die and two people. The players
each take a turn during a round and the rounds continue while all scores
are less than 100. During a players turn, the die is repeatedly thrown
and the score accumulated until either a 1 comes up or the player
chooses to stop. If the 1 comes up, the sum is lost; otherwise, it is added
to the players score. The winner is the one whose score is the highest
at the end of the game.

16.

Dice Climb
Create an algorithm describing the following game involving two
players and one die. The players try to roll a 1, then a 2, a 3 and so on,
up to 6, in that order, but not necessarily one number immediately
following the other. First, they roll a die to determine who goes first
(the highest). Then, they alternate turns, stopping as soon as one
player (the winner) reaches the value 6. During each turn, a player
rolls the die once and keeps rolling only if the desired numbers are
obtained.

17.

Dice 21
The game of Dice 21, or dice blackjack, is played with one die and any
number of players. Each player in turn rolls the die until the
accumulated sum is 16 or over. If the sum is over 21, the player goes
bust and is eliminated from the game. The winner is the player (or
players) whose score is closest to 21 after all players have had a turn.

18.

Archery Scram
Create an algorithm describing the following game of skill involving
two players shooting arrows at a target. The target consists of nested
circles labeled with values from 1 to 6; value 1 is farthest out and value
6 is in the center, or Bulls eye.

Section 4.8

Problems

171

The players shoot one arrow each. The one who comes closest to the
center becomes the stopper, and the other becomes the scorer. They
then take turns, each shooting three arrows per turn. The stopper aims
to close a sector by hitting it. The scorer aims to get as many points as
possible, before all sectors are closed. When all sectors are closed, the
players swap roles. The winner is the player who scores the highest.

172

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

19.

Darts
Create an algorithm describing the following simple dart game. It
involves two people throwing darts at a circular target that is divided
into different scoring areas. The first turn goes to the player who
throws a dart closest to the center of the target. Each player throws
three darts in a turn, starting with a given score (say 101) and attempts
to reduce the score exactly to zero by subtracting points corresponding to
where the darts land. If a players score would take the player past
zero, the score does not change. The first player to reach zero wins.

Section 4.8

Problems

173

174

Chapter 4

Algorithm Structure

Chapter Outline

175

Chapter 5 Algorithm Behavior

In this chapter, we finally begin to consider programs, which are algorithms
that are intended for computers. All the algorithm concepts we have seen so far
apply to programs, including their properties, their various representations
and the Four Fundamental Forms.

Chapter Overview
5.1
5.2

Preview....................................................................176
Programs...................................................................176
Data for Programs.....................................................176
Actions In Programs...................................................179
5.3 Sequence Forms..........................................................182
More Programs Using the Sequence Form.....................183
5.4 Selection Forms.........................................................185
Simple Selection Forms.............................................185
Proofs of Equivalence for Simple Selection Forms........187
Larger Selection Forms..............................................189
Proofs of Equivalence for Larger Selection Forms.........192
Nested Selections......................................................194
Logical Conditions....................................................198
Using Logical Conditions to Simplify Selections.........201
5.5 Repetition Forms.......................................................203
The Repeat-Until Form.............................................203
The Disadvantages of Using the Repeat-Until Form..206
The While Loop Form...............................................209
Getting Insights Using Traces and Invariants............212
5.6 Invocation Forms.......................................................219
Seconds Example.......................................................221
De-militarize Time Example.....................................222
5.7 Improving Programs..................................................224
Nested Loops and Selections......................................224
Using Invariants.......................................................229
5.8 Review Top Ten Things to Remember........................234
5.9 Glossary...................................................................235
5.10 Problems...................................................................236

176

Chapter 5

5.1

Preview

Algorithm Behavior

In order to concentrate on the algorithm actions, we will now view d a t a

uniformly as boxes containing the various kinds of values, like Integers, Real
Numbers, Logical values, and so on. Actions, including arithmetic operations,
input and output operations, and assignments, will be limited to manipulations
of these simple data values.
The Four Fundamental Forms (Sequence, Selection, Repetition and Invocation)
will be considered here in more detail, from a behavioral point of view. This
means that we will concentrate on the dynamic aspect of an algorithm. In other
words, what happens in the computer as it carries out or executes the
algorithm. This dynamic view of an algorithm is in contrast to the static view,
which corresponds to the algorithm on paper or on the computer screen.
As we study the behavior of an algorithm, we will be concerned with all
possible paths that can be followed through its actions. We will show and
prove the equivalence of behavior of certain algorithms.
Although very simple, the Sequence form is extremely important, and will be
considered again briefly.
Selection Forms, which we have already introduced, will be reviewed in this
chapter and the equivalence of several different selections will be studied and
verified using symbolic logic truth tables.
The behavior of Repetition Forms is considerably more complex than other
forms. In fact, Repetition Forms are the most complex form. We will describe
them using two-dimensional traces, so as to yield insight into their dynamic
behavior. Certain assertions about the state of a program are not changed by
executing the body of a loop; these are known as loop invariants and are briefly
introduced. Later in this chapter, we will use loop invariants to improve
programs.
We can view Invocation Forms as data-flow diagrams or black boxes, in order to
provide an easy and early introduction to an otherwise complex mechanism.
Here, we limit our consideration of nested forms to simple nests. In the
subsequent chapters we will consider larger programs and their design.

5.2

Programs
Data for Programs
The algorithms considered until now have been quite general, involving data
that are as diverse as people, dice, cards, resistors, pebbles, triangles, recipes
and money.

Section 5.2

Programs

177

Programs are algorithms expressed in a form that can be carried out, or

executed, by computers. Any program has a limited set of data to manipulate.
Such program data can be represented by labeled boxes, called variables, that
contain various types of data values. The contents of these boxes may be
examined, copied, or replaced, by the program as it executes. The physical
realization of the boxes may be electronic, magnetic, chemical or other, but this
aspect is relatively unimportant for programming.
A variable has the following three components:
an identifier,
a data type, and
a value
Figure 5.1 gives a graphical representation of these three components.
Figure 5.1

Components of a variable in a computer program

Variable (Box)

Type
(kind of box)

21

Age

Value
(content)

Identifier
(label)

An identifier is a symbolic name that serves to label a programming variable.

In actual programs, it is a good idea to use descriptive variable names such as
MinimumAge or CountOfSheep in order to make the programs easier to
understand. Here, in a few short sample programs, we sometimes use brief
names such as X, Y, or Z as in algebra, for convenience.
A data type describes an item of data. It indicates a range or set of values that
the data item may have, along with the operations that may be applied to
these values. We could view the data type as the size or shape of the box
containing a data value. In this chapter, we will consider three main data
types: Integers, Real Numbers and Characters, some examples of which are
shown in the following figures.
When counting, thevalues are whole or integral numbers (such as 0, 1,
2001, -7, etc.); they are of Integer type. Integers could describe
populations, dice throws, days in a month or the age of people.
Actually, computers have a limit as to how large an integer can be.
This limit may be as small as 32 768 or (215), but is usually much larger.
Integers will be the most common data type used in this chapter.
When measuring, we obtain values that may be portions of a unit and
usually have a decimal point; they are Real Numbers. For example,
the radius of a circle could be a Real Number. The constant
(3.1415926535...) is also a Real Number.

178

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Figure 5.2
21
-500

Examples of Integer type data

Age
Balance

Count

0205080057

ISBN

1984

Year

Most Real Numbers can only be approximated by computers. For

instance, has an infinite number of decimals while a Real Number
variable in a computer has a fixed space to store fractional parts. This
means that longer values must be truncated. For some Real Number
values, the decimal notation may be awkward, so a scientific or
exponential notation is often used. Take, for instance, the
MassOfElectron from Figure 5.3. This number could be written in a more
concise notation as 9.1110-30, which means that there are 29 zeros
between the decimal point and the 911. This scientific notation is
usually written in programs as 9.11E-30.
Figure 5.3

Examples of Real Number type data

3.1415926535
123456.78
0.125

Could also be
represented as
9.11E-30.

0.00000000000000000000000000000911

Pi
Quantity
Rate
MassOfElectron

Our next data type, the Character type is used in the process of
communication. A character is any single letter, digit, punctuation, or
other symbol from a keyboard. The character type would correspond to
a box, holding only one single symbol selected from dozens on the
keyboard as shown in Figure 5.4. Character values will be indicated
within single quotes, to eliminate confusion between values (such as A)
and identifiers (such as A).
Figure 5.4
'+'

Function

'A'

grade

'J'

Initial

'.'

Period

Examples of Character type data

Section 5.2

Programs

179

There are also other data types such as the Logical type (also called Boolean
type) that comes from decision-making, which comprises only two values, True
and False. Logical expressions are usually found as conditions in either the
Selection or Repetition Forms.
Figure 5.5
Logical
String

Examples of other types

False

Tall

'Once upon a time ... lived happily ever after.'

Story

Other data types often used include the String type, consisting of a sequence of
characters, as shown in Figure 5.5.
Figure 5.6

Examples of two aggregate data types

Person 1:

An array of 21 cards
3 columns of 7 rows

10
26
3
K
4
2

8
Q
510
7J
4

8
9
J
5
A
K
A

Name
FirstName
Initial
LastName
Address
Street
City
Country
Code
Attributes
IdNumber
Birth
Year
Month
Day

:
:
:

John
M
Motil

:
:
:
:

1234 Main Street

Northridge, CA
USA
91330

123-45-6789

:
:
:

2001
Feb
29

Structured data may also consist of a collection or aggregate of individual

values. For example, an array of cards from the card trick example and the
employee record from a personnel file first seen in Chapter 4 are shown in
Figure 5.6. Aggregate data types will be considered in Chapter 8.

Actions In Programs
The kind of operations or actions that can be performed on data depends on the
type of the data, and this is why the operations are an implicit part of a data
type. For example, the logical operators AND, OR, and NOT only apply to
Logical type valuesthey cannot apply to Real Numbers, Integers, or
Characters. On the other hand, Real Numbers and Integers may be added,
subtracted, multiplied and divided, yielding results of the same type. Such
arithmetic operations cannot act on variables of Logical or Character types
dividing two characters would be meaningless.
One of the most important operations in a program is the assignment, which
operates on a l l data types. The assignment is the process of giving a value to a

180

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

variable, the act of putting some content into a box. The assignment operation is
represented by the phrase Set Variable to Value, as in the following
assignment:
Set X to 3
or alternately,
X
This puts the value 3 into the variable box labeled X. If box X contained a
value before this assignment, the old value is replaced by the new value 3. A
more general assignment notation involves two variables as illustrated in
Figure 5.7.
Figure 5.7

An Assignment example
Before

Action:

X =

Y =

X =

Y =

Set Y to X
After

The statement, Set Y to X, can be also read as Y gets X or Y becomes X or

simply Y is assigned X. It specifies that the value is to be copied from box X,
and put into box Y, destroying the previous value of Y. Assigning a value is a
process of copying, not of moving this operation does not change the value
contained in X.
Figure 5.7 shows a snapshot of the values of variables X and Y, both before and
after the assignment. If X had not previously been given a value, then this
assignment would be meaningless. If the value to be assigned is an expression (a
mathematical formula), then that expression is evaluated, and its resulting
value is assigned to the variable.
Figure 5.8

The Increment operation

Before Count = 3
Action:

Set Count to Count + 1

After

Count =

The increment operation of Figure 5.8 shows how the value of variable Count is
increased by a constant. This action is often used to increment a counter and it

Section 5.2

Programs

181

can also be denoted by Increment Count by 1. It should be viewed as one

action, and not as a sequence of smaller actions: get the value in Count, add one
to it, put the result back into Count.
Figure 5.9

Accumulating a Total

Before Total = 8
Action: Set

Value =

Value =

Total to Total + Value

After Total

= 10

The operation of Figure 5.9, Sum or Accumulate, is a convenient operation where

Value is added to the value in Total, thus accumulating a sum; it is equivalent to
Increment Total by Value.
Other useful actions that do not directly use the assignment operator are
Input/Output operations. An Input operation allows an external value to be
read into a variable, thus destroying any previous value of that variable.
Similarly, the Output operation displays the value of a given variable,
without modifying that variable.
Common operations between data of the same type include the operations of
comparison. Usually such operations apply to numbers, but they also have
meaning for characters. Comparisons include checking relations of equality,
superiority, inferiority, etc. Characters are assumed to be in alphabetical (or
lexicographic) order, so character a is less than character b.
Other actions on variables include special functions (such as finding the square
root, or the trigonometric sine), which will be considered when they are
encountered.

5.3

Sequence Forms
The simplest computer algorithms involve a sequence of actions executed one
after the other, and the simplest Sequence programs involve actions that are
all similar.
Lets take an example and suppose that the four variables North, South, East
and West represent four traffic densities: the number of cars that travel North,
South, East or West through some intersection in one minute.
Lets design an algorithm to compute the average traffic density, Mean, of the
four values North, South, East, and West. This Mean value is a measure of the
activity of the intersection that will be computed and printed out every minute
to show how the traffic density through the intersection changes with time.

182

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

The value of Mean is obtained by summing the four values and dividing their
sum by 4.
The Average algorithm, which computes this Mean, is shown at left of Figure
5.10 with a trace of its execution at the right. Suppose that the values of
North, South, East and West were 20, 10, 40, and 30 respectively. First,
variable Sum is set to zero. Then, the value in North is added to it, replacing
the zero in Sum by 20. At the third step, the value of South is added into Sum
bringing it to 30. Similarly in step 4, the value of East is accumulated bringing
Sum to 70 and finally the value of West is added, ultimately yielding a Sum
of 100. Finally, at step 6, this value of 100 is divided by 4 to yield the value of
Mean, 25.
Figure 5.10 The Average algorithm
Average
Set Sum to 0
Set Sum to Sum + North
Set Sum to Sum + South
Set Sum to Sum + East
Set Sum to Sum + West
Set Mean to Sum / 4
End Average

Step
1
2
3
4
5
6

Sum Mean North South East

0
?
20
10
40
20
?
20
10
40
30
?
20
10
40
70
?
20
10
40
100
?
20
10
40
100
25
20
10
40

West
30
30
30
30
30
30

unchanged values

The trace of an algorithm is a series of snapshots of the data values as the

various operations of the algorithm are executed. A trace of the execution of
the Average algorithm is shown in Figure 5.10, with the data values shown to
the right of each step of the algorithm. Since the values of North, South, East
and West are not changed, they need not be repeated. The query mark, ? ,
shown for the values of Mean, indicates that, at that point in the execution of
the program, the value of Mean is unknown. Traces will be very useful for
studying the behavior of algorithms, especially the more complex ones.
Figure 5.11 Data and actions for Average
Data
Data Structure

Actions
Algorithm Structure

North

20

South

10

East

40

West

30

4
5

Sum
Mean

Set
Set
Set
Set
Set
Set

Sum to 0
Sum to Sum + North
Sum to Sum + South
Sum to Sum + East
Sum to Sum + West
Mean to Sum / 4

Section 5.3

Sequence Forms

183

Figure 5.11 shows two kinds of structures. On the left of the figure, the data
structure comprises six variables or boxes, and on the right side of the figure the
algorithm structure consists of six actions. To average 50 numbers with this
method would require 52 data boxes (one for Sum, one for Mean, and one for each
data item), and also 52 actions (one for initializing Sum, one for each
accumulation, and one for dividing). For large amounts of data, this sequential
method is long and tedious. Later, we will find a better way to accomplish this
using the Repetition form. For a few numbers though, this Sequence form of
averaging is acceptable.
Although the Sequence Form in Figure 5.16 is correct, our simple traffic average
could also be computed by using a single action:
Set Mean to (North + South + East + West)/4
The simple Average program of Figure 5.11 can be generalized by replacing the
constant value of 4 by a variable Count. This variable can be set to the actual
number of values to average and used in the division. We will see more on this
in Chapter 6.

More Programs Using the Sequence Form

Pseudocode 5.1 shows a simple algorithm consisting of a series of assignments.
It describes the calculation of the full selling price, including sales tax, for some
quantity of a single item.
Pseudocode 5.1

A sales program with comments

Sales
Input ItemPrice
Input Quantity
Set SalePrice to ItemPrice Quantity
Set TaxRate to 0.065
Set TaxPaid to TaxRate SalePrice
Set FullPrice to SalePrice + TaxPaid
Output FullPrice
End Sales

Enter the price of an item

Enter the number of items
Calculate selling price
Set sales tax rate
Calculate tax on selling price
Calculate full price with tax
Write out the full price

Another example, shown on Figure 5.12, is an algorithm that interchanges the

values of two variables. To do this, it uses a Temporary variable. The purpose
of the Temporary variable is to save the value of Variable1, which is
replaced in step 2.
A trace of this Swap algorithm is shown at the right of the figure. As we have
seen before, the trace consists of a series of snapshots of the values of the
variables showing their change from Before state to the After state. This
trace could be made more general by replacing the constant values 5 and 7 by
markers like x and y that can represent any value.

184

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Figure 5.12 Swap Algorithm

Before Swap

Variable1 =

Variable2 =

Temporary =

Swap
Set Temporary to Variable1

Set Variable1 to Variable2

Set Variable2 to Temporary

End Swap

After Swap

Variable1 =

Variable2 =

Temporary =

The Swap algorithm swaps the values of Variable1 and Variable2 using
following three steps:

5.4

1.

The value of Variable1 (7) is put into Temporary.

2.

The value of Variable2 (5) is put into Variable1 (replacing the 7

already in Variable1).

3.

Finally the value of Temporary (7) is put into Variable2 (replacing

the 5 already in Variable2).

Selection Forms
Simple Selection Forms
Our first example to illustrate Selection Forms will be based on finding an
absolute value. The absolute value of a number (positive or negative) is the
positive value of the number without its sign. A flowblock diagram of an
algorithm, which produces the absolute value of a variable X and puts it into
the variable Absolute, is shown at the left of Figure 5.13. Its corresponding
pseudocode is given at the right of the same figure.
Figure 5.13 The Absolute Value algorithm
Set Y to X
T

X<0

Set Y to -X

Set Absolute to X
If X < 0
Set Absolute to (0 X)

Section 5.4

Selection Forms

185

If the value is negative, it is subtracted from 0 and the positive result assigned
to Absolute. If the value is positive, it is left untouched. Alternatively, the
algorithm could have multiplied any negative value by -1, again resulting in a
positive value. Since multiplication on a computer is more complex and slower
than subtraction, we will use the algorithm that uses subtraction.
Note that instead of subtracting X from 0 for negative numbers, we could have
simply written Set Absolute to -X where the minus operator is put in front of
the X.
The next examples that illustrate Selection Forms show two Maximum
algorithms at the left and right sides of Figure 5.14. They show two different
ways of finding the maximum value of two variables, X and Y.
Figure 5.14 Maximum value
Proof of equivalence
condition

Maximum1
If X > Y
Set Max1 to X
Else
Set Max1 to Y
End Maximum1

input
X
Y

output
Max1 Max2

X < Y

= 1

X = Y

= 2

X > Y

3 = 3

Maximum2
Set Max2 to Y
If X > Y
Set Max2 to X
End Maximum2

Equivalent

See Chapter 3,
Figure 3.44 for a
previous version
of Maximum1.

To get a better
understanding
of what
equivalence is,
see Chapter 4,
Section 4.3.

We have seen Maximum1 before. It states that if X is greater than Y,

then Max1 (the maximum value) is assigned the value X. Otherwise,
Max1 is assigned Y.
Maximum2 starts by assigning Y to be the maximum value, Max2.
Then, it tests to see if Y was, in fact, the greater of the two values. If
this was not the case and X is the actual maximum, the algorithm
assigns the value of X to Max2. This example illustrates a commonly
used method or paradigm of computing: first make a guess, then correct
it, if necessary.
The center of Figure 5.14 demonstrates the equivalence of Maximum1 and
Maximum2. It consists of a table showing all possible conditions (the three
combinations of values of X and Y shown in the leftmost column). For each of the
three conditions, typical values for X and Y are chosen and the results, Max1
and Max2 of each algorithm, are evaluated. If these results are the same in all
three possible cases, then the algorithms Maximum1 and Maximum2 are
equivalent.
These Maximum examples illustrate that algorithms having different
structures can still have the same behavior. In this example, one structure is not
particularly preferable over the other.

186

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Lets extend somewhat the Maximum algorithms we have just considered, into
the three Big-Small algorithms, shown in Pseudocode 5.2. These will return
two results: the maximum value Big, and the smallest value Small, of the two
values X and Y.
Pseudocode 5.2
BigSmall1
If X > Y
Set Big to X
Set Small to Y
Else
Set Big to Y
Set Small to X
End BigSmall1

The Big-Small algorithms

BigSmall2
Set Big to Y
Set Small to X
If Small > Big
Set Big to X
Set Small to Y
End BigSmall2

BigSmall3
Set Big to Y
Set Small to X
If Small > Big
Swap Big, Small
End BigSmall3

The algorithm BigSmall1 is very similar to the algorithm

Maximum1, but with the result including the minimum value as well
as the maximum value.
The algorithm BigSmall2 is structured like the algorithm
Maximum2, but extended to also find the minimum value.
The algorithm BigSmall3 begins much like BigSmall2 by making an
initial and arbitrary assignment to Big and Small. Then, it tests to see
if the assignment was correct and, if not, the values of Big and Small
are swapped. In order to swap the values, the final algorithm uses the
sub-algorithm Swap, which we defined previously in Figure 5.12.
All of these algorithms are more or less equivalent, but we must make sure by
proving that they are equivalent without assuming it! Lets look at the
algorithm equivalence in more detail.

Proofs of Equivalence for Simple Selection Forms

Algorithms involving Selection Forms can be proven to be equivalent by testing
them for all possible combinations of values, as we did for the Maximum
algorithms in the previous section. This process is similar to the truth table
proofs of symbolic logic. Lets look at two simple algorithms involving a
Selection of individuals based on age and sex.

Section 5.4

Selection Forms

187

Figure 5.15 Two algorithms involving Selection Forms

Conditions
Old
Male

If old
Aged
Else
Child
If male
Boy

Actions
Right

Left

= Child

Child

Child,Boy = Child,Boy

Aged

= Aged

Aged

= Aged

If old
Aged
Else
Child
If young male
Boy

Equivalent

At the left and right of Figure 5.15 are two algorithms involving two Selections
based on age and sex. There are three actions Aged, Boy, and Child
corresponding to three categories with the same names. These algorithms could
be used within a larger algorithm where Aged, Boy, and Child are actions that
update counters. For example, every girl could cause a Children variable to be
incremented, and every boy could cause both the Boys and Children variables
to be incremented.
These two algorithms can be proved to be equivalent in behavior by creating a
table of all possible combinations of conditions, and testing if the resulting
actions are the same for both algorithms.
The truth table in the center of Figure 5.15 shows the table of combinations
corresponding to the two algorithms. In all four cases the two algorithms
behave identically, and are thus equivalent. Either one of these algorithms
could be substituted for the other.
You may have noticed the difference between the two algorithms: the first one
uses nested Selections while the second one uses a sequence of two Selections.
Which algorithm should we prefer? The answer is not always clear.
Sometimes sequential Selections are preferred over nested Selections. Figure
5.16 shows another example where nested Selections are compared with
sequentially connected Selections.
Figure 5.16 Nested versus sequentially connected Selections
Conditions
Value
Age<12 Age>21 Age

If Age < 12
Increment Low
Else
If Age > 21
Increment High

Actions
Left
Right

18

none

none

25

High

High

10

Low

Low

??

???

???

Equivalent

If Age < 12
Increment Low
If Age > 21
Increment High

188

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

The table at center of Figure 5.16 shows all four combinations of the possible
conditions. The first combination includes all ages from 12 to 21 inclusive,
while the second includes all ages greater than 21, and the third includes all
ages less than 12. The last combination, however, (Age < 12 and Age > 21) can
have no age that satisfies it; this logical combination is not physically
possible and cannot happen, so it need not be considered. All of the other
conceivable combinations are possible, and produce identical results, so the
algorithms are equivalent.
The test values shown are 18, 25, and 10, and are sufficient to trace all three
paths through these two algorithms (Increment Low, Increment High, do
nothing) to prove their equivalence. Other test values could also be used. For
example, the test value of 18 corresponds to the condition where (Age < 12) is
False and (Age > 21) is also False, or to the equivalent condition where (Age
12) and (Age 21) is True. So, any age between 12 and 21 inclusive can replace
the test age of 18. Similarly, the test value of 25 can be replaced by any value
larger than 21 and the test value of 10 can be replaced by any value smaller
than 12 (but not by a negative age!).
Figure 5.17 Another proof involving Selections
Conditions
Cond1 Cond2

If Cond1
Action1
Else
If Cond2
Action2

Actions
Left

Right

none

none

Action1

Action1

Action2

Action2

Action1

Action1,Action2

If Cond1
Action1
If Cond2
Action2

Not Equivalent

Figure 5.17 shows yet another set of examples that have a form similar to the
examples in Figure 5.16. Nested Selections are compared with two Selections
connected sequentially. The two pairs differ, however, in their conditions. The
table of combinations, at the center of Figure 5.17, shows one combination (the
last) where the behaviors differ. This one case is sufficient to prove that they
are not equivalent.
All the above examples involved only two Selections, so at most four
combinations needed to be tested. If an example involved three such conditions,
then there would be eight combinations to test. We will consider such an
example next.

Larger Selection Forms

When people vote in meetings, they usually vote for or against some proposal,
and the votes are counted so that a majority may be determined. Majority
voting can be applied to a collection of two-valued data with values 0 and 1,

Section 5.4

Selection Forms

189

True and False, or Yes and No. Lets define an algorithm to act on three binary
variables A, B, and C (each having the value 0 or 1) and to output their
majority value. A table describing the Majority algorithm is shown in Figure
5.18.
Figure 5.18 Specification of Majority Voting

We first
encountered this
algorithm in
Chapter 3,
Figure 3.16

In the above table, the combination of values (1, 0, 1) corresponds to the third
line from the bottom of this table, which has an index number of 5. There are at
least six possible algorithms that can produce the results specified by the
table. These algorithms are shown below in Pseudocode 5.3 through 5.8,
Majority Method 1 through Majority Method 6.
Pseudocode 5.3

Algorithm Majority Method 1

Majority Method 1
If A = O
If B = 0
If C = 0
Set Majority
Else
Set Majority
Else
If C = 0
Set Majority
Else
Set Majority
Else
If B = 0
If C = 0
Set Majority
Else
Set Majority
Else
If C = 0
Set Majority
Else
Set Majority
End Majority Method 1

to 0

{Combination 0}

to 0

{Combination 1}

to 0

{Combination 2}

to 1

{Combination 3}

to 0

{Combination 4}

to 1

{Combination 5}

to 1

{Combination 6}

to 1

{Combination 7}

190

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Majority Method 1 is based on a systematic and exhaustive enumeration of all

possible values. It involves a total of seven Selections (count them) to evaluate
the 8 possible combinations. The numbers 0 to 7 in the assertions in braces
correspond to the index in the table of combinations in Figure 5.18. You might
have noticed that this index corresponds to the binary number represented by
the combination (for example, the 1, 1, 0 combination is the binary
representation of number 6).
Pseudocode 5.4

Algorithm Majority Method 2

Majority Method 2
Set Sum to 0
If A = 1
Set Sum to Sum + 1
If B = 1
Set Sum to Sum + 1
If C = 1
Set Sum to Sum + 1
If Sum 2
Set Majority to 1
Else
Set Majority to 0
End Majority Method 2

This second version simply accumulates in variable Sum the number of times
the value of 1 appears in the three cases. Then, if the value of Sum is greater
than or equal to 2, the value of Majority is 1, otherwise it is 0.
Pseudocode 5.5

Algorithm Majority Method 3

Majority Method 3
If (A + B + C) 2
Set Majority to 1
Else
Set Majority to 0
End Majority Method 3

This third algorithm is shorter and simpler. It has a single but complex
Selection, which asks if the sum (A+B+C) is greater than or equal to 2 and if so,
the Majority is set to 1, otherwise it is set to 0.

Section 5.4

Pseudocode 5.6

Selection Forms

191

Algorithm Majority Method 4

Majority Method 4
If A < B
If A < C
Set Majority to 1
Else
Set Majority to 0
Else
If B < C
Set Majority to A
Else
Set Majority to B
End Majority Method 4

{Combination 3}
(Combination 2}
{Combination 1, 5}
{Combination 0, 4, 6, 7}

Note that the value assigned to Majority

is dependent on the values of A or B.

Most likely path

taken: half of the
combinations
take it.

The fourth method (Pseudocode 5.6) involves three Selections. The numbers in
the assertions show the indices of the 8 combinations indicating the paths
taken. Take note that all paths are not equally likely; half of the
combinations take the path that includes the last pseudocode statement.
Pseudocode 5.7

Algorithm Majority Method 5

Majority Method 5
If A = B
Set Majority to A
Else
If B = C
Set Majority to B
Else
Set Majority to C
End Majority Method 5

{C = A}

The fifth method involves nested Selections, all testing for the equality of
variables. Essentially, if any two of the three values are equal, then the value
of Majority is that value.
Pseudocode 5.8

Algorithm Majority Method 6

Majority Method 6
If A = B
Set Majority to A
Else
Set Majority to C
End Majority Method 6

This last algorithm, Majority Method 6, is the simplest. It first asks if A=B,
and if so, the value of Majority is A (or B). Otherwise A and B cancel one
another leaving C to determine the Majority.
It is interesting to notice the different conditions in each of the six methods.
Some methods (1 and 2) compare a variable to a constant.

192

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

One method (4) compares two variables for size.

Some methods (5 and 6) compare two variables for equality.
One method (3) uses complex conditions to make the comparison.
Finally, let us compare Majority Method 3 and Majority Method 6, which
are simple and seem similar. Majority Method 3 depends on the fact that the
values are numeric and can be added. Majority Method 6 makes no such
assumption (the values to be compared can be characters such as T and F) which
makes this method more general.
Extending the majority to five variables would be interesting. Some of the six
methods extend more easily than others. Try to extend them all.
We will continue with a couple of majority algorithms and take a look at
proofs, or verification of the correctness of algorithms.

Proofs of Equivalence for Larger Selection Forms

The more variables algorithms have, the more data combinations are possible.
For example, consider the two algorithms shown below, which claim to find
the Majority. The three variables A, B, and C each have one of two values, 0 or
1. We have already called such variables binary variables. Three binary
variables yield a total of 23 or 8 possible combinations of values, as enumerated
in the table shown in Figure 5.19.
As we have already noted, the values of A, B and C could represent the digits of
a binary number so that each combination corresponds to a unique number. Thus,
the combinations may be listed systematically as binary numbers zero through
seven.
Figure 5.19 A right and a wrong way of computing Majority
Condition
A
B C

If A < B
Set Majority to C
Else
If B < C
Set Majority to A
Else
Set Majority to B

Left Right
Majority

0 = 0

0 = 0

0 = 0

1 = 1

0 = 0

1 = 1

1 = 0

1 = 1

If A > B
If C > B
Set Majority to 1
Else
Set Majority to 0
Else
If C > B
Set Majority to 0
Else
Set Majority to C

Proof of non equivalence

Section 5.4

Selection Forms

193

The table in Figure 5.19 contains a column labeled Left, which shows the values
of Majority evaluated by the algorithm on the left. Similarly, a column
labeled Right shows the values assigned by the algorithm at right. If these
two output columns had the same value for all combinations, then the two
algorithms would be equivalent.
However, they behave differently in one case (shown shaded), and that is
sufficient enough to disprove the equivalence of these two algorithms. In fact,
only one of the two algorithms of that figure (the one on the left) is actually a
Majority algorithm. Notice that it is a modification of Majority Method 4
from Pseudocode 5.6.
The algorithm in Figure 5.19 involves three binary variables and requires 23
rows in the table. An algorithm which involves n binary variables, requires 2n
rows. So for 10 binary variables, we would need 1024 rows and for 20 variables,
over a million rows. When the number of variables becomes large, this
exhaustive method is exhausting!
Figure 5.20 Two ways of finding the maximum of three values
If X < Y
If Y < Z
Set Max
Else
Set Max
Else
If X < Z
Set Max
Else
Set Max

Condition
( X, Y, Z )

Left Right
Max Max

to Z

X < Y < Z

Z = Z

to Y

X < Z < Y

Y = Y

to Z
to X

Y < X < Z

Z = Z

Y < Z < X

X = X

Z < X < Y

Y = Y

Z < Y < X

X = X

Set Max to X
If Max < Y
Set Max to Y
If Max < Z
Set Max to Z

Figure 5.20 shows two algorithms for computing the Maximum of three values
X, Y, and Z. Lets check if the two are equivalent. If the values of X, Y, and Z
are limited to binary values, then eight combinations would be required for the
proof of equivalence. However, if X, Y, and Z are integers, it seems as though we
would need to test for all possible combinations of three integer valuesan
infinite numberto show equivalence. Luckily, since we are only interested in
relative values, we can show equivalence by taking all possible orderings for X,
Y, and Z. Assuming that the three values are all different, there are only six
possible conditions, as shown in the table in Figure 5.20. Evaluating both
algorithms for all of these combinations yields an identical behavior.
Another, less abstract, proof of equivalence can also be given using six sets of
test values. We have chosen 1, 2, 3 as test values. Any other set of test values
would have been just as good.
For example, the combination 10, 20, 300 gives the same results as 1, 2, 3, as does
any other increasing sequence of three values. A proof of equivalence is given in
the following table:

194

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Condition
(X, Y, Z)

Lift
Max

1
1
2
3
2
3

2
3
1
1
3
2

3
2
3
2
1
1

X<Y<Z
X<Z<Y
Y<X<Z
Y<Z<X
Z<X<Y
Z<Y<X

3
3
3
3
3
3

Right
Max
=
=
=
=
=
=

3
3
3
3
3
3

If the problem specification allowed for some of the values to be equal, then
more sets of combinations should be tested (such as 2, 1, 1 or 1, 2, 1, and so on).
Can you guess how many?

Nested Selections
In the previous sections, we saw a few examples of nested Selections. Lets look
closer to more examples of nested Selections in order to understand them better
and to see if its possible to simplify them.
The following Grades algorithm, which assigns grades to students based on
their percentage scores, might not be the best way to assign grades, but is a good
example to illustrate many nesting concepts. The specification for the Grades
algorithm is as follows:
Grades:
A score of 90 to 100 gets a grade of A
A score of 80 to 89 gets a grade of B
A score of 60 to 79 gets a grade of C
A score of 50 to 59 gets a grade of D
A score of less than 50 gets a grade of F

The following algorithms, (Pseudocode 5.9 to 5.12) solve this problem in four
different manners (Grades 1 to Grades 4).
The first method, Grades 1, tests the largest percentage range first, and tests
each range in descending order until the proper range is found. Once the proper
range is found, the corresponding grade is output.

Section 5.4

Pseudocode 5.9

Selection Forms

195

The Grades 1 algorithm

Grades 1
Input Percent
If Percent 90
Output "A"
Else
If Percent 80
Output "B"
Else
If Percent 60
Output "C"
Else
If Percent 50
Output "D"
Else
Output "F"
End Grades 1

The second method (Grades 2 in Pseudocode 5.10) is similar to method 1, but it

starts from the smallest percentage range and tests each range in ascending
order.
Pseudocode 5.10

The Grades 2 algorithm

Grades 2
Input Percent
If Percent < 50
Output "F"
Else
If Percent < 60
Output "D"
Else
If Percent < 80
Output "C"
Else
If Percent < 90
Output "B"
Else
Output "A"
End Grades 2

The third method of assigning grades (Grades 3 in Pseudocode 5.11) compares

TestValue to zero at each stage. This way of doing things might be useful for
machine level programming since machines can compare values to zero very
easily.

196

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Pseudocode 5.11

The Grades 3 algorithm

Grades 3
Input Percent
Set TestValue to Percent 50
If TestValue < 0
Output "F"
Else
Set TestValue to TestValue 10
If TestValue < 0
Output "D"
Else
Set TestValue to TestValue 20
If TestValue < 0
Output "C"
Else
Set TestValue to TestValue 30
If TestValue < 0
Output "B"
Else
Output "A"
End Grades 3

Try out some values

for this Selection. Are
the outputs correct?

Unlike the previous three methods, which involve nested choices, the fourth
method (Grades 4 in Pseudocode 5.12) involves no nesting but a series of choices.
This method is often simpler to program in older programming languages which
have a limited IF structure. Notice that this method requires the assignment of
character values, while none of the other methods uses assignments.
Pseudocode 5.12

The Grades 4 algorithm

Grades 4
Input Percent
Set Grade to "A"
If Percent < 90
Set Grade to "B"
If Percent < 80
Set Grade to "C"
If Percent < 60
Set Grade to "D"
If Percent < 50
Set Grade to "F"
Output Grade
End Grades 4

The four methods given here are not all the possible methods for the Grades
algorithms; at least two other different structures are also possible.
For more details
on the problem
solving method,
see Chapter 2,
Section 2.2.

Whenever we define an algorithm, we should test it. This is in fact step 4 and
part of step 5 of our problem solving method. Testing algorithms is extremely
important as errors can creep up even in simple algorithms like our Grades
algorithms, and in fact, there is an error in one of them.
Our testing strategy is always to include a test value in each of the possible
ranges as well as limit values. Here, the ranges are defined by the five

Section 5.4

Selection Forms

197

grades and suitable test values would be 95, 85, 70, 50, and 25. Examples of limit
values are 89, 90, and 91.
A good testing strategy will also include extreme or out of range values, like a
negative grade, or a grade that is greater than 100. Using these values, you
will find that the algorithm Grades 3 (Pseudocode 5.11) contains an error for
grades higher than B! Constant 30 in the last subtraction should be 10!
These Grades algorithms could be improved so that the grade boundaries (50,
60, 80, 90) may be more easily altered. The constant values representing these
boundaries could be replaced by other symbolic values (LowD, LowC, LowB, and
LowA), to which are assigned the constant values at the beginning of the
algorithm. Then, if the grading boundaries change, they could be easily
modified in one place, at the beginning of the algorithm, rather than at various
places throughout the algorithm.
Note:

Pseudocode 5.12 contains an error. It does not calculate grades

higher than B. The constant 30, in the last subtraction, should be
changed to 10. By using a good testing strategy, we can discover
errors like these in our own algorithms.

The efficiency of algorithms describes the speed of their operation. This speed,
or time to execute an algorithm, could be determined by counting the number of
operations (such as Selections). For example, the last algorithm outlined in
Grades 4 always requires four Selections; every path through this algorithm
must go through every Selection. The other three algorithms require four
Selections only in the worst case. In general they involve fewer Selections.
Therefore, the fourth algorithm is less efficient than the others.
An analysis of efficiency also depends on the input values provided. For
example, given an input value of 95, Grades 1 requires only one Selection,
whereas Grades 2 requires four. Such an analysis should not be done for just one
value, but for a collection of values. For example, if the grade distribution is
high, then Grades 1 would be faster on the average. On the other hand, if most
grades were around 65, a better algorithm for such a distribution would test first
for C grades.

198

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Logical Conditions
For more
information on
Logical
conditions, see
Logical DataFlow Diagrams in
Section 3.4. De
Morgans First
and Second
Laws are also
mentioned
there.

The conditions we have used in our Selections are usually called Logical
conditions because they can only be true or false. The conditions we have used so
far were simple, but we can define more complex conditions by using the three
main connectives AND, OR and NOT, which we already encountered in
Chapter 3, Figures 3.27 and 3.29. Their behavior is specified by the truth
tables of Figure 5.21.
Figure 5.21 Truth tables
Conjunction

Disjunction

Negation

AND

OR

NOT

F
F

F
T

F
F

Conjunction is a logical operation between two logical values Condition1 and

Condition2, denoted as Condition1 AND Condition2. For example, the
following condition is true when I, J, and K contain values that are in increasing
order:
(I < J) AND (J < K)
Using a compound condition with the AND operator can considerably simplify
the structure of an algorithm since it reduces the number of Selections used.
Pseudocode 5.13 illustrates such an example by showing two different pieces of
pseudocode that are equivalent.
Pseudocode 5.13

Nested Selections and the AND connective

If Condition1
If Condition2
Set Cond to True
Else
Set Cond to False
Else
Set Cond to False

If Condition1 AND Condition2

Set Cond to True
Else
Set Cond to False

In higher level programming languages, this kind of tradeoff is usually

possible. However, in low level programming languages such as assembly
languages, conditions often cannot be compounded and so, only simple conditions
can be used. The equivalence of two logical formulas can be proved by drawing
the corresponding truth tables.
Logical operations OR and NOT, respectively called Disjunction and Negation,
are also defined by the truth tables of Figure 5.21. Using these three logical
operations, we can write any logical formula or expression. As an example, lets
look again at De Morgans rules that we have already introduced in Chapter 3.

Section 5.4

Selection Forms

199

Figure 5.22 DeMorgans rules

Rule 1
Rule 2

NOT(P OR Q) = NOT(P) AND NOT(Q)

NOT(P AND Q) = NOT(P) OR NOT(Q)

To verify the first rule, consider this statement:

It is not true that either the pig is blue or the
horse is green.
It is equivalent to:
The pig is not blue and the horse is not green.
Similarly, the second rule can be verified by considering this statement:
It is not true that both the pig is blue and the horse
is green.
It is equivalent to:
Either the pig is not blue or the horse is not green.
This equivalence can be used in various ways, for example a complex condition
controlling a loop could be replaced by a simpler one as shown in the pseudocode
at the top of Figure 5.23. Two NOTs and one AND are replaced by one NOT and
one OR. The bottom part of the same figure shows the second De Morgans rule
in the form of data-flow diagrams
Figure 5.23 DeMorgans rules
Rule 1

While (NOT P) OR (NOT Q)

Body of loop
Rule 2

NOT

NOT

While NOT (P AND Q)

Body of loop
P

AND

OR

NOT

DeMorgans Rules can also be used to negate a formula. To negate the AND of
two variables, you simply OR the two negated variables. You can see this at
the bottom of Figure 5.23. For example, the condition for remaining in a loop is
the opposite of that for leaving a loop. In the simple Dice game of Chapter 3
(Figure 3.41), this was the condition for looping (and throwing again):
(Total7) AND (TotalPoint)
The assertion after leaving the loop was just the opposite:
(Total=7) OR (Total=Point)
This results directly from DeMorgans second rule as the condition for leaving
the loop is the opposite (negation) of the condition for looping:

200

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

NOT ((Total7) AND (TotalPoint)) = (Total=7) OR

(Total=Point)
The proof of DeMorgans first rule was shown in Chapter 3 without any detail
(see Figure 3.29). To refresh your memory, Figure 5.24 shows the detailed proof
of the first rule.
Figure 5.24 Truth table proof of DeMorgans first rule
1
P

F
F

F
T

T
T

F
T

NOT P

NOT Q

NOT P
AND
NOT Q

P OR Q

NOT
(P OR Q)

T
T
F
F

T
F
T
F

T
F
F
F

F
T
T
T

T
F
F
F
Equivalent

In this figure, the four rows correspond to the combinations of the possible truth
values of P and Q. The demonstration proceeds column by column (in the
numbered order). Finally columns 3 and 5, corresponding to the left and right
sides of DeMorgans first rule, are seen to be identical.
Logical conditions which involve n logical variables can be proven equivalent
by truth tables which contain 2n rows. For example, let us consider the
following logical distributive law:
A AND (B OR C) = (A AND B) OR (A AND C)
As these formulas involve three logical variables, there are 23 or 8 possible
combinations. The left side and right side of the expression are evaluated, and
found identical in all cases as shown in Figure 5.25.
Figure 5.25 Truth table for distributive law
3 logical variables
A B C

8 possible combinations

F
F
F
F
T
T
T
T

F
F
T
T
F
F
T
T

F
T
F
T
F
T
F
T

Left Right
F
F
F
F
F
T
T
T

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

F
F
F
F
F
T
T
T

Notice that this distributive law for logical operations is equivalent to the
distributive law of algebra:

Section 5.4

Selection Forms

201

a(b + c) = ab + ac

Using Logical Conditions to Simplify Selections

We have seen in the last sections that algorithms could be simplified by
making their conditions more complex, as already illustrated in Pseudocode
5.13. This actually means that we can reduce the number of Selections in an
algorithm provided we compound the various conditions. This trade-off can be
further illustrated by the following Leap algorithms.
The first Leap algorithm (to determine whether a given year Y is a leap year)
was introduced in Chapter 3 (Figure 3.2), and three different pseudocode
versions were given in Chapter 4 (Pseudocode 4.1 to 4.3). We repeat them here.
Pseudocode 5.14

Algorithm Leap 1 from Chapter 4

Leap 1
If Y is divisible by 400
Y is a leap year
Else
If Y is divisible by 100
Y is not a leap year
Else
If Y is divisible by 4
Y is a leap year
Else
Y is not a leap year
End Leap 1

Leap years may

follow one of
these two paths.

There are two possible paths through this algorithm leading to a leap year:
when Y is divisible by 400, or when Y is not divisible by 100 and is divisible by
4. Putting this symbolically leads to one larger condition we will call C1 where
the condition Y D 4 means that Y is divisible by 4.
C1 = (Y D 400) OR (NOT(Y D 100) AND (Y D 4))
Pseudocode 5.15

Algorithm Leap 2 from Chapter 4

Leap 2
If Y is divisible by 4
If Y is divisible by 100
If Y is divisible by 400
Y is a leap year
Else
Y is not a leap year
Else
Y is a leap year
Else
Y is not a leap year
End Leap 2

Possible paths
for a leap year

Again, the logic expressed by the pseudocode of Leap 2 can be reduced to a

single logical expression C2:

202

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

C2 = (Y D 4) AND (((Y D 100) AND (Y D 400)) OR

NOT (Y D 100))
If we note that (Y D 100) AND (Y D 400) can be reduced to (Y D 400)
because a value divisible by 400 is certainly divisible by 100, we can reduce C2
to the following:
C2 = (Y D 4) AND ((Y D 400) OR NOT (Y D 100))
Convince yourself that this is correct.
Pseudocode 5.16

Algorithm Leap 3 from Chapter 4;

Leap 3
If Y is divisible by 100
If Y is divisible by 400
Y is a leap year
Else
Y is not a leap year
Else
If Y is divisible by 4
Y is a leap year
Else
Y is not a leap year
End Leap 3

Possible paths
for a leap year

Here in Leap 3, the equivalent logical expression is C3:

C3 = ((Y D 100) AND (Y D 400)) OR
(NOT (Y D 100) AND (Y D 4))
It can be also simplified:
C3 = (Y D 400) OR (NOT (Y D 100) AND (Y D 4))
You should verify C3 for yourself (looks like C1?).
All three of these Leap algorithms involve three separate Selections. If the
conditions were allowed to be more complex, like C1, C2 or C3, the resulting
algorithm could be as simple as the following for Leap 1:
Pseudocode 5.17

New Algorithm, Leap 4

Leap1
If (Y D 400) OR (NOT(Y D 100) AND (Y D 4))
Y is a leap year
Simplification: now only one
possible path
Else
for a leap year
Y is not a leap year
End Leap1

In fact, all of the Leap algorithms can be similarly simplified.

Section 5.5

5.5

Repetition Foms

203

Repetition Forms
The Repeat-Until Form
Since computers are extremely good at repetitive tasks, algorithms based on
Repetition Forms are important in computing. Repetition Forms in algorithms
are very often called loops, as we loop through the algorithm while
executing it. Note that a loop is more visible on a flowchart because an arrow
has to loop back to an upper part of the diagram (look back at Section 3.5 of
Chapter 3 as well as at Figure 4.3 of Chapter 4)
Although there exist several forms for the loops, thus far we have used only
the While form of the loop. In this form, a test of the condition is made and, if
the condition is met, the body of the loop is executed. This process is repeated
until the condition is found to be False when tested.
An alternative loop form, the Repeat-Until form first executes the body of the
loop and then continues repeatingiterating until the condition on which it
is based is found to be True when tested. Figure 5.26 shows a comparison
between the flowcharts of these two looping forms.
Figure 5.26 Comparison of flowcharts for While and Repeat-Until
loop forms
While Loop
True
The body of the
loop may never
be executed, not
even once.

Repeat-Until Loop

False

B
True

False

The body of the

loop is executed
at least once.

Notice that the body of the Repeat-Until loop is always executed at least once,
and that the same is not true for the While loop. Another difference between
the two forms is that the condition for termination of the Repeat-Until loop is
the negation of the condition for termination of the While loop. The reason for
that difference is simple: the While loop condition is a condition for looping,
and the Repeat-Until condition is a condition for terminating the loop
To show the closeness of these two forms, we could build a Repeat-Until loop
from the body of the loop and a While loop connected sequentially, as in shown
in Pseudocode 5.18.

204

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Pseudocode 5.18
Repeat
B
Until Cond

Equivalence of Repetition Forms

B
While NOT Cond
B

is exactly equivalent to

The Repeat-Until loop always performs the actions in the body at least once,
this makes it well adapted to specific situations. However, the While form
makes it possible for the body of the loop not to be executed if need be and this
added control is usually preferred.
The behavior of a While loop is dynamic or moving as the actions of the loop
body are executed repeatedly, whereas its structure is static. We will
illustrate this difference in Figure 5.27. The pseudocode demonstrates the
static form of an algorithm to calculate the remainder Rem of the integer
division of a numerator Num by a divisor Den. To the right of the pseudocode,
the behavior of the While loop is shown as a series of actions forming a trace.
The numbers 14 and 4 were arbitrarily assigned to Num and Den to demonstrate
this trace.
The loop body Set Rem to Rem Den is repeated while the condition Rem
Den is True and the repetition ends when this condition becomes False. This
algorithm is generally known as the modulus operation.
Figure 5.27 Structure and trace of the Modulus algorithm
Structure

Modulus
Input Num
Input Den
Set Rem to Num
While Rem Den
Set Rem to Rem - Den

Trace

Num = 14
Div = 4
Rem = 14
14 4 is True

10 4 is True

6 4 is True

Rem = 10

Rem = 6

Rem = 2

Output Rem
End Modulus

2 4 is False

Output 2
Iteration 1

Iteration 2

Iteration 3

We have already seen that a trace is a series of snapshots showing the

behavior of an algorithm. In the trace of Figure 5.27 the result of each step is
written directly to the right of that step in the algorithm. This creates a series
of iterations, each iteration being an execution of the loop body represented by a
column in the trace.
This trace shows the Modulus algorithm being executed to find the remainder
of the division of 14 by 4. The algorithm proceeds by repeatedly subtracting 4
from 14 until the result is less than 4 (leaving a remainder of 2 in this example).

Section 5.5

Repetition Foms

205

We will refine our traces to more convenient two-dimensional trace tables that
will prove to be extremely useful.
Figure 5.28 Trace of the Divide algorithm
Structure

Divide
Input Num
Input Den
Set Rem to Num
Set Quot to 0
While Rem Den loop

Trace
Num = 14
Div = 4
Rem = 14
Quot = 0
14 4

10 4
T

64
T

24
F

Set Rem to Rem - Den

T
Rem = 10

Rem = 6

Rem = 2

Rem = 2

Set Rem to Rem - Den

Quot = 1

Quot = 2

Quot = 3

Quot = 3

Output Quot
Output Rem
End Divide

Output 3
Output 2
Iteration 1

Iteration 2

Iteration 3

Figure 5.28 shows the Divide algorithm introduced in Figure 3.45, which
divides a numerator Num by a divisor Den, yielding a quotient Quot and a
remainder Rem. The trace shows how 14 divided by 4 yields a quotient of 3 and
a remainder of 2.
This algorithm first inputs the values for Num and Den and then initializes
Rem with the value of Num and Quot to zero. The loop subtracts Den from Rem,
counting the number of times it does this in Quot until Rem is less than Den.
Finally, Quot and Rem are output.
Trace tables, as shown in Figures 5.27 and 5.28, are very useful ways to study the
dynamic behavior of algorithms. A trace table is a two-dimensional
arrangement of boxes set up at the side of an algorithm in either pseudocode or
in flowblock form. For each iteration, the loop creates a stack of boxes showing
the effect of the actions performed. This two-dimensional trace can then be
viewed both horizontally and vertically, as will be shown in the following
sections.
The Divide algorithm described here differs from the division operation
available in most programming languages. First, the division of two Real
Numbers (written X/Y) yields another Real Number expressed with a decimal
point. Second, the division of two Integer values usually yields only the
quotient, while the remainder can be obtained from the Modulus operation just
described.

The Disadvantages of Using the Repeat-Until Form

Lets consider creating an algorithm to find the Product of two non-negative
integers X and Y. The product is to be computed by successively adding the value

206

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

X a total of Y times. This algorithm for computing a product is not necessarily

very useful because computers can multiply in a much more efficient manner.
However, it helps illustrate many ways of inadvertently doing things wrong,
and of what happens when we try to correct them.
Pseudocode 5.19

An erroneous algorithm

Product A
Set Product to 0
Repeat
Add X to Product
Decrement Y
Until Y = 0
End Product A

infinite loop

Problem: if Y is initially 0, we
get an infinite loop.

This algorithm, Pseudocode 5.19, does not use the fundamental While loop form
but instead uses the Repeat-Until form, where the test for termination is made
after executing the loop body. Now, lets see the unfortunate consequences of
delaying the test until after the body has been executed!
This algorithm works well for most values, but not if Y is initially 0. In that
case, Y is first decreased to -1, then Y is tested to see if it reached 0. But since Y
has already passed 0, the algorithm keeps looping, and Y keeps decreasing
forever! This is called an infinite loop and is a very common programming error.
Pseudocode 5.20

An erroneous algorithm

Product B
Set Product to 0
Repeat
Add X to Product
Decrement Y
Until Y 0
End Product B

incorrect product

Problem: if Y is initially 0, we get

an incorrect product.

The revised version of Product A fixes up the infinite loop by leaving the
loop when Y is less than or equal to zero (Pseudocode 5.20). This way, it does not
loop forever, but it still does not compute the correct result for the case where
Y=0. For that case, the algorithm first sets Product to zero and then
immediately increases it by X and halts. So using this algorithm to multiply
any value by zero does not yield a zero!
Pseudocode 5.21

An erroneous algorithm

Product C
Set Product to 0
If Y 0
Repeat
Add X to Product
Decrement Y
Until Y 0
End Product C

Y value destroyed

Problem: using Y as a counter destroys its

initial value, making this
algorithm useless if more than
one product must be calculated.

Section 5.5

Repetition Foms

207

In Pseudocode 5.21, Product B has been patched-up to handle the case where Y
is zero by first testing for it, and immediately circumventing the loop. But
Product C still has a problem! By using variable Y as a counter, it destroys its
original value. This side effect may not always be harmful. But if Y is to be
used again later in the program that uses Product C, its value will have been
changed to 0.
For example, suppose Y represents a constant rate of pay say $10 per hour
that is to be multiplied by various numbers of hours X on successive invocations
of Product C. The first execution of Product C will yield a correct result but the
value of Y will be set to 0. Thus, all subsequent products of any X with Y will
yield zero.
Pseudocode 5.22

The final, corrected algorithm

Product D

Product D
Set Product to 0
Set Count to Y
If Count 0
Repeat
Add X to Product
Decrement Count
Until Count 0
End Product D

Pseudocode 5.22 finally fixes this side effect in Product C by first placing a
copy of Y into the variable Count, and using Count, instead of Y, as a counter.
This algorithm finally works, but it is more complex and messy than it should
be. It is called a kludge1something that works for the wrong reasons.
There is certainly no elegance here!
This process of trial and error followed by many fix-ups and more errors is
entirely unnecessary. Some prior planning and refinement, using the Four
Fundamental Forms, could yield a better algorithm as shown in Figure 5.29.

1 Pronounced klooj and said to be from Yiddish klug smart.

208

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Figure 5.29 Better Product Algorithm

Initialize P
C - counter
D - dummy
Add D to P
Add D to P
Add D to P

Add D to P
Add D to P

Better Product
Set Multiplier to Y
Set Multiplicand to X
Set Product to 0
While Multiplier > 0
Set Product to Product + Multiplicand
Set Multiplier to Multiplier 1
End Better Product

If X < Y
Set Multiplier to X
Set Multiplicand to Y
Else
Set Multiplier to Y
Set Multiplicand to X

Optimized portion
of Better Product

The development of the algorithm, in Figure 5.29, starts out at a very primitive
level by planning how the algorithm is to executeessentially by writing a
trace of the execution of the algorithm. This planing trace starts by setting
up not only a counter C equal to the multiplier (the number of additions to
perform), but also a dummy variable D equal to the multiplicand (the value
to add), and a product P that is initially zero. Then the successive additions
are shown as a series of accumulations.
A simple refinement of this is done by replacing the sequence of additions in the
plan with a loop. This is shown in the pseudocode at the center of Figure 5.29.
Note that some more descriptive names have been given to the variables,
Multiplier and Multiplicand. This could be the final algorithm; there is
nothing more to it! By using the proper structures in the proper way we have
created a better Product. In fact, since we avoided wasting time fixing and
patching, we could take some time to optimize the finished product.
The further refinement on the right of the figure shows an optimized Better
Product, where the counter Multiplier is first chosen to be the smaller of the
two values X and Y. This way, the algorithm loops the fewest number of times.
Time is saved for the machine, but not necessarily for the human programmer.
Further optimization of this Better Product algorithm is possible, and we will
discuss it at the end of this chapter.

The While Loop Form

Borrowing money usually involves interest-ing algorithms. As an example, let
us consider taking a loan of Amount dollars (say $6000) for Duration years (say
six years). Each year, Payment dollars (say $1000) are repaid and the interest
is calculated at Rate percent (say 10% annually) on the remaining Balance
dollars. This amount of interest is chopped off to the next lower dollar (you can
now be sure that this algorithm was not designed by a bank!). All these

Section 5.5

Repetition Foms

209

numbers and conditions have been chosen for our convenience in making the
trace. Later, when using a computer, we can be more realistic (with 72 monthly
payments).
After making the payments for Period years, there is still an amount to repay
at the end; this amount is called the balloon payment, because it balloons
into a much larger amount than we expect if the monthly payment is too low.
The problem is to compute the balloon payment. You may wish to guess the
value before reading on.
Figure 5.30 Top-down development of loan program

Set up

Set up Amount,
Payment,
Duration,
Rate, Balance,
Time

Loop

While time is not up

Loan

Output
End Loan

Compute Interest
NewBalance
Increment Time
Output Balance

Input Amount
Input Duration
Input Payment
Input Rate
Set Balance to Amount
Set Time to 0
Set Interest to Rate Balance
Chop Interest
Set Balance to Balance +
Interest Payment
Set Time to Time + 1

The development of the Loan algorithm is shown in Figure 5.30 as a top-down

breakout of three levels.
The first level shows a very general view. It consists of three steps:
setting up, looping and then outputting the final balance (the balloon).
The next level to the right refines each of these three blocks, but still
not in detail. It shows the loop explicitly and breaks out the actions
within the body of the loop.
The final level at the right of the figure shows even more details of the
setup and of the loop body, as pseudocode fragments.

210

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Figure 5.31 Loan repayment algorithm and trace

Loan
Input
Input
Input
Input

Amount
Duration
Payment
Rate

Amount = 6000
Duration = 6
Payment = 1000
Rate = 0.10

Set Balance to Amount

Set Time to 0

Balance = 6000
Time = 0

While Time < Duration

Set Interest to
Rate
Balance Chopped
Set Balance to
Balance
+ Interest
Payment
Increment Time
Output Balance
End Loan

0<6
T

1<6
T

2<6
T

3<6
T

4<6
T

5<6
T

Interest = 600

560

516

467

414

355

Balance = 5600

5160

4676

4143

3557

2912

Time = 1

2912

The trace of the Loan algorithm is shown as a two-dimensional table form in

Figure 5.31. This trace shows a solution of $2912 as the balloon payment. It is
almost half the loan amount!
The trace also shows yet another way of computing this balloon payment and so
can serve as a check on the answer. It results from realizing that, after the six
payments of $1000, the entire loan amount has been paid off and the balloon
payment is due only to the interest. The total interest can be determined by
summing the Interest computed each month:
600 + 560 + 516 + 467 + 414 + 355 = 2912
This corresponds to summing the second row of the trace (shown shaded). Be
sure to note that this alternative method works only if the sum of the payments
alone equals the amount borrowed.
Notice that if the yearly payment is $600 (equal to the interest), then the
balloon payment equals the original loan amount (of $6000), regardless of the
duration! This is called an interest-only loan.
Figure 5.32 State trace for the Loan Program
Balance = 6000
Time = 0
initial
state
(before)

5600
1

5160
2

6<6
F

4676
3

4143
4

3557
5

Balance = 2912
Time = 6
final
state
(after)

A shorter form of the algorithm trace, called a State trace, is illustrated by

Figure 5.32. The state trace shows only the really relevant variables: Balance

Section 5.5

Repetition Foms

211

and Time. These two variables are essential to the algorithm; should the
process be interrupted at any stage, it is possible to continue it if only these two
variables are known.

Getting Insights

Using Traces and Invariants

The trace of an algorithm can yield many insights. Oftentimes, a study of such
a trace will show an error in an algorithm. When no errors are detected, the
trace might suggest improvements or even spark an idea for an alternative
algorithm. Traces also might show useful relationships among variables. We
will illustrate these concepts throughout the rest of this chapter with a number
of examples.
The Odd Square
algorithm was
introduced in
Chapter 3,
Figure 3.9.

Our first example, the Odd Square algorithm, shown in Figure 5.33, finds the
square of any integer Num by summing the first Num odd integers. The
algorithm has three parts
Initialization: The starting values are assigned to the variables.
Loop: The value of the square is calculated by summing a sequence of
odd numbers.
Output: The calculated value of the square is output.

212

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Figure 5.33 The Odd Square algorithm and traces

Num =

Square =

Count =

OddNum =

Input Num
Set Square to 0
Initialize

Set Count to 1
Set OddNum to 1

16 26 36 46 56 66 76
T
T
T
T
T
T
F

While Count Num

Loop

Set Square to Square +

OddNum
Increment OddNum by 2

Square =

16

25

36

OddNum =

11

13

Count =

Increment Count
Output

Output
36

Output Square

at every
stage

between any
two iterations
Horizontal View
Square =

OddNum =

Count =

Vertical View
+

Square = Square + OddNum

16

Square = (Count - 1) 2

OddNum = OddNum + 2

OddNum = 2 CountNum - 1

Count = Count + 1

Count 2 = Square + OddNum

Two-dimensional tracing, in the form of a table, is shown at the top of Figure

5.33. For each run through the loop, called an iteration, there is a new column
of values added to the right side of the table. This tracing table may be
viewed both horizontally and vertically.
Horizontal views of the computation correspond to the iteration by iteration
computation of each variable, as specified in the algorithm. The trace table in
Figure 5.33 essentially shows horizontal views. At each stage, Square is
incremented by OddNum, OddNum is incremented by 2 and Count by 1.
Figure 5.34 shows the horizontal slices that correspond to each variable.
Notice that the Square of the numbers 1 through 5 are computed before the
final square of 6.

Section 5.5

Repetition Foms

213

Figure 5.34 Some horizontal slices

Square =

16

25

36

OddNum =

11

13

Count =

One slice per variable.

Vertical views consider each stage separately and show all the variables at
each iteration, as shown in Figure 5.35.
Figure 5.35 Some vertical slices
One slice per stage of
algorithm execution.
Square =

16

25

36

OddNum =

11

13

Count =

We have said that observing a trace often reveals relationships among

variables. In our Odd Square example, at each iteration, adding Square and
OddNum yields the square of Count:
After iteration 1,

1 + 3 = 22

After iteration 2,

4 + 5 = 33

After iteration 3,

9 + 7 = 44

....and so on.
In general:
Square + OddNum = Count

Count

Some assertions about the state of a program (such as the one above) are
unaffected by the execution of the body of a loopif the assertion is true before
execution of the body, it will still be true after its execution. Such assertions are
called loop invariants. As an example, Pseudocode 5.23 repeats the pseudocode
loop of the Odd Square algorithm, this time including the invariant between
braces.
Pseudocode 5.23

Loop from Odd Square algorithm

{Square + OddNum = Count Count}

While Count Num
Set Square to Square + OddNum
Increment OddNum by 2
Increment Count

It is important to realize that an assertion may not be true at a point part of the
way through the execution of a loop body. The reason for this is because only

214

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

some of the variables used in the assertion may have been changed. Once the
body has been completely executed, the assertion is true again; the relationship
among the variables is constant, or invariant.
For example, in the above loop, the assertion is no longer true after the first
statement in the loop body has been executed. It does not become true again
until after the third statement has been executed.
Further observation of the trace of Figure 5.33 yields two more formulas that
hold at every stage, giving us three invariants for the same loop:
Square + OddNum = Count Count
Square = (Count - 1)2, and
OddNum = 2 Count - 1.
This last relation between OddNum and Count suggests that the use of both of
these variables is not necessary. In fact a simpler algorithm with only one of
these variables, Count, is possible. Try it.
In the Odd Square example there were many invariants, and they were rather
easy to observe. In general, loop invariants are not always easy to find and
there is no foolproof technique for finding them. Loop invariants are very
important because they precisely describe the action of the loop in which they
appear. Sometimes, they provide the essential piece of information that
allows us to understand the action of the loop. As an example of this, lets look
at the Go Stone game as described in Figure 5.36.

Section 5.5

Repetition Foms

215

Figure 5.36 Specifications of the Go Stone Problem

The Go Stone Problem

The Japanese game of Go Stone is played with black
stones and white stones. A box contains some of these
black and white stones, and a large bag acts as an
inexhaustible supply of these black and white stones.
The following algorithm is to be performed.

The Box

While number of stones in box 2

Randomly select two stones from the box
If the two stones are of same color
Throw out the two stones
Put a black stone from the bag into the box
Else
Put the white stone back in the box
Throw away the black stone

The Bag - infinite supply of stones

(black & white)

Each iteration of the loop reduces the number of stones in the box by one. The
loop will terminate when there is exactly one stone left in the box. The question
for you to answer is: by counting the number of black and white stones in the box
before the algorithm is executed, is it possible to know the color of the final
stone that will be left in the box when the loop terminates? Before reading on,
try to solve this problem yourself.
Let us examine the way in which the number of stones is reduced:
If a matching pair of black stones is removed, then one black stone is put
back into the box, the number of black stones is reduced by one and the
number of white stones stays constant.
If a matching pair of white stones is removed, a black stone is put back
into the box, the number of black stones is increased by one and the
number of white stones is reduced by two.
If a non-matching pair is removed, a white stone is put back into the box
and the number of white stones remains unchanged while the number of
black stones is reduced by one.
Thus, the number of black stones always changes by one at each iteration while
the number of white stones either remains constant or is reduced by two. This
means that, if we started with an even number of white stones, there will
always be an even number of them; if we started with an odd number of white
stones, there will always be an odd number of them.

216

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

In other words, the parity of the number of white stones is invariant; this is our
loop invariant. The only way that we can finish with a single white stonean
odd number of white stonesis if we start with an odd number of white stones.
If we start with an even number of white stones, the last stone will be black.
The only way that we can understand the loop well enough to make this
statement is through the use of the loop invariant.
Later, in Section 5.7, we will show how we can use loop invariants to improve
algorithms. Finally, note that loop invariants are also used to formally prove
the correctness of algorithms.
When we evaluated the trigonometric sine function in Chapter 3, we used the
Factorial mathematical function. Factorials are also used in probability,
statistics and counting problems. The Factorial of any non-negative integer N is
written as N! and defined as follows:
N! = N (N 1) (N 2) (N 3) ... 3 2 1
Because multiplication is commutative, the products can be done in either
increasing or decreasing order as...
5! = 1 2 3 4 5

5! = 5 4 3 2 1

or

Figures 5.37 and 5.38 illustrate these two different algorithms. Fact1
multiplies products in increasing order while Fact2 does so in decreasing order.
Figure 5.37 Trace of the Fact1 algorithm for N = 5
Fact1
Input N
Set Fact to 1
Set Count to 1

N=5
Fact = 1
Count = 1
15
T

While Count N

25 35 45 55
T
T
T
T

Fact = 1

24

120

Count = 2

65
F

Set Fact to Fact Count

Increment Count
Output Fact
End Fact1

Output

Loop Invariant: Fact

Fact Count
Count!

120
Count = Count!

24

120

720

24

120

720

Fact1, of Figure 5.37, initially sets Fact and Count to 1, and then loops as long
as Count is less than or equal to the input value N. In the loop body, Fact is
multiplied by the value of Count and Count is incremented. When Count is
incremented past N, the loop is terminated and the final value of Fact is output.

Section 5.5

Repetition Foms

217

The trace shows this computation for an input value of N = 5. You will quickly
notice that as Count increases gradually, the value of Fact increases
dramatically. Just doubling the value of N to 10 would produce an output value
of 3 628 800. Such a computation can quickly exceed the bounds of any computer,
so we must beware of computing the factorials of large numbers.
If we observe this trace and extend it, the following two loop invariants become
apparent:
Count! = Fact Count, and
Fact = (Count - 1)!
These two relations can be combined into a third relation:
Count! = Count (Count - 1)!
This is a definition of factorial in terms of itself. Such a definition is called a
recursive definition and will be discussed in Chapter 7.
Figure 5.38 Trace of the Fact2 algorithm for N = 5
Fact2
Input N
Set Fact to 1
Set Count to N

N=5
Fact = 1
Count = 5
5>0
T

While Count > 0

Fact = 5

4>0 3>0 2>0 1>0 0>0

T
T
T
T
F
20

60

120

120

Set Fact to Fact Count

Count = 4

Decrement Count

Output

Output Fact
End Fact2
Fact Count!
N!

Loop Invariant: Fact

Count! = N!

120

120

120

120

120

120

120

120

120

120

120

The algorithm Fact2, of Figure 5.38, proceeds in the opposite way from Fact1.
It starts the Count at the value of N, and loops, decreasing this value until it
reaches zero. During each loop, it multiplies Fact by the decreasing value of
Count. Figure 5.38 presents a trace of this algorithm as well.
Observing this trace, we see what at each stage the following invariant holds:
N! = Fact Count!
Note:

It is interesting that since the loop invariant holds true even when
Count = 0, the factorial of 0 must be 1.

218

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Notice that this loop invariant for Fact2 is very different from the previous
invariant for Fact1. This is normal since different ways of computing the same
value may lead to different loop invariants.
If the condition Count > 0 were incorrectly written as Count 0, the output of
Fact2 would be zero because Fact is finally multiplied by the lowest value of
Count, which in that case would be zero. This is the error of one iteration too
many, and is usually called a one-off error. Slight errors like this one can result
in much larger errors in the final results. Tracing helps find these errors. The
one-off error is one of the most common errors in programming.
Two-dimensional tracing is useful in many ways:
Tracing yields insight into the dynamic behavior of algorithms.
Tracing detects errors (such as the one-off error just mentioned).
Tracing yields interesting relations among variables.
Tracing suggests alternative algorithms.

5.6

Invocation Forms
Sub-algorithms (or subprograms) are simply algorithms that have been
packaged into single units that may be used in other algorithms, as any other
action is. Sub-algorithms hide data and actions internally and so appear
simple externally. When a sub-algorithm is used as an action in another
algorithm, we say that it is called or invoked. In pseudocode, this is done
by giving its name and listing the data that it must use.
Figure 5.39 shows a data-flow diagram of Max, a sub-algorithm that finds the
maximum of two values.
Figure 5.39 Data-flow diagram for the sub-algorithm Max

Max

In this view, a black-box view, we show all that is needed in order to be able to
use Maxwe see that it takes in two data values and passes out the maximum
of these two. In the following small piece of pseudocode (Pseudocode 5.24), the
two values X and Y are input, the sub-algorithm Max is invoked to find the
larger of X and Y, this value is assigned to Bigger and, finally, Bigger is output.

Section 5.6

Pseudocode 5.24

Invocation Forms

219

Input X and Y and invoke Bigger sub-algorithm

Input X
Input Y
Set Bigger to Max X, Y
Output Bigger

Figure 5.40 shows the data-flow diagram and the pseudocode for an algorithm
that makes use of sub-algorithm Max three times to find and output the
maximum of four input values A, B, C, D.
Figure 5.40 Data-flow diagram and Pseudocode to find maximum
of four values
A

Max
Max2
Max
Max3
Max

Find Maximum 4
Input A
Input B
Input C
Input D
Set Max2 to Max (A, B)
Set Max3 to Max (Max2, C)
Set Max4 to Max (Max3, D)
Output Max4
End Find Maximum 4

Max4

This notation is similar to the following function in algebra which reads M is

the maximum of x and y.
m = Max(x,y)
The power of the sub-algorithm comes from its ability to hide the details of
how the maximum value is computed, thus simplifying the algorithm that uses
it. If all the details were shown, the pseudocode in Figure 5.40 would resemble
Pseudocode 5.25.

220

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Pseudocode 5.25

Unsimplified version of Maximum 4

Find Maximum
Input A
Input B
Input C
Input D
If A > B
Set Max2 to A
Else
Set Max2 to B
If Max2 > C
Set Max3 to Max2
Else
Set Max3 to C
If Max3 > D
Set Max4 to Max3
Else
Set Max4 to D
Output Max4
End Find Maximum

The version in Pseudocode 5.25 is much more complex. Here, the reader must
examine the details carefully to see that the same method is used each time to
find the maximum of two numbers. If such a degree of simplification can be
achieved for such a trivial sub-algorithm as Max, imagine the improvement in
clarity that can be obtained when a complex sub-algorithm is involved! This
process of reducing the complexity by hiding the details is called abstraction.

Seconds Example
Suppose you were asked to convert a given number of seconds (say Time = 1 000
000 seconds) into days, hours, minutes and seconds. You could proceed as follows:
1.

Divide Time by the number of seconds in a day (86 400), yielding a

quotient, the number of Days, and also yielding some remaining number
of seconds in Seconds.

2.

Then this remainder is divided by the number of seconds in an hour

(3 600), yielding the number of Hours and some remaining Seconds.

3.

Finally, the above remainder is divided by the number of seconds in a

minute (60), yielding a quotient that is the number of Minutes and a
remainder that is the number of Seconds.

Section 5.6

Invocation Forms

221

Figure 5.41 Data-flow diagrams for the Div and Mod subalgorithms
Numerator Divisor
Numerator 0

Numerator Divisor
Divisor > 0

Numerator 0

Divisor > 0

Div

Mod

Quotient

Remainder

To do this, we make use of two sub-algorithms, Div and Mod, which are defined
by the data-flow diagrams shown in Figure 5.41. Note the assertions about the
data values that Div and Mod work with. In both cases the Numerator and
Divisor must be positive integers. In addition, the Divisor cannot be zero
because of the mathematical commandment:
Thou shalt not divide by zero!

222

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Figure 5.42 Algorithm Convert Seconds

Time

= 1 000 000

C1

Div

Mod

Seconds

= 49 600

C2

Div

Mod

Seconds

= 2 800

C3

= 60 60 24
= 86 400

Convert Seconds
Input Time
Set Days to
= 11
Days
Div (Time, 60 60 24)
Output Days
Set Seconds to
Mod (Time, 60 60 24)
Set Hours to
Div (Seconds, 60 60)
= 60 60
Output Hours
= 3600
Set Seconds to
Mod (Seconds, 60 60)
Set Minutes to
Div (Seconds, 60)
Hours
= 13
Output Minutes
Set Seconds to
Mod (Second, 60)
Output Seconds
End Convert Seconds
= 60

Div
Minutes

= 46

Seconds

= 40

Mod

The algorithm Convert Seconds of Figure 5.42, shows a data-flow diagram and
corresponding pseudocode for the algorithm just described. Remember that
products such as 60 60 24 need not be evaluated by us; computers can do that.

De-militarize Time Example

As another example of the invocation form, lets take a look at military time
and the problem of finding a military time difference. As you know, military
time is expressed as an integer between 0 and 2400. However, the difference
between two times given in military form cannot be found by simply subtracting
the two military times. For example, the military times 1400 and 1350 do not
have a 50 minutes difference (1400 - 1350 = 50), but only a 10-minute difference.
This is not a problem with the 24-hour form of time but with the use of a base 10

Section 5.6

223

Invocation Forms

representation for a number that is not pure base 10. We would have a similar
problem if we tried to represent a persons height by the integer 511 instead of
5 11.
If each of the military times is converted to minutes past midnight, then these
numbers of minutes can be subtracted. An algorithm to compute this military
time difference is shown in Figure 5.43. It includes Invocations of a conversion
sub-algorithm that is similar to the Convert Seconds algorithm we have just
seen.
Figure 5.43 Time Difference algorithm with Invocations
Hour1

Hour2

0250

Time

2030

2030
Convert

Time-Difference
Hour1

Hour2

Convert

Convert

Min1 170
TimeDifference

Min2 1230
Subtract
-1060

Div

Mod

Hour
20

60

Min
30

Multiply

Absolute
Value

Difference

100

Add
1060
Difference

1230
Minutes

If what we really want is the minimum difference between any three military
times, we can proceed as indicated on Figure 5.44. We use TimeDifference as a
sub-algorithm that we invoke three times, after which we invoke a subalgorithm, MinDiff, to find the minimum of three values.
Figure 5.44 Minimum time difference
Time1 Time2

Time1 Time3

Time2 Time3

TimeDifference

TimeDifference

TimeDifference

Diff1

Diff2
Minimum

MinDiff

Diff3

MinDiff
Input Time1, Time2, Time3
TimeDifference (Time1, Time2, Diff1)
TimeDifference (Time1, Time3, Diff2)
TimeDifference (Time2, Time3, Diff3)
Minimum (Diff1, Diff2, Diff3, MinDiff)
Ouput MinDiff
End MinDiff

224

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Note that TimeDifference is invoked with three variables, the last one being
used to return the result of the sub-algorithm execution.
Pseudocode 5.26

Invoking the TimeDifference sub-algorithm

3 variables

TimeDifference (Time1, Time2, Diff1)

This one returns the
result of TimeDifference.

5.7

Improving Programs
Nested Loops and Selections
Until now, the algorithms of this chapter involved only simple forms. Here we
will consider some combinations of the Four Fundamental Forms, but we are
mainly interested in tracing these more complex structures. Their design will
only be considered in Chapters 6, 7, and 8.
Our first combination example computes the greatest common divisor of two
integers, that is, the largest integer that divides both of them. For example,
the greatest common divisor of 111 and 259 is 37. The Greatest Common Divisor
algorithm was first created by Euclid, in about 300 BC. (algorithms did not
wait for computers!) Figure 5.45 presents the Greatest Common Divisor (GCD)
algorithm as an algorithm that illustrates the nesting of a Selection form
inside a Repetition form.
Figure 5.45 The Greatest Common Divisor algorithm and trace
GCD
Input P
Input Q
Set X to P
Set Y to Q

P = 111

While X Y

111 259
T

111 148
T

111 37
T

74 37
T

If X > Y

111 > 259

F

111 > 148

F

111 > 37
T

74 > 37
T

X = 111

X = 111

X = 74

X = 37

Y = 148

Y = 37

Y = 37

Y = 37

Set X to X Y
Else
Set Y to Y X
Output Y
End GCD

Q = 259
X = 111
Y = 259
37 37
F

Output 37

Section 5.7

Improving Programs

225

The result and the trace of the Greatest Common Divisor algorithm are also
shown in Figure 5.45. One use of the Greatest Common Divisor is for sharing or
partitioning two kinds of whole items, such as pebbles or cans of goods, that
cannot be split further. For example, if we have 111 cans of one kind of item and
259 cans of another kind, then the largest number of identical piles of cans
equals the Greatest Common Divisor, which is 37. Each of the 37 piles would
have 3 cans of one type (111/37 = 3), and 7 cans of the other type (259/37 = 7).
There are many other uses of the Greatest Common Divisor, but they are
usually more complex.
Our next example is an algorithm that converts decimal integers into their
equivalent binary form. Figure 5.46 shows this conversion algorithm together
with its trace. We can see, for example, that it converts the decimal number 13
into the binary number 1101.
Figure 5.46 The convert decimal to binary algorithm and trace
Convert to Binary
Input X
Set Power to 16
Set Temp to X
While Power > 0
Set Diff to
Temp Power
If Diff < 0
Output "0"
Else
Output "1"
Set Temp to
Diff
Divide Power by 2
End Convert to Binary

X = 13
Power = 16
Temp = 13
16 > 0
T

8>0
T

4>0
T

2>0
T

1>0
T

Diff = -3

Diff = 5

Diff = 1

Diff = -1

Diff = 0

-3 < 0
T

5 <0
F

1<0
F

-1 < 0
T

0<0
F

Temp = 5

Temp = 1

Temp = 0

0>0
F

Power = 8 Power = 4 Power = 2 Power = 1 Power = 0

Notice first the following binary break-up of the number:

13 = 123 + 122 + 021 + 120 = 18 + 14 + 02 + 11
This algorithm does the conversion by extracting various powers of 2, starting
from the highest power and decreasing by a factor of 2 during each loop. Here
the algorithm starts from the power of 2 just higher than the number to be
converted; to convert 13, it starts with Power = 16.
1.

There is no 16 in 13, so the output is 0.

2.

There is an 8 in 13, so the output is 1 and there remains 5.

3.

There is a 4 in the remaining 5, so the output is 1 and there remains 1

4.

There is no 2 in the remaining 1, so the output is 0.

226

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

5.

There is a 1 in the remaining 1, so the output is 1 and there remains 0.

The resulting output sequence 01101 is the binary equivalent of 13.

For larger values, this algorithm cannot start with Power = 16, but with a
power of 2 that is just larger than the number to be converted. This could be done
with a separate sub-algorithm, that we could call Initialize Power. It would
start with Power equal to 2, and would loop, each time doubling Power until
Power exceeded X.
Our next example is a simple multiplication algorithm that will help us
illustrate the nesting of a Repetition form within a Selection form.
Figure 5.47 Signed Product algorithm and trace
Signed Product
Input X
Input Y
Set Temp to X
Set Product to 0
If Temp > 0
While Temp > 0
Add Y to Product
Decrement Temp
Else
While Temp < 0

X = -4
Y = +5
Temp = -4
Product = 0
-4 > 0
F

-4 < 0
T

-3 < 0
T

-2 < 0
T

-1 < 0
T

Subtract Y from
Product

Product
= -5

Product
= -10

Product
= -15

Product
= -20

Increment Temp

Temp = -3

Temp = -2

Temp = -1

Temp = 0

Output Product
End Signed Product

0<0
F

Output
-20

Figure 5.47 shows the multiplication algorithm for two integers that may be
positive or negative. In this example we can find two While loops nested in the
two parts of a Selection. The trace illustrates the dynamics of the Else part of
the Selection since the first value to multiply is negative. As in the preceding
conversion algorithm, we use an extra variable, Temp, to avoid modifying the
original value of variable X.
See Pseudocode
4.10 for a
detailed Make
Change
algorithm.

Change may be made in many ways, illustrating many combinations of forms. In

Chapter 4 we designed an algorithm to Make Change. Let us consider now a
slightly modified version of Change Maker, which provides a count of the
quarters, nickels, and pennies in exchange for a dollar when buying an item for
Cost cents. In this version we chose to have no dimes or half-dollars involved.

Section 5.7

Pseudocode 5.27

Improving Programs

227

Modified version of Change Maker

Change Maker 1
Input Cost
Set Change to 100 Cost
Set Quarters to 0
While Change 25
Increment Quarters
Set Change to Change 25
Output Quarters
Set Nickels to 0
While Change 5
Increment Nickels
Set Change to Change 5
Output Nickels
Set Pennies to Change
Output Pennies
End Change Maker 1

Note that change can

only be made from $1.
Giving quarters

Giving nickels

Giving pennies

The algorithm in Pseudocode 5.27 uses the method of subtraction and is very
similar to the previously described method of Chapter 4. It consists of a series
of loops, starting at the higher denominations (quarters), and subtracting away
these denominations, counting as it proceeds.
Lets look now at another version of Change Maker.
Pseudocode 5.28

Second new version of Change Maker

Change Maker 2
Input Cost
Set Change to 100 Cost
Set Quarters to Change / 25
Output Quarters
Set Change to Change Quarters 25
Set Nickels to Change / 5
Output Nickels
Set Pennies to Change Nickels 5
Output Pennies
End Change Maker 2

Giving quarters
Giving nickels
Giving pennies

The second algorithm, Pseudocode 5.28, is still based on the method of division.
It makes use of the fact that a division of integers gives an integer quotient.
This version of Change Maker is essentially the same as the previous method.
It simply recognizes that the previous method was really doing division in
disguise.
The next version we will develop will be based on addition and close to the
actual method used by cashiers.

228

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Pseudocode 5.29

Third new version of Change Maker

Change Maker 3
Input Cost
Set Sum to Cost
Set Pennies to 0
While Mod (Sum, 5) 0
Increment Pennies
Increment Sum
Output Pennies
Set Nickels to 0
While Mod (Sum, 25) 0
Increment Nickels
Set Sum to Sum + 5
Output Nickels
Set Quarters to 0
While Sum 100
Increment Quarters
Set Sum to Sum + 25
Output Quarters
End Change Maker 3

Giving pennies:
counting up to the
nearest multiple of 5.

Giving nickels:
counting up to the
nearest multiple of 25.

Giving quarters:
counting up to 100.

The third version in Pseudocode 5.29 corresponds to the way people usually
prefer to make change, for it involves only addition. Here, the algorithm
starts with the value Cost and the lower denominations; pennies are first
added until Sum is a multiple of 5. Note that the test for Sum to be a multiple
of five makes use of the Mod function of Figure 5.41 which gives the remainder
when Sum is divided by 5. When this remainder is zero, Sum is a multiple of
5. Then nickels are similarly added until Sum is a multiple of 25. Finally,
quarters are added until Sum reaches a dollar.
Lets rewrite our Change Maker algorithm one more time using a different
combination of forms; this time with Selections nested within a Repetition.

Section 5.7

Pseudocode 5.30

Improving Programs

229

Fourth Change Maker using nested forms

Change Maker 4
Input Cost
Set Change to 100 Cost
Set Quarters to 0
Set Nickels to 0
Set Pennies to 0
While Change > 0
If Change 25
Increment Quarters
Set Change to Change 25
Else
If Change 5
Increment Nickels
Set Change to Change 5
Else
Increment Pennies
Decrement Change
Output Quarters
Output Nickels
Output Pennies
End Change Maker 4

Giving quarters
Giving nickels
Giving pennies

The fourth version of Change Maker, Pseudocode 5.30, is written as a single

loop, having nested Selections within it. Other than that, this method is quite
similar to our first method of subtraction; it simply trades off a series of
Repetitions for a nest of Selections.
Each of these four methods can very easily be extended to include more
denominations such as dimes, half-dollars, two-dollar bills, and so on. They
could also be extended to accept any amount tendered instead of assuming that
it is $1. But if you try these extensions, you will find that some of these
methods extend much more easily than others.
These are not the only methods for making change for other methods of making
change are still possible. We will see more about change-making in Chapter 7.

Using Invariants
We have seen earlier that loop invariants were any assertions (relations,
conditions, equations, etc.) whose truth is unaffected by the execution of the
body of the loop. We will use loop invariants here to try and improve the
speed of algorithms.
Note:

Loop invariants are the same before and after loop execution, but
not necessarily during.

As an example, consider the algorithm which calculates the product of two

positive numbers, shown in Figure 5.48.

230

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Figure 5.48 The Positive Product algorithm, version 1

Positive Product 1
Input X
X=5
Input Y
Y=6
Set Multiplier to X
Multiplier = 5
Set Multiplicand to Y Multiplicand = 6
Set Product to 0
Product = 0
While Multiplier > 0
Add Multiplicand
to Product
Decrement
Multiplier
Output Product
End Positive Product 1

5>0
T

4>0
T

3>0
T

2>0
T

1>0
T

Product = 6

Product
= 12

Product
= 18

Product
= 24

Product
= 30

Multiplier = 4

0>0
F

Multiplier Multiplier Multiplier Multiplier

=0
=2
=1
=3

Loop Invariant:
X + Y = Product + Multiplicand Multiplier

Output
30

The loop invariant in the Positive Product algorithm of Figure 5.48 is:
(1)
X Y = Product + Multiplier Multiplicand
This invariant has an intuitive meaning here. The product of X and Y at any
point is determined by summing the partial Product and the remaining portion
Multiplier Multiplicand that is yet to be added into Product. This
breakdown into two parts (an already computed part, and a part yet to be
computed) is often useful for determining invariants.
A significant aspect of loop invariants is that the actions within the body of a
loop do not change the invariant. For example, these are the actions within
the loop:
Add Multiplicand to Product
and...
Decrement Multiplier.
These two actions could just as easily have been written as follows:
Set Product to Product + Multiplicand
and...
Set Multiplier to Multiplier - 1
Substituting these two into the original relation produces what is shown in
Pseudocode 5.31.

Section 5.7

Pseudocode 5.31

Improving Programs

231

From one iteration to the next

(1) X Y = Product + Multiplier Multiplicand

original relation

(2) X Y = (Product + Multiplicand) + (Multiplier 1) Multiplicand

= Product + Multiplicand + Multiplier Multiplicand Multiplicand
= Product + Multiplier Multiplicand

This yields again the original invariant! The invariant holds at the beginning
of the body of the loop, and also at the end of it. In other words, this relation
remained invariant after execution of the complete body of the loop. The
adjective complete is important here, since the invariant relation is not
necessarily true part way through the execution of the loop body. This point is
extremely important in the following discussion.
Note

In this example, both assignments must be added to the loop body

together and in order for the invariants to hold. You cant add one
without the other.

Given the invariant relation (1), it is interesting to see whether we can find
other assignments that could be added to the body of the loop and that would
keep the given relation invariant. Here is one such pair of assignments:
Pseudocode 5.32

Other equivalent assignments

Set Multiplier to Multiplier / 2

Set Multiplicand to 2 Multiplicand

In other words, if Multiplier is halved and Multiplicand is doubled, their

product will remain the same. And incidentally, this halving and doubling is a
faster way of finding the product than is the previous method, of adding a
single Multiplicand and subtracting one from Multiplier.
Lets apply our new knowledge and develop a new Product algorithm. Of
course, this halving can only be used if Multiplier is an even number so that we
do not lose one turn in our Repetitions. So for odd numbers, we will still use the
original pair of actions. If we then modify the body of the loop of Figure 5.48 to
choose between these two pairs of assignments (both of which keep the relation
invariant), we obtain a more efficient product algorithm as shown in Figure
5.49.

232

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Figure 5.49 The Positive Product algorithm, version 2

Positive Product 2
Input X
Input Y
Set Multiplier to X
Set Multiplicand to Y
Set Product to 0
While Multiplier > 0
If Multiplier is odd then
Set Product to
Product +
Multiplicand
Set Multiplier to
Multiplier 1

X=5
Y=6
Multiplier = 5
Multiplicand = 6
Product = 0
5>0
T

4>0
T

2>0
T

1>0
T

5 odd
T

4 odd
F

2 odd
F

Product = 6

1 odd
T
Product
= 30

Multiplier = 4

Multiplier
=0

0>0
F

Else
Set Multiplicand to
Multiplicand +
Multiplicand

Multiplicand = 12

Multiplicand = 24

Set Multiplier to
Multiplier / 2

Multiplier
=2

Multiplier
=1

Output Product
End Positive Product 2

Output
30

Note that we have written the original two actions in a slightly different (but
equivalent) way. Also, the doubling of Multiplicand was done by an addition
so as to be more efficient, and above all so as to avoid using the product we are
defining! A slightly more efficient algorithm is given in Figure 5.50, where we
double and halve during every iteration.

Section 5.7

233

Improving Programs

Figure 5.50 The Positive Product algorithm, version 3

Positive Product 3
Input X
Input Y
Set Multiplier to X
Set Multiplicand to Y
Set Product to 0
While Multiplier > 0
If Multiplier is odd

X=5
Y=6
Multiplier = 5
Multiplicand = 6
Product = 0
5>0
T
5 odd
T

2>0
T

1>0
T

2 odd
F

1 odd
T

0>0
F

Set Product to
Product +
Product = 6
Product = 30
Multiplicand
Set Multiplier to
Multiplier = 4
Multiplier = 0
Multiplier 1
Set Multiplicand to
Multiplicand + Multiplicand = 12 Multiplicand = 24
Multiplicand
Set Multiplier to
Multiplier = 2
Multiplier = 1
Multiplier / 2
Output Product
End Positive Product 3

Output
30

The efficiency of these algorithms can be illustrated by considering the product

of two numbers as big as a million. Version 1 would make about 1 000 000 loops,
Version 2 would make about 40 loops, and Version 3 would make about 20 loops!
If the time difference from 1 000 000 to 20 does not impress you, think of these
numbers as money!
Notice particularly that we achieved this efficiency because of changes caused
by rather simple algebraic manipulation of the loop invariant. This should
convince you that the loop invariant is a very useful concept.

234

Chapter 5

5.8

Review

Algorithm Behavior

Top Ten Things to Remember

1.

In this chapter, we have considered the dynamic behavior of

algorithms, as opposed to their static structure as seen in Chapter 4.
The algorithms which are intended for execution by computers are
called programs.

2.

Algorithms manipulate data which are stored in variables. The

concept of data comprises both value and type. A variable is viewed as
a labeled box containing a value of some type. In this chapter, types
were mainly limited to numbers: Integer and Real Numbers.

3.

Actions involving data include assignment, input, output, comparison

and various arithmetic operations. These simple actions can be
combined to yield complex actions and algorithms.

4.

Sequence Forms are quite simple, and can replace some of the other
structures. This shows in particular that different structures can have
the same behavior.

5.

Selection Forms are capable of more complex behavior, as they make it

possible to define several alternative paths through the actions of the
algorithm. But you should remember that the class of all possible
paths through the algorithm is finite. It is possible to compare two
Selection Forms and determine equivalent behavior by comparing all
paths.

6.

Repetition Forms have considerably more complex behaviors. This

behavior is best described by a form of tracing that produces a twodimensional typical path. Tracing yields insights into dynamic
behavior by showing a typical trajectory, by helping detect errors, by
yielding interesting relations among variables and by suggesting other
equivalent algorithms.

7.

Loop invariants are relations whose truth is unaffected by execution of

the body of the loop. They are useful for providing some insights into
algorithms. They can also be used to both prove and improve programs.

8.

Sub-algorithm forms were introduced by data-flow diagrams describing

their behavior. They emphasize higher level views: what is being
done, rather than how it is done.

9.

The use of sub-algorithms is helpful in simplifying algorithms by

hiding the details of what happens in the sub-algorithm; this is known
as abstraction.

10.

This chapter introduced the most fundamental concepts of computing.

The following five chapters are simply extensions of these principles.

Section 5.9

5.9

Glossary
Character: A data type whose
values are textual symbols such as
letters, digits, punctuation marks
together with other symbols used to
control spatial arrangement or text,
such as tabs and end of page.
Identifier: A symbolic name that is
used to refer to a programming entity
such as a sub-program or variable.
Infinite Loop: A repetition form
whose condition is never met: the
loop keeps looping.
Instruction: A single action in a
program.
Iteration: A single execution of the
body of a repetition form.
Kludge: [Pronounced klooj and said
to be from Yiddish klug smart.]
An attempt to fix a programming
error by modification of the
symptoms of the error rather than
the logical cause for the error. If the
fix is successful, the program works,
but for the wrong reasons. By
extension, applied to a program that
has been fixed in this way and is thus
devoid of elegance.
Loop invariant: An assertion whose
truth is not changed by the complete
execution of the body of a loop. Thus,
if the assertion is true before the loop
is executed, it will still be true after
the loop has terminated.
Paradigm: A model or template for a
design.
Scientific notation: A method of
expressing real numbers as a decimal

Glossary

235

number x in the range 1.0 x 10.0

and a multiplier that is some power
of 10, for example, the speed of light
is 3.101010 centimeters per second;
expressed in many programming
languages as 3.0E10.
Side effect: A consequence, frequently
unwanted and unexpected, of an
action in a program that is not
connected with the goal of the action.
A common example is the change in
the value of a variable within a subalgorithm resulting from assignments
outside the sub-algorithm.
State trace: A trace where the values
shown are restricted to as few as
possible to show the programs
action.
Trace: A sequence of snapshots of a
programs data values showing the
effects of the programs execution.

236

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

5.10 Problems
Mid: The Middle Value
The middle value of an odd number of different values is that value which has
as many values lower than it, as it has higher than it. It is not the average
value. For example, the middle value of the three integer values 3, 6 and 5 is 5.
There are many ways of finding the middle value; some of these ways follow.

1.

Mid Data-Flow Diagrams

Prove (or disprove) that the following data-flow diagrams compute
the Mid value of the three input values A, B, C.
Problem 1
A

min

2.

min

min

Max

Max

Max

min

M1

M2

Max

Mid Tree
The given tree corresponds to a nasty nest of Selection Forms. Fill out
boxes at the right so that M is assigned the middle value of the three
values A, B, C.
Show assertions at branches of the tree.

Section 5.10

Problems

237

Problem 2
False

False

False

3.

C<A

C<B

A<B

True

True

False

True

False

C<B

C <A

True

True

More Mids
Create an algorithm (flowblock diagram, pseudocode, and so on) that is
simpler than the tree of Problem 2, having fewer nests (only 3 simply
nested), but involving more complex conditions.
Create another Mid3 algorithm from flowblocks by using Sum and
Difference blocks also.

4.

Others
Redo the tree of Problem 1 to find the maximum of three values, and
then redo it again to find the minimum of three values. Finally, redo it
to sort three values.
How many tests are necessary to prove the equivalence of the Mid of
five different values?
How many tests are necessary if some of the five values could be the
same?

5.

Simple Sequence Form

Indicate briefly what the following sequence of Set statements (A B
is equivalent to Set A to B) does, in general, with inputs A, B and output
C. Explain what, not how.
a. A A + B

b. A A B

c. A A B

B A+ B

B A B

BBA

C A+ B

C A+ B

C A B

238

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

6.

More Sequences
Describe briefly what the following algorithms do (but not how they
do it).
a. A 2

7.

b. E A

c. Z A

B A+ A

A B

ZB+ Z+ Z

C B + B

BC

ZC+ Z+ Z

DC+ C

C D

Z D+ Z+ Z

E D+ D

DE

ZE+ Z+ Z

Charge Again
Create an algorithm to compute a charge C, given by the formula:
C=4 K + 6 A
for A adults and K kids, without using multiplication and without any
looping. Do this in two ways, using a different number of additions
each time. Hint: The charges are Integers.

8.

Verification of Sequence
Prove (or disprove) that the following two Sequence algorithms are
equivalent in producing the same output E. Draw the data-flow
diagrams.

9.

a. C A A

b. C A + B

DBB

D A B

EC D

EC D

Logical
If the two logical values are represented by the numbers 0 and 1 (F=0,
T=1), then prove the following equivalencies, which are in terms of
arithmetic operations:
a. NOT(P) = 1 P
b. P AND Q = P Q
c.

P OR Q = P + Q P Q

Section 5.10

10.

Problems

Logical Proof
Prove (or disprove) the following logical expressions.
a. NOT( P AND Q) = (NOT P) OR (NOT Q)
b. P AND (Q OR R) = (P AND Q) OR (P AND R)
c.

P OR (NOT P AND Q) = P OR Q

Problems on Selection Forms and Verifications

11.

Equality of Selection
Compare the following two algorithms and try (intuitively) to
determine if they are equivalent. Then prove, or disprove, this
equivalence.
Problem 11
If P
If Q
X
Else
Y
Else
If R
Y
Else
Z

12.

If P and Q
X
Else
If R
Y
Else
Z

Bigger Equivalence
Prove whether or not the given algorithms are equivalent.
Problem 12
If P
If Q
If R
W
Else
X
Else
X
Else
If Q
If R
W
Else
Y
Else
Z

If Q
If R
W
Else
If P
X
Else
Y
Else
If P
X
Else
Z

239

240

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

13.

Trade-off Structure for Condition

Create algorithms equivalent to the following by combining conditions
with logical operations.
Problem 13
If P
If Q
X
Else
Y
Else
If Q
Y
Else
Z

14.

If P
X
Else
If Q
If R
X
Else
Y
Else
Y

Choices with Integers

Prove (or disprove) equivalence of the following algorithms, assuming
non-equal values (i.e. A B, and so on).
Problem 14
If B < C
If C < A
X
Else
Z
Else
If A < B
Y
Else
Y

15.

If C < A
If B < C
X
Else
Y
Else
If A < B
Y
Else
Z

Many Ways to Grade

Create a Grades algorithm equivalent to the ones previously outlined
in Section 5.4, but starting with the first condition being (Percent 80).
Create another algorithm with the first condition being (Percent 60).
Indicate a set of values necessary to test this Grading algorithm.

16.

Complements
Prove (or disprove) that the given two conditions are opposite
(complementary) in behavior.
(X 30) AND ( (X > 20) OR (X 10) )
(X > 10) AND ( (X > 30) OR (X 20) )

Section 5.10

17.

Problems

Test Equivalence
Prove whether or not the following algorithms are equivalent in
behavior.
Problem 17
If A
If B
X
Else
Y
Else
If C
Y
Else
Z

If A and B
X
Else
If A or C
Y
Else
Z

If A or C
If A and B
X
Else
Y
Else
Z

Loop Tracing Problems

18.

Convert
Trace the following algorithm for X = 13, and describe its general
behavior briefly. Assume Integer values.
Problem 18
Input X
Set Y to Chop X / 2
While X 0
If (Y + Y) = X
Output "0"
Else
Output "1"
Set X to Y
Set Y Chop X / 2

19.

Test Sort
Prove whether or not the following data-flow algorithm sorts
variables having unequal values.

241

242

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Problem 19
A1

B1

Min

C1

Max

Min

20.

Min

Max

Max

A2

B2

C2

Pow!
Trace the following algorithm for X = 13 and Y = 2. What does this
algorithm do in general? Choose a better set of names for the variables.
Problem 20
Input X
Input Y
Set C to X
Set D to Y
Set P to 1
While C > 0
If C is odd
Set P to
Set C to
Else
Set D to
Set C to
Output P

21.

P D
C1
D D
C/2

Pi Square
Trace the following algorithm, which computes the square of , and
indicate what formula it computes (but do not work out the arithmetic).
Also describe briefly how it works.

Section 5.10

Problems

243

Problem 21
Set N to 7
Set F to 0
Set P to 0
Set Index to 1
While Index N
If F = 0
Set P to P + 1 / (Index Index)
Set F to 1
Else
Set P to P 1 / (Index Index)
Set F to 0
Set Index to Index + 1
Set S to 12 P

22.

Refine Prime
A prime number is defined to be any positive integer which is divisible
only by 1 and itself.
The following algorithm indicates whether any value X is prime or not.
Modify this algorithm in at least two ways, so that it does less looping.
Problem 22
Input X
Set P to 0
Set Index to 2
While Index < X
If Mod(X, Index) = 0
Set P to 1
Set Index to Index + 1
If P = 1
Output "Not Prime"
Else
Output "Prime"

Problems on Creating Loops

23.

Square Again
The square of an integer N can be computed by summing all the integers
from 1 to N and then back down to 1. For example:
42 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 16
Create an algorithm to compute the square of any Integer N using such a
method.

244

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

24.

Power
Create an algorithm to find the Nth power of any number X, where N is
a non-negative Integer. Then modify this algorithm to work for any
integer N.

25.

Fibonacci
One simple model of population growth (of rabbits) is given by the
series:
1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 ...
where the new population P at one month is determined by summing the
previous two months populations (called latest L and second latest S).
Create an algorithm to determine the population at month M, where M
> 2.

26.

Divide and Conquer

Create an algorithm to divide any integer A by another integer B,
yielding a quotient Q and a remainder R. Do this by using
multiplication. Do it also another way.

27.

Another Signed Product

Create yet another algorithm for the Signed Product algorithm
described in Figure 5.48.

28.

Extend Change
Extend the Change Maker algorithms (1 through 4 of Section 5.7) to
output the count of dimes also.

29.

Expo
Create an algorithm to compute the exponential function from the first
N terms of the following series:

Expo(x) = 1+ x +

30.

x2 x 3 x 4
+ +
+
2! 3! 4!

Log
Create an algorithm to compute the natural logarithm function (base e)
by the following series approximation (for 0 < x 2 ):

Section 5.10

Problems

245

(x 1)2 (x 1)3 (x 1)4

Ln(x) = (x 1)
+

+
2
3
4
31.

Sine
Create an algorithm to compute the trigonometric sine from the first N
terms of the following series (where angle X is in radians). Recall that
the sine is positive in the first two quadrants.

Sine(x) = x

x3 x5 x7
+

3! 5! 7!

Problems on Sub-algorithm Forms

32.

Score
In some sporting events, a number of judges each gives a score. The
overall score is determined by dropping the highest and lowest scores
and averaging the remaining scores. Create a data-flow diagram to
determine the score for an event, having five judges, giving 5 grades
(each having values ranging from 0 to 10).

33.

More Majority
Draw a data-flow diagram for the formula:
M = AB + AC + BC - (2A) (BC)
first using only binary functions (having two inputs), then using
functions of any number of inputs (i.e., using a four-input product). Prove
that this formula behaves as a majority.

34.

Big Majority from Little Majs Grows?

The given algorithm below shows four majority units Maj3 connected in
an attempt to create the majority U of five variables P , Q, R, S, and T.
Indicate whether the given algorithm does find the majority of five
variables. If it does not do it, then disprove it. Otherwise show how
you would prove it.
Set U to Maj3(Maj3(P, Q, R), Maj3(R, S, T), Maj3(P, R, T))

246

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

35.

ISBN Flow
Draw a data-flow diagram describing the ISBN algorithm of Chapter
3. The inputs are the nine digits D1, D2, .. D9 and the output is the
check symbol C.

36.

What Is It?
Draw a data-flow diagram for the following formula, and indicate
briefly its behavior for all integers.
M = ( ABS(A + B) - ABS(A - B) )/2

37.

One More Day

The following formula is supposed to compute the number of days D in
any month M. Draw the data-flow diagram of it and show what it
does in a tabular form.
D = 30 + Mod (Mod Abs( 2M 15), 4), 3

Loops and Invariance

38.

Invariance of Division
Find the loop invariant of the Divide algorithm, Figure 5.29.

39.

Invariance of Square
Create an algorithm to compute the square of any nonnegative integer N
by successively adding N for a total of N times. Find the loop
invariant.

40.

Invariance of Power
Create an algorithm to compute the power of any number X raised to
some integer value N, by looping N times and multiplying. Find the
loop invariant, and use it to improve this algorithm.

41.

Invariance of Pow
Find the loop invariant of the Pow algorithm shown in Problem 20.

Section 5.10

42.

Problems

247

Invariance of a Cube
The given algorithm computes the cube of any positive integer N. Trace
it for N = 5. Then indicate which of the following is the loop
invariant.
a. C3 = A + B + C + 6
b. C = B + D3
c.

C = B + (A/6)3

d. D3 = A3 + B 2 + C + 6
e.

43.

6 = A +B +C +D3

Invariance of Loan
Find the loop invariant of the Loan algorithm of Figure 5.32. You need
to introduce more variables, representing some sums.

44.

More Invariance
Trace the following algorithms Cube and First, and find their loop
invariants. Find two invariants for Second.
Problem 44
Cube
First
Second
Input N
Set B to 50
Set N to 7
Set A to 0
Set J to 1
Set C to 0
Set B to 1
While B < 300
Set S to 1
Set C to 1
Set B to B + B / J While C < N
Set D to 1
Set J to J + 1
Set C to C + 1
While D < N
End First
Set S to S + C + N
Set A to A + 6
Set N to N 1
Set B to A + B
Output S
Set C to B + C
End Second
Set D to D + 1
Output C
End Cube

Applications (to business, engineering, and so on)

45.

Loan Again
Modify the Loan algorithm of Figure 5.38
a. so that the interest rate increases by 1% each year,

248

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

b. so that the payment is either 20% of the unpaid balance, or $25,

whichever is greater,
c.

46.

to determine the time to pay off the entire loan and compute also
the total interest paid.

Checks and Balances

An amount of $1,000 is deposited every year in a bank account for 5
years, at an interest rate of 10% per year (computed annually), with
the interest computed on the present (increasing) balance, but chopped
to the next lower dollar amount. Create an algorithm which indicates
the balance in the account after 5 years, and trace this algorithm to
compute this balance. Check this final balance by using another
method.

47.

Saving and Withdrawing

An amount of $10,000 is deposited in a bank account for 5 years, at an
interest rate of 10% per year (computed annually) with the interest
computed on the present (increasing) balance, but chopped to the next
lower dollar amount. Each year $500 is withdrawn from this account.
Create an algorithm which indicates the balance in the account after 5
years, and trace this algorithm to compute this balance. Check this
final balance by using another method.

48.

Growth (of population, money, and so on)

The growth of various quantities (money, population, disease) is often a
fixed portion of the present quantity. For example, the yearly interest
gained on an amount of invested money is given by a fixed rate R of
interest, which is multiplied by the present amount A (or balance) each
year.
Create an algorithm to determine the number of years required for the
money to double. Modify the algorithm to determine the number of
years to reach a certain final amount F.

49.

Reliability (of systems)

The reliability R of a system of N independent series components, each
having Probability P is determined by:
R = P P P P ... P P (where there are N Ps)
For example, consider a chain made of links each having a probability
P of .99 of successfully withstanding a certain load. If 70 of these are

Section 5.10

Problems

249

connected together (N = 7 0 ), the probability of all the links

successfully withstanding the load is:
R = 0.990.990.99...0.99 = 0.50
Create an algorithm to determine the number of components N (each
having given probability P) to reach a given reliability R.

250

Chapter 5

Algorithm Behavior

Chapter Outline

251

Chapter 6 Bigger Blocks

In this chapter, we will extend the concepts seen in the previous chapters so
that we may obtain more convenient tools. As we mentioned in the review of
Chapter 5, there will be fewer fundamental concepts but more details and
techniques.

Chapter Overview
6.1
6.2
6.3

6.4

6.5

6.6

6.7
6.8
6.9

Preview....................................................................252
Using External Data and Files...................................252
End-Of-File Markers.................................................255
More Building Blocks................................................259
The Select Form........................................................259
The For Form.............................................................262
Using the For Forms in Nests......................................265
Nesting Fors in Fors...................................................265
Nesting Selections in Fors..........................................269
Creating Plots with For Nests....................................273
More Data Types.......................................................275
The Character Type..................................................275
The Logical Type......................................................279
Some General Problem-Solving Algorithms................281
Bisection Finding Values..........................................281
Maximum Power Optimizing Power Output...............284
Solver Solving Equations..........................................287
Review Top Ten Things to Remember........................290
Glossary...................................................................291
Problems...................................................................292

252
252

6.1

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Preview
So far, we have limited the data we used in our examples to a few fixed number
of values. All of these values were part of the algorithms and stored inside the
computer. Here, we will extend the data we will use to include any number of
values, as well as data stored outside the computer.
We have already seen several examples of mixed forms, especially involving
both repetitionsand selections, and in this chapter we will see more of these
including slightly more complex algorithms and some useful paradigms and
applications.
We will also extend the fundamental Selection form to include a more general
Select (or Case) form, where any number of choices can be made. The Repetition
form will also be extended to include a For loop(or loop-and-count).
In accordance with our problem-solving method, we will stress, which makes it
possible to develop in a number of stages. Each stage is simple because it
usually involves only one repetition or selection form. The various stages may
lead to deeper nesting of loops and selections.
But the bigger structures introduced in this chapter are not necessarily always
better! For example, while the For and Select Forms may sometimes be more
convenient than the simpler While and Selection forms, they are not as general
and have limitations.
This chapter will help you synthesize a little better what you have learned in
the previous chapters, with some emphasis on top-down design. This chapter
comprises again a good number of examples that illustrate the various ideas
discussed.

6.2

Using External Data and Files

So far, the data used have been simple values that could be viewed as values in
boxes. Also, all of our data manipulations have involved simple variables
that were set up by some actions in our algorithms. Occasionally we have input
some data from outside the program, but in all our examples, there were only
very few values of data.
In real problems, on the other hand, it is often the case that there are large
quantities of data. The data are usually stored outside the computer (on a
diskette for instance) and brought in only when necessary, one value at a time.
For example, consider the problem of computing some statistics, such as the
average (or mean) value of a set of numbers. In Chapter 5, we calculated the
mean for four data values North, South, East, and West (see Figures 5.10 and
5.11), all internal to the program, as shown again as Find Mean 1 in Figure 6.1.

Section 6.2

Figure 6.1

An Average program

253

Using External Data and Files

Find Mean 1

Problem: Data are too complex.

Find Mean 1
Set Num to 4
Set Sum to 0
Add North to Sum
Add South to Sum
Add East to Sum
Add West to Sum
Set Mean to Sum / Num
Output Mean
Find Mean 1

Sum
Mean
Num
North
South
East
West

Algorithm

0 20 30 70 100
25
4
20
10
40
30

Internal Data

Data
not external

External data
Notice: no external
data are used.

First, the number of values to be averaged, Num, is set to a value of 4 and the
variable Sum is initialized to a value of zero. Then each value is accumulated
into Sum. Finally, Sum is divided by the value of Num, to determine the Mean
value.
Figure 6.2

Extended Average

Find Mean 2

Simplifying the data makes the

algorithm appear more complex.

Find Mean 2
Set Num to 4
Set Sum to 0
Input Value
Add Value to Sum
Input Value
Add Value to Sum
Input Value
Add Value to Sum
Input Value
Add Value to Sum
Set Mean to Sum / Num
Output Mean
End Find Mean 2
Algorithm

Sum
Mean
Num
Value

0 20 30 70 100
25
4
20 10 40 30

Data
Not in
Memory

Internal Data

20
10
40
30

External Data

This method can be modified by keeping the data values external, and reading
in each of these external values, one at a time, into a single internal variable
Value, which is added into Sum. This method simplifies the internal data
structure, but makes the algorithm longer, as shown by Find Mean 2 in Figure
6.2. Here we are faced with the ever present dilemma in computing; if we

254

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

simplify the data, then the algorithm becomes more complex, if we simplify
the algorithm then the data becomes more complex.
If we are dealing with only a few values, either of the preceding methods (Find
Mean 1 or Find Mean 2) could be used. But if there are many values, it is
crucial that we find the best method. The preceding program may be further
generalized to average any number of values by first reading in the number of
values to be averaged, and then by replacing the series of input-accumulate
actions with a loop, as shown by Find Mean 3 in Figure 6.3.
Figure 6.3

General Find Mean algorithm Find Mean 3

Find Mean 3
Set Sum to 0
Input Num
Set Count to 0
While Count < Num
Input Value
Set Sum to Sum + Value
Set Count to Count + 1
Set Mean to Sum / Num
Output Mean
End Find Mean 3
Algorithm

Sum
Changed from
previous version

Mean
Num

Value
Count
Internal Data

4
20
10
40
30
External data

The number of values to average could be stored with the external dataas the
first item and input into Num. The algorithm then includes a variable, Count,
which starts at 0 and is increased once for each input value, until it reaches the
value in Num and stops the looping. We will further refine the Find Mean 3
algorithm in the next section.
You may wish to try to refine the algorithm in Figure 6.3 first before reading
any further, for there are a number of ways to refine it.
The external datacan be input in many ways. In the early days of computers,
the values were punched into cards that were read by card readers. Nowadays,
the values may be input from a keyboard, one value at a time. Yet another
common method, described below, uses files.
Files are a means of storing data external to the computer on physical devices
such as tapes and disks. Many of these devices are based on magnetic
phenomena, but these physical aspects are not important to know at this time.
In fact, files can be viewed as collections of data. The data values that are
stored in a file may easily be retrieved, input to a program, changed, stored and
output again to form a modified or updated file. So files can provide another
source of input to programs. They can also be used to pass data from one program
to another.
All of this makes it possible to separate the data from the program, thus
making the program more general, and applicable to many sets of data.

Section 6.2

Using External Data and Files

255

End-Of-File Markers
Our Find Mean 3 algorithm can be refined in a number of different ways. We
will present and discuss two such refinements that involve different ways of
indicating when all the data has been processed.
The problem with the general method of Figure 6.3 is that the value Num must
be determined externally before the computation begins. If the number of data
values is large and a human is to count them, there could easily be an error.
Furthermore, humans should not need to do the mundane job of counting when a
computer can do the job so much better.
Figure 6.4

Find Mean 3 with a terminating value

Find Mean 4
Set Sum to 0
Set Num to 0
Set Terminator to -999
Input Value
While Value Terminator
Set Sum to Sum + Value
Set Num to Num + 1
Input Value
Set Mean to Sum / Num
Output Mean
End Find Mean 4

External data
Sum
20
10

Mean

40
30
-999

Num
Value
Terminator

-999

Changed
from
previous
version

Terminating Value

The first way of refining Find Mean 3 is to use the algorithm to count the
number of values as they are input, as shown on Figure 6.4. This is done by
placing a special terminating value after the last input value. The
terminating value(or end-of-file markeror sentinel value) is a value that is
different from all possible data values. When it is input, it causes the looping
to stop. Of course, this terminating value is not counted or included in the
average.
The value used to mark the end-of-file depends on the data because it must be
distinct. For example, if all values were percentages (ranging from 0 to 100),
then a terminating value could be any number outside of this range (say 101 or
500). Similarly, if all values were positive numbers, then any negative number
could be used as a terminating value. Sometimes a computer supplies its own
end-of-file marker, often called EOF.
Note:

It is often useful to choose an unusual terminating value that is

simple to remember, and easy to spot visually, such as -999.

A second refinement of Find Mean 3 is a generalization of our first refinement.

The first method used an end-of-file marker whose value was a constant
written in the program. This program was not general, since it did not work for
all the possible values.

256

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

If the nature of the data changed so that the value 999 were now a legitimate
data value, another terminator would have to be chosen and the program in
Figure 6.4 would have to be modified. To avoid modifying the program, the
second refinement, shown in Figure 6.5, provides the terminator as the first
piece of data and tests for its occurrence as the last piece.
Figure 6.5

Find Mean 3 with sandwich

Find Mean 5
Set Sum to 0
Set Num to 0
Input Terminator
Input Value
While Value Terminator
Set Sum to Sum + Value
Set Num to Num + 1
Input Value
Set Mean to Sum / Num
End Find Mean 5

External data
Sum
Mean
Num
Terminator

-999

-999
20
10
40
30
-999
Changed
from
previous
version

Value

Terminating Value

The two terminator values in Figure 6.5 sandwich the data. Now the Find
Mean 5 program averages any kind of numerical values except for the value
entered as the terminator. terminating sandwich
Note:

Putting the terminating value at both the beginning and the end of
the external data list makes the program easier to maintain.
When this value is changed, only the data list must be changed.

Program reusability is the main reason for selecting the last refinement. It
allows us to view the program as a black box. When there are some changes to
the data ranges, we only need to make changes to the data and not the program;
we can use our program as is on the new data.
As we have seen so far, many algorithms can produce the same results.
However, some of these algorithms can be more easily extended than others,
which makes them more interesting to use. For example, there are two ways to
find the maximum value of two variables A and B, as shown in Pseudocode 6.1.
The two
algorithms
Maximum 1 and
Maximum 2
were introduced
in Figure 5.14.

Pseudocode 6.1
Maximum 1
If A > B
Set Max to A
Else
Set Max to B
Output Max
End Maximum 1

Two ways to find the maximum of two values

Maximum 2
Set Max to A
If A < B
Set Max to B
Output Max
End Maximum 2

The two algorithms in Pseudocode 6.1 are explained as follows:

Section 6.2

Using External Data and Files

257

Maximum 1 compares the two values directly and assigns the

maximum value to Max immediately.
Maximum 2 assigns one of the values to be the maximum, then checks
this choice, and if the decision was wrong, it changes the maximum to
be the other value. Although this second method may seem more
complex and unnatural, it will turn out be easier to modify and extend.
To demonstrate this, lets extend both algorithms shown above (Maximum 1
and Maximum 2) such that they now find the maximum of three values: A, B,
and C. In both cases, this additional value C means that more selections must
be added to the algorithms.
Pseudocode 6.2

Two ways to find the maximum of three values

Maximum 1 Extended
If A > B
If A > C
Set Max to A
Else
Set Max to C
Else
If B > C
Set Max to B
Else
Set Max to C
Output Max
End Maximum 1 Extended

Maximum 2 Extended
Set Max to A
If Max < B
Set Max to B
If Max < C
Set Max to C
Output Max
End Maximum 2 Extended

Shallow

Deep

The extended algorithms in Pseudocode 6.2 are explained as follows:

To extend Maximum 1, we must add nested selections. The more values
we wish to find the maximum of, the deeper this nesting of
selectionswill be.
To extend Maximum 2, the new selections are added in series with the
others. Similarly, the more values we wish to find the maximum of,
the more selections there will be added one after the other. Hence,
Maximum 2 Extended could be referred to as the shallow one, since
no nesting was involved. By the same token, Maximum 1 Extended
could be called the deep one because of its deep nesting. You will
certainly agree that the shallow algorithm of Maximum 2 was the
easier to extend.
We could easily extend Maximum 2 Extended even further so that it finds the
maximum of any number of values. To do this, the necessary number of selections
would be added in series; this is shown at the left of Figure 6.6. This long series
of selections and inputs can easily be replaced by a loop, giving the Loop Max
algorithm at the right of Figure 6.6.

258

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Figure 6.6

A long Sequence Max and a Loop Max

Sequence Max

We
extend
Maximum
2, first.

Loop Max

Input Value
Set Max to Value

Input Terminator
Input Value
Set Max to Value

Input Value
If Max < Value
Set Max to Value

Input Value
While Value Terminator

Input Value
If Max < Value
Set Max to Value

If Max < Value

Set Max to Value
Input Value

Input Value

Second, we
refine
Sequence
Max.

{Repeats of above boxes}

Output Max
End Sequence Max

Output Max
End Loop Max

The first thing Loop Max does is read in the terminating value. Then, the first
of the numbers to be compared is input and is immediately assigned to be the
maximum, Max. Once this is done, Loop Max successively inputs values and
compares each value to the maximum, Max, updating it if necessary, as long as
the input value is not the terminating value. Finally the maximum is output.
Notice that this algorithm assumes that at least one value is given between
the terminating values. If it is possible that no values be given (other than the
two terminating values), then the algorithm must be modified by testing before
the first assignment to Max.
This Loop Max algorithm could be extended in many ways. For example, it
could find not only the largest but also the second largest value. Try it! It could
also be extended to find the minimum value, to count the number of values, to
sum all the values, to compute averages, to give running averages, variances,
ranges, the number of values greater than a given value, as well as perform
many other computations.
Each of these computations usually involves an initialization of values, then
some extension to the body and finally some output at the end. You may
recognize this pattern for it was used in both Loop Max and Find Mean 5. This
pattern is illustrated in Pseudocode 6.3.

Section 6.2

Pseudocode 6.3

Using External Data and Files

259

Input pattern used in many algorithms

Input Terminator
Initialize
Input Value
While Value Terminator
Perform Computation
Input Value

Typical pattern
for algorithms
inputting
external data

These computations may also be done using arrays, as we will see in Chapter 8.

6.3

More Building Blocks

The Select Form
We have already pointed out that the Four Fundamental Forms (Sequence,
Selection, Repetition and Invocation) are sufficient to create all algorithms.
However, other forms may also be used, like the Select Form, which is a
convenient way of expressing multiple choice selections.
The Select Form (sometimes called the Case form) is a natural extension of the
Selection form, where, instead of selecting from only two alternatives, there
may be any number of choices nicely nested within one another as shown in
Pseudocode 6.4.
Pseudocode 6.4

Cumbersome nested Selection Forms

If Cond 1
Actions 1
Else
If Cond 2
Actions 2
Else
If Cond 3
Actions 3

Nested Selections
template

Else
If Cond n
Actions n
Else
Actions n+1

The n conditions shown are tested in order (Cond1 then Cond2, and so on) until
the first condition that holds is found, and the corresponding set of actions is
performed. If none of the conditions from Cond1 to Condn are True, then all the
actions represented by Actionsn+1 are performed.

260

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Notice that the pseudocode to achieve this commonly required operation is

cumbersome and, because of the way in which we indent the True and False
parts of a selection, moves rapidly to the right of the written form.
Since the ability to select one set of actions out of many is so useful, a special
form, the Select Form, was developed. Using the notation of this form,
Pseudocode 6.5 shows how Pseudocode 6.4 would appear.
Pseudocode 6.5

The Select Form

Select
Cond 1 Actions 1
Cond 2 Actions 2
Cond 3 Actions 3

Cond n Actions n
Otherwise Actions n+1
The Grades 1
algorithm was
first introduced
in Chapter 5,
Pseudocode 5.9.

The form in Pseudocode 6.5 is much simpler to understand than the Pseudocode
6.4 which uses only Selection Forms. To fully illustrate the difference between
these two forms, Figure 6.7 shows the Grades 1 algorithm expressed as a nested
set of Selection forms (left) and as a single Select Form (right). This figure also
shows how the value of Percent selects the grade for output.
Figure 6.7
algorithm

Comparison of two representations of the Grades

Grades 1
Input Percent
If Percent 90
Output "A"
Else
If Percent 80
Output "B"
Else
If Percent 60
Output "C"
Else
If Percent 50
Output "D"
Else
Output "F"
End Grades 1

equivalent

Grades 1
Input Percent
Select
Percent 90:
Output "A"
Percent 80:
Output "B"
Percent 60:
Output "C"
Percent 50:
Output "D"
Otherwise:
Output "F"
End Grades 1

Notice that, as with the nested Selection template (Pseudocode 6.4), once a
condition has been satisfied, we are not limited to a single action as Actionsn
stands for one or a group of actions. For example, if Grades 1 were also required
to count the number of As, Bs, Cs, and so on, the algorithm in Pseudocode 6.6 could
be used.

Section 6.3

Pseudocode 6.6

More Building Blocks

261

Select Form with many actions

Input Percent
Select
Percent 90:
Output "A"
Increment CountA
Percent 80:
Output "B"
Increment CountB
Percent 60:
Output "C"
Increment CountC
Percent 50:
Output "D"
Increment CountD
Otherwise:
Output "F"
Increment CountF

Group of actions

Lets illustrate further the Select Form with an algorithm for determining the
unit price, depending upon the quantity ordered, shown in Pseudocode 6.7.
Pseudocode 6.7
Select Form

Algorithm Price, showing special case of

Price
Input Quantity
Select
Quantity = 1:
Set Price to
Quantity = 2:
Set Price to
Quantity = 3:
Set Price to
Quantity = 4:
Set Price to
Quantity = 5:
Set Price to
Quantity = 6:
Set Price to
Quantity = 7:
Set Price to
Quantity = 8:
Set Price to
Quantity = 9:
Set Price to
Otherwise:
Set Price to
Output Price
End Price

99
98
98
95
95
95

Price
Input Quantity
Select Quantity
1:
Set Price
2, 3:
Set Price
4, 5, 6:
Set Price
7, 8, 9:
Set Price
Otherwise:
Set Price
Output Price
End Price

to 99
to 98
to 95
to 90
to 85

90
90
90
85

In this algorithm (Pseudocode 6.7), the conditions are all simple comparisons of
a variable to various constants. This allows us to express the algorithm in a
shorter variant of the Select Form know as the Case Form, shown on the right.

262

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

In the Case Form, we name the variable being used for the comparison at the
head of the form and the constant values are listed, separated by commas ,as
the conditions. The Case Form is a special instance of the Select form where
the conditions test for equality to constants.

The For Form

The only Repetition forms considered so far have been the While and the
Repeat-Until forms. Of these two, the While is the more fundamental, and, as
we saw in Chapter 5, no other loop form is necessary. There is, however, one
other loop form that is useful or convenient at times: the For loop.
For loop forms, sometimes called Loop-and-Count forms, are one of the most
useful extensions of the Four Fundamental Forms. A For loop is used in all cases
where the number of repetitions is known, and usually replaces a While loop
where the condition involves a counter. The For loop specifies the initial value
of that counter, the value by which it is incremented during each loop, and the
limit that the counter must reach to stop the loop. Using a While loop, it is
necessary to explicitly set up the counters initial value, to test the counter, and
to increment it. On the other hand, the For loop does all that implicitly.
Figure 6.8

Use of the For loop to calculate a product

Input X
Input Y
Set Product to 0
Set Count to 1
While Count Y
Add X to Product
Increment Count
Output Product

equivalent

Input X
Input Y
Set Product to 0
For Count = 1 to Y by 1
Add X to Product
Output Product

These two steps are removed,

when using For loops.

Figure 6.8 illustrates the difference between While and For loops by showing a
variation of one of the algorithms for calculating a product that we studied in
Chapter 5. Here, the product X Y is calculated by summing values of X, Y
times. On the left of Figure 6.8, a standard While loop is used while on the
right the same algorithm is expressed using the For loop.
This new notation decreases the complexity of some algorithms since the full
counting mechanism is specified in the statement at the head of the loop
instead of having it stated in three separate statements as illustrated in
Pseudocode 6.8.
Pseudocode 6.8

The full counting mechanism in While loops

Set Count to initial value

While Count final value
...
Increment Count

Section 6.3

More Building Blocks

263

Although the full counting mechanism is easily discernible in Pseudocode 6.8, it

might not be as visible in a large example. The For form allows us to think in
terms of larger blocks, so making our algorithms look smaller and more
intellectually manageable.
Pseudocode 6.9
with a For loop

The Factorial algorithm with a While loop and

Factorial
Input N
Set Factorial to 1
Set Count to 1
While Count N
Set Factorial to
Factorial Count
Increment Count
Output Factorial
End Factorial

Factorial
Input N
Set Factorial to 1
For Count = 1 to N by 1
Set Factorial to
Factorial Count
Output Factorial
End Factorial

In Chapter 5 we saw an algorithm to calculate the factorial of N, which is

shown again at the left of Pseudocode 6.9 while on the right, the same
algorithm is shown using the For loop. It is clear that the hiding of the
counting mechanism in this version reduces its complexity.
Lets take another algorithm from Chapter 5 and transform it so that it uses a
For loop. Pseudocode 6.10 shows the Odd Square algorithm that computes the
square of an integer Num by summing the first Num odd integers. This is done by
starting counter OddNum at one and looping with a step size of two, adding this
odd counter value to Square during each repetition.
Pseudocode 6.10

The Odd Square algorithm revisited

Square
Input Num
Set Square to 0
Set OddNum to 1
While OddNum (Num + Num)
Set Square to
Square + OddNum
Set OddNum to
OddNum + 2
Output Square
End Square

Square
Input Num
Set Square to 0
For OddNum = 1 to
Num + Num by 2
Set Square to
Square + OddNum
Output Square
End Square

The For form is so powerful that it is used very often, but it is often also misused
for it requires a counter and such a counter may not be necessary or natural for
some applications!
Finally, the following two pseudocode fragments compare the pseudocode forms
for the While loop and the For loop (Pseudocode 6.11).

264

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Pseudocode 6.11

Comparing While and For loops

While

For

Set Count to First

While Count Last
Body
Set Count to Count + Step

For Count = First to Last by Step

Body

There are many limitations of the For form, which may make this form
unsuitable in some cases. For example, in most programming languages, the
initial value and the final value of the counter, which could both be given as
expressions, are evaluated only once on entry to this form, and thus should not
be changed inside the loop. Also, the counter should not be modified in the
body of the loop, since this would change the number of repetitions.
Additionally, in some programming languages, the initial, final and increment
values may not be zero or negative or of Real Number type.
Finally, after the loop terminates, the value of the loop counter (or loop control
variable) may be undefined! The While loop has no such restrictions, so you
may always use it in cases where these restrictions would cause problems to a
For loop.
Note

6.4

the While loop is more general than the For loop. When in doubt,
you can always use the While loop.

Using the For Forms in Nests

Nesting Fors in Fors
The nesting of Repetitions (loops nested within loops) is very common and
useful. However, if too much of the looping mechanism is visible, this nesting
may seem very confusing. To see this, we will look at an example first
expressed with nested While loops and then with nested For loops.

See Figures 3.6

and 3.15 for the
verbal Charge
algorithm along
with its table of
charges.

Pseudocode 6.12 shows two forms of an algorithm with doubly nested counting
loops. It is a version of an algorithm we have discussed in various forms in
Chapter 3, and that computes the total admission Charge if Adults pay three
dollars each and Kids pay two dollars each. The algorithm creates a table of
charges for one to two adults and zero to three kids. On the top of the figure, is
a version based on While loops. Because it is written using nested While forms
with all the counting mechanisms visible, the algorithm appears complex.

Section 6.4

Pseudocode 6.12

Using the For Forms in Nests

265

Nested Loops

Using While Loops

Set Adults to 1
While Adults 2
Set Minors to 0
While Minors 3
Set Charge to 3 Adults + 2 Minors
Output Charge
Increment Minors
Increment Adults
Using For Loops
For Adults = 1 to 2 by 1
For Minors = 0 to 3 by 1
Set Charge to 3 Adults + 2 Minors
Output Charge

Notice how the same

algorithm is greatly
simplified by using
For loops.

On the bottom of Pseudocode 6.12, the same algorithm has been rewritten using
For loops. Notice that this notation hides most of the details. This version,
consisting of only three parts, two loop headers and a body, is much simpler
than the original one that has seven parts (two initializations, two tests, two
increments, and a body). We will prove that with the traces of the two
algorithms.
Figure 6.9

Detailed trace of doubly-nested While loops

Adults =

Adults 2
Kids =

T
0

T
1

T
2

T
3

T
4

T
0

T
1

T
2

T
3

T
4

Kids 3
Charge =

T
3

T
5

T
7

T
9

T
6

T
8

T
10

T
12

Kids' =

3
1

5
2

7
3

9
4

6
1

8
2

10
3

12
4

Adults' =

Set Adults to 1
While Adults 2
Set Kids to 0
While Kids 3
Set Charge to 3 Adults + 2 Kids
Output Charge
Increment Kids
Increment Adults

The first trace, shown on Figure 6.9, illustrates the execution of the algorithm
at the top of Pseudocode 6.12. The large amount of detail increases the
complexity of the trace, and this can be avoided, as we will see in the next
figure. In a trace all of the detail is needed for understanding how the

266

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

algorithm works; it is also important for tracing extremely complex nested

algorithms. However, most nesting of loops is quite simple, even with three or
four levels of nestingprovided it can be viewed properly.
Figure 6.10 Simple trace of doubly-nested For loops
Adults =

Kids =

Charge =

8 10 12

8 10 12

Outer loop
control variable
Inner loop
control variable

For Adults = 1 to 2 by 1
For Kids = 0 to 3 by 1
Set Charge to 3 Adults + 2 Kids
Output Charge

In Figure 6.10 we can see the trace of the algorithm at the bottom of Pseudocode
6.12. The two traces in Figures 6.9 and 6.10 are traces of equivalent algorithms.
However, we can see that the second trace is much simpler than the first one. It
simply lists all combinations of the loop control variables. The inner loop
control variable, Kids, changes more rapidly compared to the outer loop control
variable, Adults. The resulting Charge is also listed completing the entire
table of charges. Because the details are all hidden, the trace is much simpler!
Many algorithms involve loops directly nested within others, like the Charge
algorithm. Such algorithms have a similar behavior; they cycle through all
combinations, like a big counter, as illustrated by the following examples. This
cycling could be compared to that of a digital clock or a mileage odometer.
Lets develop a timer, using a top-down approach, as shown on Figure 6.11. The
minutes counter loops from 0 to 59, and for each minute, the seconds counter also
loops from 0 to 59. The body of the seconds loop consists of a delay of one second
and a display of the minutes counter and of the seconds counter. Notice that the
inner loop counter (seconds) changes faster than the outer loop counter (minutes).
At the bottom of the figure, the nested loops are combined and shown in a single
piece of pseudocode.

Section 6.4

Using the For Forms in Nests

Figure 6.11 An hour timer

Inner loop
counter

Outer loop
counter
Hour Timer

For Minutes = 0 to 59 by 1
Wait a minute

Wait-a-Minute

For Seconds = 0 to 59 by 1
Wait a Second
Output Minutes
Output Seconds
Combining
these two
Hour Timer

For Minutes = 0 to 59 by 1
For Seconds = 0 to 59 by 1
Wait a Second
Output Minutes
Output Seconds

A decimal counter can be implemented by a similar piece of pseudocode as

shown in Pseudocode 6.13.
Pseudocode 6.13

Nest For forms for a decimal counter

For Tens = O to 9 by 1
For Units = 0 to 9 by 1
Output Tens
Output Units

Pseudocode 6.13 outputs the following sequence of values:

00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, ... 89, 90, ... 99.
Pseudocode 6.14 shows another similar piece of pseudocode.
Pseudocode 6.14

Nested For forms for die combinations

For Dice1 = 1 to 6 by 1
For Dice2 = 1 to 6 by 1
Output Dice1
Output Dice2

Pseudocode 6.14 lists all 36 possible dice combinations in order:

11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,
31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, ..., 46, ..., 56, ... 66.
Pseudocode 6.15 shows the algorithm for a Binary Counter.

267

268

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Pseudocode 6.15

Binary counter

For Bit1 = 0 to 1 by 1
For Bit2 = 0 to 1 by 1
For Bit3 = 0 to 1 by 1
Output Bit1
Output Bit2
Output Bit3

Pseudocode 6.15 shows how binary numbers can be generated in increasing order.
Its output is as follows:
000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111.
Those
combinations
could then be
tabulated, as
seen in Figure
5.24.

This Binary Counter algorithm could be used to generate all of the possible
combinations to test the Majority algorithms seen in Chapters 3 and 5.
Going one level deeper, Pseudocode 6.16 illustrates the For forms for a mileage
odometer.
Pseudocode 6.16

Nested For forms for a mileage odometer

For Hundreds = 0 to 9 by 1
For Tens = 0 to 9 by 1
For Units = 0 to 9 by 1
For Tenths = 0 to 9 by 1
Output Hundreds
Output Tens
Output Units
Output '.'
Output Tenths

The outermost counter

changes most slowly.
The innermost counter
changes most quickly.

Pseudocode 6.16 shows how four nested loops generate all decimal values from
000.0 to 999.9. Notice the order in which the values of the variables change.
Hundreds, the control variableof the outermost loop, changes the slowest
while Tenths, the control variable of the innermost loop changes the most
rapidly, just as they do on the odometer of an actual car.
Finally, Pseudocode 6.17 shows the Clock algorithm.
Pseudocode 6.17

The Clock algorithm

While True
For Hours = 0 to 23 by 1
For Minutes = 0 to 59 by 1
For Seconds = 0 to 59 by 1
Wait a second
Output Hours
Output Minutes
Output Seconds

Note that this While loop

condition is always True.

Pseudocode 6.17 simulates a 24-hour clock that works perpetually, using a

condition for the While loop that is always true. This is one of the few
occasions where an infinite loop happens by design instead of by error.

Section 6.4

Using the For Forms in Nests

269

The nesting of many such loops is convenient and can be elegant, but not all
nestings are so well structured. In the following section we will look at more
examples of nested forms.

Nesting Selections in Fors

Most programs involving nested loops are not as simple as the previous
examples of nested loops. We will consider now more general nestings of loops
with the idea that the creation of complex loop structures is easiest when done
top-down in stages.
See Chapter 2,
Section 2.2 for
more details on
this problemsolving method.

This approach is in accordance with steps 2 and 3 of our problem-solving

method, so that each stage only shows one loop.
Figure 6.12 Development of the Fair Pay algorithm
Fair Pay
For Person = 1 to N by 1
GetHours
Calculate Pay
Get Hours
Set Regular to 0
Set Extra to 0
For Days = 1 to 7 by 1
Sum Regular and Extra hours
Sum Regular and Exra Hours
Input Hours
If Hours > 8
Set Regular to Regular + 8
Set Extra to Extra + Hours 8
Else
Set Regular to Regular + Hours

The development of the Fair Pay algorithm, in Figure 6.12, shows the nesting of
two Loops and a Selection, done in three stages. It describes the solution to a
pay problem where overtime is paid for all hours over eight worked in a day.
The first stage (or top level) consists of a single loop repeated for each Person;
first Get Hours is invoked and then the pay is calculated.
The second level, Get Hours, is then considered by itself, looping over the seven
days of the week to accumulate the number of hours (both regular hours and

270

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

extra hours). The accumulation of these two sums is then broken out at yet
another level, as a Selection form.
Similarly Calculate Pay could be broken down further. If all of these stages
were combined into one large stage, then the nesting might appear complex.
However, viewing them as stages, as done in Figure 6.12, makes the whole
algorithm seem simpler.
Figure 6.13 Production data
dept 1
1990

dept 2
dept 3
dept 1
dept 2

1991
dept 3

person 1
person 2
person 1
... 2
... 3
person 1
... 2
person 1
... 2
person 1
person 1
... 2
... 3
person 4

30
40
40
20
30
40
40
40
40
60
10
30
20
40

Our next example is an algorithm that analyzes the manufacturing of items

made by the employees of a company over some years. The production data
(count of items) is shown in Figure 6.13, where two years and three departments
with varying numbers of employees are involved. The main goal of the
Production algorithm is to find the department with the maximum total
production for each year.
Figure 6.14 A typical input/output for the Production algorithm
FOR YEAR 1990
DEPT 1
HOW MANY PEOPLE? 2
ENTER PRODUCTION 30 40
DEPT 2
HOW MANY PEOPLE? 3
ENTER PRODUCTION 40 20 30
DEPT 3
HOW MANY PEOPLE? 2
ENTER PRODUCTION 40 40
FOR YEAR 1990...
DEPT 2 HAS MAX PRODUCTION OF 90

Notice that this example (Figure 6.13) involves four very different entities:
years, departments, employees and production. When four such diverse entities
are mixed in an algorithm, the result could be great confusion. Creating the
program in stages will help us minimize this confusion.
Figure 6.14 shows a trace of the input of the production data for a given year,
and of the corresponding result. Notice its structured form (with indentation),

Section 6.4

Using the For Forms in Nests

271

which reflects the structure of the data. Actually such large amounts of data
would not usually be input in such a conversational mode from where the
computer prompts you, but from a data file stored on tapes or disks.
Figure 6.15 Top-down development of Production algorithm
Stage 1: Production

Set up
For Year = First to Last by 1
FindMaxProduction
PrintReport
Stage 2: Find Max. Production

Set MaxProd to 0
Set BestDept to 0
For Dept = 1 to N by 1
FindTotal Prod
CheckMax Prod
Output Year
Output BestDept
Output MaxProd

Stage 3: Find Total Prod.

Stage 4: Check Max Prod

Set TotalProd to 0
Input Count
For Person = 1 to Count by 1
Input Prod
Set TotalProd to TotalProd +
Prod

If TotalProd > MaxProd

Set MaxProd to TotalProd
Set BestDept to Dept

Figure 6.15 shows a three-stage top-down development of our Production

algorithm that analyzes the data just described.
The first stage shows only a setup, a looping from the First year to the
Last year, followed by a report of results. Within this first loop, the
sub-algorithm FindMaxProduction is invoked.
This sub-algorithm is further refined in Stage 2, where we show how
the maximum total production, MaxProd, is computed by looping over
all departments from 1 to N. Within this loop, we invoke FindTotal to
find the total production, TotalProd, of each department. Then,
invoking CheckMax., we compare it to MaxProd (replacing the values
of MaxProd and BestDept when necessary). After this, the maximum
production and the best department of that year are output.
Stage 3 refines FindTotal by looping and accumulating the production,
Prod, of each Person of the Count employees in the department. Stage
3 also refines CheckMax, using a simple selection.

272

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

These three stages could be pushed together into a single big algorithm, but
this would hide its basic simplicity. Also, when an algorithm is kept in the
form of sub-algorithms, it is simpler to modify. For example, we could modify
Production to find the maximum departmental average production per person
by simply comparing the ratio TotalProd/Count in the Selection form of
CheckMax. Similarly, we could count the total number of people, accumulate
the total production and compute the best average production per person over
all the years (not just for each year). Such modifications are often made after a
program is written, so it helps to write the program keeping possible
modifications in mind!

Creating Plots with For Nests

Doubly nested loops are very convenient for two-dimensional output of tables,
grids, calendars, graphs and plots.
For example, the algorithm shown in Figure 6.16 moves and prints in the
pattern that many people use for reading or scanning: left to right along a row
and proceeding downwards. This Scan algorithm prints consecutive numbers as
it scans this grid pattern for four rows and seven columns. Its output could be
viewed as a simple calendar model.
Figure 6.16 Scan algorithm and its output
Scan

Set Date to 1
For Row = 1 to 4 by 1
For Column = 1 to 7 by 1
Output Date
Increment Date
New line

Rows
1
2
3
4

Output of Scan
Columns
1
2
3
4
5
6
71
2
3
4
5
6
8
9 10 11 12 13
15 16 17 18 19 20
22 23 24 25 26 27

7
14
21
28

In a similar fashion, two-dimensional plots of a function such as

y=

x2
3

can be created by printing marks on a grid as shown at the left of Figure 6.17. In
practice, using screens or printers, it is more convenient to plot this on its side as
shown at the right of the figure.

Section 6.4

Using the For Forms in Nests

273

Figure 6.17 Plot of Y vs. X

Plot of Y vs X (Upright)

Sideways Plot
direction of printing

Y
Yint

X
0

1
4

0 1
10

*
*

4
X

*
*

Y=X
3

5
X

In this sideways plot, each row contains only one mark (an asterisk * in this
case). We will view the printer head (or cursor) as advancing row by row
from top to bottom, and in each row from left to right. You may note that the
asterisks are placed into a grid of X versus Yint (and not Y), where Y int
represents the integer portion of Y.
Figure 6.18 Sample values
X

1
3

4
3

16
3

25
3

Y int

The table of Figure 6.18 shows how the values of the output Y are rounded into
integers Y int.
Figure 6.19 Algorithm for plotting a graph
Plot
For X = 0 to 5 by 1
Compute Y
Set Y int to Y
Print a line for Y int

Print a line for Y int

For Position = 0 to 10 by 1
If Position = Y int
Output "*"
Else
Output " "

274

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

On the left of Figure 6.19 is the top view of the graph-plotting algorithm. It
loops through the various values of X, first computing Y, then rounding it to Yint
and then printing a line corresponding to that value.
The sub-algorithm that prints a line is then refined and shown at the right of
the figure. The printing head advances, stepping Position from 0 to 10. If
Position equals Yint , then a mark is output, otherwise a blank is output.
Such a plot may be extended by displaying headers, marking the axes, and even
scaling any given values to fit onto a page or a screen. It can also be extended
to plot two functions as shown in Figure 6.20. Here, the Plot algorithm is
modified to compute a second value Zint , and the Print a Line sub-algorithm is
modified to output either an asterisk for the first function, a plus for the second
function or a blank. Further extensions to plot three or more functions are done in
a similar manner.
Figure 6.20 An extended plot of two graphs

f(x)

Y=XX
Z = K X

For Position = 0 to 10 by 1
If Position = Y int
Output '*'
Else
If Position = Zint
Output '+'
Else
Output ' '

Extension for
the plot of 2
functions

6.5

More Data Types

The Character Type
Until now, our algorithms have manipulated only numeric values that are of
type Integer or Real Number. We have also already mentioned other common
data types including Character, Logical and String. Here, we will explain in
more detail the Character and Logical data types.
The Character data typeincludes values that represent all the symbols on a
computer keyboard. This includes all letters (upper and lower case), digits,
punctuation marks, brackets and other miscellaneous symbols (%, $, and so on).
As we have seen earlier, the Character values are put within single quotation
marks to distinguish them from variables.
Note

In most programming languages, the variables used in a program

must be declared as being of one type, and this declaration is
usually given at the beginning of the program.

Section 6.5

More Data Types

275

Here are a few samples of Character variables and their values:

Grade

A,

B,

C,

D,

Reply

Y,

N,

y,

n (for Yes or No)

Operator

+,

-,

*,

Digit

0,

1,

2,

3,

Bracket

4...9

Operations on Characters include assignment, comparison, input and output.

The assignment of values to character variables is done in the usual manner as
illustrated by Pseudocode 6.18.
Pseudocode 6.18

Assigning values to character variables

Set Fail to 'F'

Set Hyphen to '-'
Set Grade to Fail

The comparison of Characters is based on the character codes used by the

computer. Fortunately these codes are such that alphabetical characters are
considered ordered in the usual way: A is considered to be less than B. For an
example, consider the statement in Pseudocode 6.19.
Pseudocode 6.19

Character variables used in Selection forms

If Grade < 'C'

Set Counter to Counter + 1

This statement will increment Counter if the grade is the character A or B.

Notice that character A is less than character B, which is not the
conventional view of grades! If you compare punctuation signs you will need the
character codes to know how they are ordered! The most common standard
character code is called ASCII.

276

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Figure 6.21 Algorithm for four-function calculator

Decode
Calculator
Input Result
Input Function
While Function '='
Input Value
Decode
Input Function
Output Result
End Calculator

Select Function
'+' :
Set Result to Result + Value
'' :
Set Result to Result Value
' ' :
Set Result to Result Value
'/' :
Set Result to Result / Value
Otherwise:
Output "Function error"
End Decode

To illustrate the processing of Character data, we will develop an algorithm to

implement a simple four-function calculator. Our algorithm is shown in Figure
6.21 and behaves as an unusual four-function calculator that accepts sequences of
alternating numbers and operations.
The Decode algorithm, shown on the right of Figure 6.21, recognizes the
operations (an asterisk denotes multiplication) and applies them to the
numeric values until it encounters an equal sign, as in the following examples:

Note:

1+2*3=

(which returns 3 3 or 9)

4*56/7=

(which returns 14 / 7 or 2)

9 / 5 * 100 + 32 =

(which returns 212)

The operations in the above example are applied from left to

right. This is not the operator precedence which we are used to!

Section 6.5

More Data Types

277

Figure 6.22 Algorithm for ISBN checksum computation

Convert Character

ISBN Checksum
Set Sum to 0
Set Mult to 1
Input Character
While Character '.'
If Character '-'
Convert Character
Set Sum to sum + Mult Digit
Set Mult to Mult + 1
Input Character
Set Remainder to Mod Sum, 11
If Remainder = 10
Output 'X'
Else
Output Remainder
End ISBN Checksum

Select Character
'0' :
Set Digit to 0
'1' :
Set Digit to 1
'2' :
Set Digit to 2
'3' :
Set Digit to 3
'4' :
Set Digit to 4
'5' :
Set Digit to 5
'6' :
Set Digit to 6
'7' :
Set Digit to 7
'8' :
Set Digit to 8
'9' :
Set Digit to 9
Otherwise:
Output "Digit error"
End Convert Character
Notice here that the numeric Characters input
must be converted first of all into numbers,
before any operations can be performed on
them. Other converting methods are possible.

Notice that the Decode algorithm (Figure 6.21) uses the Case Form (a variation
of the Select Form) that compares a single value with a set of constants and
performs the appropriate action. If the Function entered is not one of the
recognized operations, the message Function error is output.
For more details
on how to
compute the
checksum for
ISBNs, see Figure
3.5.

As another example of Character data handling, lets look at the algorithm to

compute the checksum for the International Standard Book Number (ISBN),
which was already described in Chapter 3. Figure 6.22 shows the two-stage
development of the ISBN Checksum algorithm.
You should first note that a Character such as 2 is not equal to the Integer
number 2. This means that when numeric Characters are input, they must be
converted before they can be treated as numbers. The ISBN Checksum
algorithm accepts an input sequence of mixed Characters (numeric characters
and hyphens), ending with a period. It ignores the hyphens and invokes subalgorithm Convert Character to convert the numeric Characters into their
corresponding Integer values. It then multiplies the digits by their rank (look
back to Chapter 3 for the algorithm description), and accumulates them in

278

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Sum. When the input is terminated, the algorithm uses the Mod function to
find the Remainder of the division of Sum by 11. If that Remainder is 10, then
the check symbol is X. Otherwise, the check symbol is the Remainder itself.

The Logical Type

As mentioned in Chapter 5, Section 5.4, the Logical (or Boolean) type includes
only two values, True and False (sometimes labeled T and F, or 1 and 0). Logical
variables are often used in conditions within Selection and Repetition forms. A
few examples of Logical variables are shown in Pseudocode 6.20.
Pseudocode 6.20

Examples of Logical variables

Female, Done, Over21, Increasing, Equilateral

For the truth

table for the
AND, OR, and
NOT operators,
consult Figure
3.27.

All of these variable names

imply a Yes/No answer.

Operations on Logical type variables include the assignment operation, the

conjunction operation (AND), the disjunction operation (OR), and the negation
operation (NOT). Pseudocode 6.21 illustrates a few examples of logical
assignments.
Pseudocode 6.21
Set
Set
Set
Set
Set
Set
Set

Examples of Logical assignments

Male to True
Over21 to (Age > 21)
Danger to (Divisor = 0)
Done to (Counter = Last)
Triangle to ((Small + Mid) > Large)
Right to ((X X + Y Y) = H H)
Close to (Abs(X - Y) < 0.001)

The conjunction operation is called AND. The conjunction of two logical variables
P and Q is written P AND Q and is true when both P is True and Q is True.
Some examples of the use of AND are shown in Pseudocode 6.22.
Pseudocode 6.22

Examples using AND

Set Increasing to (X < Y) AND (Y < Z)

Set Equilateral to (A = B) AND (A = C)
Set Eligible to Over21 AND Employed

The disjunction operation is called OR. The disjunction of two logical variables
P and Q is written P OR Q and is true when either P is True, or Q is True (or
both are True). Some examples of the use of this inclusive OR are shown in
Pseudocode 6.23.

Section 6.5

Pseudocode 6.23

More Data Types

279

Examples using OR

Set Win to (Sum = 7) OR (Sum = 11)

Set Error to (Age < 0) OR (Age > 120)
Set Isosceles to (A = B) OR (B = C) OR (C = A)

The negation operation is also called NOT, and simply reverses the truth
values, changing True values to False and vice versa. Pseudocode 6.24 shows
some examples of its use.
Pseudocode 6.24

Examples using NOT

Set Female to NOT Male

While NOT Done . . .
If NOT Increasing . . .

When converting directly from English, it is easy to produce improper forms of

Logical expressions. Figure 6.23 gives some examples of improperly formed
expressions, along with their corresponding correct versions.
Figure 6.23 Improper expression and their corrections
Improper

A AND B = 5
T = 7 OR 11
A <B <C
X OR Y > Z
I = J AND K
S NOT 7 OR 11

See Figure 4.13

for more details
on the different
types of triangles
possible.

Proper

should
should
should
should
should
should

read
read
read
read
read
read

(A = 5) AND (B = 5)
(T = 7) OR (T = 11)
(A < B) AND (B < C)
(X > Z) OR (Y > Z)
(I = J) AND (I = K)
NOT((S = 7) OR (S = 11))

Algorithms involving complex combinations of Selection forms can often be done

in a simpler manner by using Logical expressions. For example, triangles can be
classified by the following series of Logical assignments (assuming angles
A B C). Pseudocode 6.25 gives some examples of using Logical expression in
place of Selection forms.
Pseudocode 6.25
Set
Set
Set
Set
Set
Set

Examples of Logical expressions

Triangle to ((A + B + C) = 180)

Isosceles to (A = B) OR (B = C)
Acute to (A < 90) AND (B < 90) AND (C < 90)
Obtuse to (C > 90)
Right to (C = 90)
Equilateral to (A = C)

It is possible to compare truth values, if the True value is assumed to be greater

than the False value. The table below (Figure 6.24) introduces four truth tables
describing some of these comparison operations which correspond to known
functions of symbolic logic.

280

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Note:

Remember that True=1 and False=0. Hence, since 1>0, then

True>False.

Figure 6.24 Truth table for some comparison operations

P
Q
F
F
F
T
T
F
T
T
column

PQ
T
T
F
T
1

P=Q
T
F
F
T
2

PQ
F
T
T
F
3

P>Q
F
F
T
F
4

The table in Figure 6.24 is described column by column as follows:

Column 1 shows the operation P Q, where the relation less than or
equal to is applied to Logical values. In symbolic logic, this operation
is the conditional connective called implication, usually denoted by the
symbol P Q, which is read If P then Q. This conditional
connective is often used in logical deduction, where it is sometimes
noted as P Q or P Q.
Column 2 shows the operation P = Q (the Biconditional connective).
It is read as P if and only if Q and is also noted in logic as P Q or
P Q.
Column 3 shows the operation P Q (the exclusive or) which is
True when one and only one of the values is True. It is sometimes noted
as P <> Q.
Column 4 shows the operation P > Q (sometimes called the inhibitand) where the value of P is inhibited by Q.
Other Logical operations exist, for instance P < Q and P Q.

6.6

Some General Problem-Solving Algorithms

Bisection

Finding Values

The Bisectionalgorithm is very useful for solving many types of problems and is
often also referred to as Bracketing, Divide and Conquer, or the Half-Interval
Method. It proceeds by taking two limiting values and adjusting them
successively to bracket the required result. This is actually the method we used
in the Guesser algorithm of Chapter 4 (see Figure 4.7), which is reproduced
and renamed at the left of Pseudocode 6.26.

Section 6.6

Some General Problem-Solving Algorithms

281

P s e u d o c o d e 6 . 2 6 The bisection technique and its application to

finding a square root
Bisection
SquareRoot
Input X
Input X
Set High limit
Set High to X
Set Low limit
Set Low to 0
Set Guess to midpoint
Set SqRoot to (High + Low) / 2
While Guess is not correct
While (SqRoot SqRoot) X
If Guess is too high
If (SqRoot SqRoot) > X
Lower High limit
Set High to SqRoot
Else
Else
Raise Low limit
Set Low to SqRoot
Set Guess to new midpoint
Set SqRoot to (High + Low) / 2
Output Guess
Output SqRoot
End Bisection
End SquareRoot

By refining this guessing algorithm for the particular problem to solve, this
bisectiontechnique can be applied to many problems, such as calculating the
square root of some number, X. This particular refinement is shown on the right
of Pseudocode 6.26. The behavior of this algorithm will be better understood by
looking at Figure 6.25, where the algorithm is used to find the square root of 24.
First, a High limit of 24 and a Low limit of 0 are set. The mid-point between
High and Low, 12, is chosen as a first guess at the square root of 24 and is set in
SqRoot. Since this guess is too high (12 12 > 24), the higher limit is lowered
to the middle value, SqRoot.
If the guess was too low, the lower limit would have been raised to the same
middle value. This same process is now repeated for the new limits. This
repetition continues until the two limits narrow down (or bracket) the solution
to the perfect match (SqRoot SqRoot) = X, which corresponds to SqRoot, High
and Low having the same value.

282

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Figure 6.25 The trace of ranges for the square root of 24

High = 24

SqRoot = 12

High = 12

SqRoot = 6

High = 6

High = 6

SqRoot = 3

High = 6
Low = 4.5

High = 5.25 SqRoot = 4.90

Low = 4.50

Low = 3
Low = 0

Low = 0

Low = 0

This perfect match might prove elusive, and algorithms dealing with Real
Number results usually introduce the concept of precisionto determine whether
a result is acceptable or not.
For example in our SquareRoot algorithm, this would mean that the looping
continues as long as the square of the guessed root of X differs (in absolute value)
from X by more than some very small constant, the desired Precision. This
constant of Precision is initially chosen to be some small value, such as 0.1 or
0.00001. The smaller the value, the more looping is required to attain that
Precision.
Symbolically, the loop condition could use the absolute function value of the
difference and be written as
|SqRoot

SqRoot X| > Precision

instead of
(SqRoot

SqRoot)

X.

Lets modify our SquareRoot algorithm along these lines, using function Abs to
obtain the absolute value.
Figure 6.26 shows a trace of the new SquareRoot algorithm computing the
square root of 24. Notice that this method of bisectionis not limited to just
square roots! It can equally compute the cube root by simply changing the loop
terminating condition to compare the cube of the current approximation with
the value X. The Bisection Method can also be used to find the roots of
equations.

Section 6.6

Some General Problem-Solving Algorithms

283

However, this Bisection method might sometimes have limitations. For

example, the given SquareRoot algorithm does not work properly if the input
value of X is between 0 and 1. Try a trace to see why.
Figure 6.26 New SquareRoot algorithm and trace for X=24
Input X

X = 24

Set High to X
Set Low to 0
Set Precision to 0.1

High = 24
Low = 0
Precision = 0.1

Set SqRoot to (High + Low) / 2

SqRoot = 12

While Abs(SqRoot2 - X) > Precision

If SqRoot2 > X
Set High to SqRoot
Else

120 > 0.1 12 > 0.1

T
T

15 > 0.1
T

144 > 24 36 > 24

T
T

9 > 24
F

High =

12

Low =

SqRoot =

4.5

Set Low to SqRoot

Set SqRoot to (High + Low) / 2
Output Balance

Bisection is a very general method for finding values, that will be useful later
in many problems. For example, we will use it again in Chapter 8, to search
quickly through a sorted list.

Maximum Power

Optimizing Power Output

Lets turn now to an engineering application. Oftentimes in engineering we want

to determine optimal values for the variables of a system. To do this, it is
necessary to analyze the effect that the various variables of the system have
on each other.
The diagram in Figure 6.27 is an electrical network, consisting of a voltage
source of VS volts, providing power to a load resistor RL through a series resistor
R S. We wish to determine the value of the load that would provide the
maximum power P to the load.

284

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Figure 6.27 A simple circuit diagram

Relations

Circuit
+

RS = 6
VS = 120

R = RS + RL
I = VS / R

RL

P = I2

RL

Relations among the variables are given by the formulas on the right in Figure
6.27 (determined from knowledge of Ohms law and Kirchoffs laws).
The behavior of such a system, given in Figure 6.28, shows how the power P (in
watts) varies, depending on the resistance RL of the load (in ohms). From this
graph, we see that the best value RLbest of the load resistor RL is 6 ohms (same
value as the series resistor RS), resulting in a maximum power PMax of 600 watts.
Figure 6.28 Power plot for circuit in Figure 6.27
Power (watts)
P

800
PMax = 600

600
400

half power

200

RLbest = 6
RLlow = 1

10

20

30
RLhigh = 34

Load (ohms)
RL

The algorithm Power, shown in Figure 6.29, is an algorithm which analyzes

this system. It is a simple loop that varies the load resistance R L from zero to
some final value R Lfinal , computing the corresponding value of power P . At each
iteration, the sub-algorithm Process is invoked. Such a sub-algorithm could
define any kind of process. It could, for instance, simply output the R L , P
combinations. Or, it could also compute the maximum power P Max and the
corresponding best resistor R Lbest, as shown in Figure 6.29.

Section 6.6

Some General Problem-Solving Algorithms

285

Figure 6.29 Algorithm for finding Maximum Power

Power
Set V S to 120
Set R S to 6
Set R Lfinal to 40
Set P Max to 0
Set R Lbest to 0
Set R L to 0
While R L R Lfinal
Process
Set R L to R L + 1
Output P Max
Output R Lbest
End Power

Process
Set 1 to V S / (RS + RL )
Set P to 1 1 R L
If P Max < P
Set P Max to P
Set R Lbest to RL
End Process

The Process sub-algorithm could also find the half power points; those two
values of R L (say, R Llow and R Lhigh ) at which half power is sent to the load.
Those two values are shown on the plot of Figure 6.28 as being 1 ohm and 34
ohms. Any load value between these two would result in more than half power
being delivered. Notice that the half power points are not equally distant
from the maximum power point R Lbest. It is also possible to create an
algorithm that plots the power P versus the load resistor R L . Such a plotting
algorithm would be similar to the ones developed in Section 6.4 (Creating Plots
with For Nests).
In this case, the values of the load resistor R L were systematically selected in
increasing order, from 0 to some positive final value (which is 40 in this
example).
This example application gives us a model that we can apply to analyze other
engineering systems. For example, we may wish to find the optimal angle to
shoot some object so that it goes the farthest distance. Or we may wish to
compute the best combinations of selections to make optimal profits.
Sometimes, with some extra knowledge, we can avoid having to write an
algorithm to analyze a system. For instance, in the case of our example above,
we could have proven, by using calculus, that the maximum power occurs when
the load resistor R L equals the series resistor R S. However, in cases where the
systems are more complex (say nonlinear), then computer methods may be better
than analytical methods.

Solver

Solving Equations

Now we will develop a general equation solving algorithm, Solver, that solves
any two equations that are functions of a single variable, say x. The equations
may be linear or highly nonlinear. Solver will find any number of values of x
that satisfy both equations, be it zero, one, two or more.

286

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Figure 6.30 Graphical solution of two equations

y

F (x)
6

Error
(of 4.0)
for
x = 2.0

Equations:
F(x) = x2
G(x) = 2 - x
Solutions:

x = +1.00
x = -2.00

G (x)
-4

-2

For example, consider the following functions

6.30:

F(x) and G(x) shown in Figure

F(x) = x 2 and G(x) = 2 x

The figure shows that the two graphs intersect at two points, providing two
solutions:

x = + 1.00 and x = 2.00

There are many ways of using a computer to solve two such equations. Here, we
will use a method based on trying random values. This method is simple. Try
some values of x randomly and see which is the best. The best value of x would
be the value for which the difference of the two function values is the smallest.
For each random valueof x, the program finds the values of each function, y1
and y2:
y1 = F(x) and y2 = G(x)
These two values are then subtracted, yielding the error for that particular
value of x.
Error = Abs (y1 - y2)
If the error is zero, the functions yield the same values, and the graphs
intersect for that value of x.
Otherwise, this process of randomly trying many values of x over some
range is repeated a number of times, in search of the minimum error.
The final result is the value of x that produced the minimum error.
For example, if the random value chosen for x is 2.0, as shown in Figure 6.30,
then the resulting error is 4.0 as shown by the big bracket the difference of
the two functions at that point.
Similarly, if the random value chosen for x is 0.5 then

Section 6.6

Some General Problem-Solving Algorithms

y1

= F(0.5) = (0.5)(0.5)

= 0.25

y2

= G(0.5) = 2.0 0.5

= 1.50

Err

= Abs( 0.25 1.5 )

= 1.25

287

If the random value chosen for x is +1.0, then y1 = y2 and the error is zero. For
other values of x, there could be a larger error. We could reduce the errors by
using the Solver again, but within a range that is much closer to the actual
value of a solution.
In the case of our example, other tries of Solver would also yield the other
solution (which is -2.00). In fact, it would be useful to run Solver a number of
times, say 10, so that other solutions (if they exist) may be seen.
Figure 6.31 Solver algorithm for solving pair of equations F(x)
and G(x)
Solver
Set Range
Set MinError
...
While more values
Get Random x
Update Best
Increase Count
Output Bestx
Output MinError
End Solver

Update Best
Set y1 to F(x)
Set y2 to G(x)
Set Err to Abs(y2 y1)
If Err < MinError
Set MinError to Err
Set Bestx to X
End Update Best

The algorithm to apply this method, Solver, is shown in Figure 6.31. It consists
of a large loop that tries many values of x (say 200). Within this loop, for each
value of x, it invokes sub-algorithm Update Best that computes both functions,
finds their difference and keeps track of the smallest error and the
corresponding best x. Here are sample outputs for various executions of this
algorithm:
Value of x

Minimum Error

-1.98

0.006

+0.50

1.250

+0.99

0.030

+1.04

0.122

-2.02

0.060

An alternative way to determine when to terminate the While loop is not to

count the number of values of x chosen, but to stop looping whenever M i n E r r o r
reaches a given lower limit. Note that the Solver algorithm looks for one

288

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

solution at a time. In particular, if it finds several solutions with a zero error,

it will only keep the first one. If we want all solutions, we must either
Modify the algorithm so that it keeps all solutions, or
Run Solver a number of times in various ranges, as we have done above,
and use the results for determining new ranges to try.
As we have seen with other algorithms, we can use Solver as a model to be
modified to find other results. These results could include finding the roots of
an equation, finding the maximum value of a function, determining if an
equation has no root, and so on.

Section 6.7

6.7

Review

Review: Top Ten Things to Remember

289

Top Ten Things to Remember

1.

This chapter introduced bigger blocksof many kinds, but it is important

to keep in mind that bigger is not always better.

2.

We have seen that bigger datawere in the form of external datastored

outside the computer in files which are a means of storing voluminous
data on physical devices such as tapes and disks.

3.

To aid in reading in data from files, the concept of a terminating

valueto mark the end of external data was introduced, as well as the
terminating sandwich, which marks the beginning and the end of the
data with the same terminator. A terminating value, or terminator
must be distinct from the data being read.

4.

Bigger algorithmsare simply extensions of the original algorithms.

The obvious ways of obtaining bigger blocks was to use bigger mixtures
of forms, especially of Repetitionsand Selections.

5.

We also introduced bigger Selection forms, such as an extension of the

Selection Form: the Select Form. Instead of selecting from only two
alternatives, the Select Form allows for any number of choices.

6.

The Case Form, a variation of the Select Form, was also introduced and
is used to compare one variable against many constants.

7.

The biggerRepetition formthat was introduced was the For loop,

convenient when counting is involved, but otherwise somewhat
restrictive.

8.

It is easy to create bigger nests of loops that are also potentially

difficult to understand. However, when they are viewed one at a time
in a proper top-down break-out diagram, they seem simpler.

9.

The choice of data types was also made bigger by adding the Character
data typeand the Logical data type. As with other data types,
operations on Characters include assignment, comparison, input and
output. Operations on Logical type variables include the assignment,
conjunction (AND), disjunction (OR), and negation (NOT). Logical
variables may also be compared.

10.

The Bisection algorithm was also introduced and is very useful for
solving many types of problems. It proceeds by taking two limiting
values and adjusting them successively until they bracket the required
result.

290

Chapter 6

6.8

Glossary

Bigger Blocks

Case Form: A variation of the Select

Form.
Control Variable: See Loop Control
Variable.
EOF: Abbreviation for End of File, a
special value that indicates the end
of a file.
File: A major unit of data storage and
retrieval, generally stored outside
the computer on an external storage
device, for example, tape or disk.
Loop Control Variable: The variable
that contains the value of the counter
in a For Loop Form.
Precision: A measure of the degree of
discrimination with which a
quantity is stated and thus of the
ability to distinguish between nearly
equal values.
Pseudo-random number: An element
of an ordered set of numbers that has
been determined by some defined
arithmetic process, but which is
effectively a sequence of random
values for the purpose for which it is
required.
Random value: A number obtained by
chance. See pseudo-random number.
Select Form: An extension of the
Selection form where, instead of
selecting from only two alternatives,
there may be any number of choices.
Sentinel value: A marker supplied by
the user rather than by the computer

system software, to indicate the end

of a set of values.
Terminating value: See Sentinel
value.

Section 6.9

6.9

Problems

291

Problems
1.

Monthly Calendar
Create an algorithm top-down in pseudocode form to output a monthly
calendar given the number of days N in a month and the first day F
(where F=1 on Sunday, F=2 on Monday, etc.).
An example of a calendar follows for a month with N = 31 days having
a first day occur on a Saturday, so F = 7. Notice that such a month
requires 6 weeks!
Problem 1
1

2.

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

Plot up
Create an algorithm top-down in pseudocode form to plot some function
F(x) vs. x, with the y-axis vertical and the x-axis horizontal. Use as an
example the previous plot of y = x2 / 3 for x varying from 0 to 5 and y
varying from 0 to 8 producing an output as shown below.
Problem 2
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

*
*
*

0
5

*
2

292

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

3.

Sine Function
The trigonometric sine of an angle x given in radians can be determined
from the first N terms of this series:

Sine(x) = x

x3 x5 x7
+

3! 5! 7!

Create an algorithm top-down to compute this sine function. Attempt to

improve upon this algorithm.

4.

A Case of Max, Mid, and Maj

Create a Select structure to compute M, which is the following:
a. the maximum value of three variables A, B, and C.
b. the minimum value of three variables, A, B, and C.
c.

5.

the majority value of three binary variables A, B, and C, each

having values 0 or 1.

Second Max
Modify the Big Max algorithm in Figure 6.6 to find the second highest
value S, assuming that all values are different.

6.

Many Max
Modify the Big Max algorithm to find the number of values N which
are maximum (when some values may be repeated).

7.

MaxMin
Modify the Mean program (with sandwich in Figure 6.5) to compute
both the maximum and minimum values.

8.

Quadrant
Create an algorithm that accepts the coordinates X and Y of some point
and indicates which quadrant (1, 2, 3 or 4) the point falls into. If the
point falls on an axis, the quadrant should be indicated as value zero.

9.

Gas
Create an algorithm that inputs sequences of two values Miles and Gals
representing the odometer mileage and the gallons of gas at a succession
of refills of gas tank. The algorithm is to compute and output the

Section 6.9

Problems

293

immediate average miles-per-gallon (labeled Short for short range),

and also the overall average mpg (since the beginning of the data),
which is labeled Long for long range. A typical input-output sequence
follows (and should end with negative mileage as a loop terminator).

INPUTS

10.

OUTPUTS

Miles

Gals

Short

Long

1000

20

1200

10

20

20

1500

20

15

16.67

...

...

...

...

GPA
The grade point average GPA of a student is computed from all the
course grades G and units U. Corresponding to each grade is a numeric
value (where A has 4 points, B has 3 points, etc.) The products of each
grade point and its number of units are then summed. This sum is
divided by the total number of units, to yield the grade point average.
Create an algorithm to compute the grade point average for a sequence
of pairs of values G, U (ending with negative values to terminate).

11.

Speed
Create an algorithm to analyze the speed during a trip of N stops. At
each stop, the distance D and time T from the previous stop are
recorded. These pairs of values are then input to a program which
computes each velocity (V = D/T) and outputs it. It also ultimately
indicates the maximum speed on the trip, and the overall average
(total distance divided by total time).

SAMPLE RUN (N = 5)
D

45

45

100

50

55

55

120

60

Avg = 380/8 = 47.5

60

30

Max = 60

294

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

12.

Unbiased Mean
In some sports, a number of judges each ranks performance on a scale from
1 to 10. To adjust for biases, both the highest and lowest values are
eliminated before computing the average. Create an algorithm to
compute such an average for M judges on N performances.

Problems on Loops and Nests

13.

Once More
What action is performed by the following algorithm?
Problem 13
Input N
Set S to 0
For I = 1 to N by 1
For J = 1 to N by 1
Set S to S + 1
Output S

14.

Disproof
Show that the following two pieces of algorithm are not equivalent.
Problem 14
While A
While B
C

15.

While A AND B
C

Expo
The exponential function
terms of this series:

Expo(x) can be computed from the first N

Expo(x) = 1+ x +

x2 x 3 x 4
+ +
+
2! 3! 4!

a. Create an algorithm to compute this, assuming that Fact and Power

are available as sub-algorithms.
b. Create another algorithm that does not call any other subalgorithms, and also does not keep recomputing the factorial or
power (but uses previously computed results, such as 5! = 54!).

Section 6.9

16.

Problems

295

Down Timer
Create a timer to count down from a given number of hours, minutes and
seconds to zero. At intervals of five seconds, it outputs the time
(remaining to zero).

17.

Pythagorean Triplets
Construct an algorithm to produce all integers x, y, and z that satisfy
the Pythagorean theorem (relating the sides of a right triangle):

x2 + y2 = z 2

(where

x < y < z)

Let x, y, and z be positive integers, all less than some fixed input value
M (say 100).

18.

Thanks
Create a general algorithm which outputs THANK YOU for a total
of N times (where N is input). This greeting is printed three times per
line (possibly less on the last line). There is a blank line after every
group of twelve greetings.

Problems on Types: Character and Logical

19.

Logical Swap?
Prove (or disprove) the fact that the following two algorithms swap
the values of the logical variables, P and Q.
a.
Set P to NOT(P OR Q)
b. Set P to (P = Q)
Set Q to NOT(P OR Q)
Set Q to (P = Q)
Set P to NOT(P OR Q)
Set P to (P = Q)

20.

Logical Less
If False is defined as less than True, draw a truth table for the
operation P < Q. Draw also a table for P Q.

21.

Binconvert
Create an algorithm to convert a sequence of binary input characters
(not integers) into their corresponding decimal values. For example,
1101 is the decimal 13.
a. Write the algorithm, if the input is read from left to right (ending
with a period).

296

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

b. Write the algorithm, if the input is read from right to left (ending
with a blank).

22.

When In Rome...
One method for converting an Arabic number into a Roman number is to
separately convert each digit (the units, tens, hundreds, and thousands
positions) as shown:
1

CM

LXXX IV

Write an algorithm that accepts as inputs any numeric values up to

3999, and outputs the corresponding Roman numbers.
a. Do this, if the number is entered digit by digit (least significant
digits first, like 4 8 9 1).
b. Do this, if the number is entered digit by digit (most significant
digits first, like 1 9 8 4).
c.

23.

Do this, if the number is entered all at once, as an integer, like 1984.

XOR-cise
Prove (or disprove) the following cancellation property for the usual OR
and the exclusive-or, XOR.
a. If (A OR B) = (A OR C)
B=C
b. If (A XOR B) = (A XOR C)
B=C

24.

Translate
Convert the following conditions into Logical statements (using ANDs,
ORs and NOTs).
a. Neither A nor B.
b. Either A or else B.
c.

Exactly two of the three variables A, B, C are True.

d. An odd number of the three variables A, B, C is False.

Section 6.9

Problems

297

298

Chapter 6

Bigger Blocks

Chapter Outline

299

Chapter 7 Better Blocks

We have seen in earlier chapters how to decompose a solution into its
components. We will continue here in a more formal manner. This chapter
considers the very important problem of breaking up a program into smaller
pieces called subprograms. As was the case for the algorithm examples we
have seen, there are many ways to break up a program. Some are better than
others, and this chapter shows how to choose the better ways.

Chapter Outline
7.1
7.2

7.3

7.4

7.5

7.6
7.7
7.8

Preview....................................................................300
Subprograms.............................................................300
How to Simplify Large Programs...............................300
What are Parameters?..............................................305
Data Space Diagrams...............................................309
Parameter Passing.....................................................312
Passing Parameters In and Out...................................312
Special Cases............................................................316
Some Examples.........................................................321
Bigger, Leaner, and Meaner Programs.........................329
Using Structure Charts..............................................329
Contour Diagrams.....................................................333
Parameter Crossing A Common Mistake....................336
Minimizing Coupling, Maximizing Cohesion..............338
Deeply Nested Subprograms......................................340
Dates Example..........................................................341
More Types of Subprograms........................................343
Recursion Self-Referencing Subprograms...................343
Functions...................................................................345
Modules....................................................................346
Review Top Ten Things to Remember........................348
Glossary...................................................................350
Problems...................................................................351

300

Chapter 7

7.1

Preview

Better Blocks

We have already used some simple subprograms or sub-algorithms, glossing

over the manner in which data are passed to them and how results are obtained
from them. Data transfers between program and subprograms is the subject of
this chapter.
We will first consider subprograms, functions and block structurefrom three
viewpoints:
Control flow,
Data flow,
Data space (introduced for the first time here).
To pass data into and out of subprograms, a special kind of variable called a
parameteris used. Parameters are considered in great detail in this chapter, in
particular the way in which they are used to pass data. There are two
methods by which data are passed through parameters:
by value, and
by reference.
Recursion, the ability for a subprogram to call itself, is also briefly introduced
here as another control structure.
A number of examples of some small and simple blocks are given, along with
some larger examples: a payroll program and a change maker program.
Although the full power of subprograms is mostly felt with large programs, the
smaller programs of this chapter make it possible to illustrate them in a
convincing manner.
The chapter ends with the idea of modules, or pieces of a program that are
written separately, compiled separately, and that are later linked together to
form the complete program.

7.2

Subprograms
How to Simplify Large Programs
There are a number of ways to simplify a large program. The following figures
illustrate these ways, going from simple program forms to more modular forms.
These figures will serve as models on which the examples used later in this
chapter can be based.

Section 7.2

Figure 7.1

Subprograms

301

No Structure

All of the data is

available to all
of the actions.
Problem: the set of
actions is
too hard to
understan
d easily.

Data

Actions

Program No Structure , shown in Figure 7.1, is a simple program consisting of

some data and some actions. Here, the set of actions form a single group or
subprogram. All of the data are accessible to all of the actions. Such data are
said to be globalknown and accessible from every part of the program.
As programs become larger, they quickly become more complex and hence, more
difficult to understand, create correctly and modify. For example, a program
that is a thousand lines long is already very difficult to understand.
You have probably found that if you keep your papers all mixed together in a
single pile, you become confused and waste a lot of time looking for what you
want. As a result, you likely organize your papers into folders, divided
according to subject. So it is with programs. To handle this increased
complexity, the actions are often broken out into smaller pieces, each of which
can be understood separately and more easily. Sometimes, one individual or a
team is associated with each piece. This structuring of a program can be done in
many ways, and we will now look at four different ways in which this
organization of a large program can be done.
Figure 7.2

Split Structure

Temp
Global data are
still accessible
to all of the actions.

Action Group A
Action Group B
Problem: communication
between pieces
is too complex.

Action Group C

Data

Action Group D
Actions

The program Split Structure, shown in Figure 7.2, has been split into groups
shown as Action groups A, B, C and D. In practice, there would be many such
groups, possibly hundreds, in a large program. There is considerable

302

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

communication between the action groups; not only are they linked by flow of
control but they also have access to the same set of global data, which may
have thousands of separate items.
This means that the teams responsible for the different groups need to know
what the other teams are doing the communication between the pieces of a
program is reflected in the communication between the teams. Also, any piece
of program may access any data, so the sharing of data, a form of
communication, becomes complex.
For example, two different teams may be using the same variable, Count, in two
different ways and incrementing it for different reasons at different, possibly
incompatible time. They might also be using the same temporary variable
Temp and have to coordinate their uses to avoid clashes.
Clearly, this semi-structured way of breaking down a program is not ideal. On
a larger scale, most programs that are structured in that way will fail because
of the complexity of communication between the teams working on the various
pieces of the programs.
Figure 7.3

Hierarchical structure

Actions broken out

Global data are
now specialized:
grouped by type.

Program contains mostly subprogram invocations.

The organization of the program in Figure 7.3 is hierarchical and corresponds to

the top-down development of algorithms seen in earlier chapters. The actions
at the top level (at left) are mainly invocations of subprograms.This makes the
actions of each of the program parts more independent and the flow of control
between the parts easier to understand. However, the data are still shared by
all the subprograms. The data tend to become grouped in a way that resembles
the hierarchical organization of the actionsa sort of specialization of the
data. This occurs because top-level subprograms generally refer to different
kinds of data than those at lower levels.
An analogy to this may be seen in the way in which data are used in a
corporation. For example, the top level people of a corporation are interested
in the number of employees and the total money paid out to them. They do not
need to know directly the number of hours worked by any individual. At the
lower levels of the corporation hierarchy, the hours and rate of pay of an
employee must be known, but knowledge of the total number of employees is not
necessary.
We can improve the previous hierarchical structure by organizing a program
with localized block structures as shown in Figure 7.4. Here, some data are
distributed among the subprograms, and are only accessible to one subprogram.

Section 7.2

Subprograms

303

These data are local to a subprogram and are hidden from the other
subprograms, thus being protected against being changed by them.
Figure 7.4

Localized block structure

Hidden Data

These local
data are not
accessible by
any other
subprograms
but this one.

Global data
available to
all parts of
the program

In Figure 7.4, there still remains some global data accessible to all subprograms,
but fewer of them. These data are mainly used for communication between the
subprograms. This kind of structuring allows programming teams to be more
independent because they have more control over the data that they alone need
to know about.
Figure 7.5

Parameterized block structure

Pass & Share Data

Global data

Best program
structure: it uses a
minimum amount of
communication
between parts.

Local data

Parameter

One final improvement shows the program organized as a parameterized block

structure in Figure 7.5. We have added here to the previous localized block
structure the interaction between the various blocks of actions. This interaction
involves the passing of data between individual subprograms, thus
communicating only what data are necessary and hiding the rest.
The organization in Figure 7.5 formalizes the communication between
subprograms. When data must be shared between subprograms, sharing is done
as a private arrangement between them instead of using the bulletin board
approach of global variables. This serves to further reduce the amount of
global data and the amount of communication between the programming teams.

304

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

The design challenge to split up a program properly is a hard one. Sufficient

data sharing must be allowed as well as adequate data hiding. In the rest of
this chapter we will look more closely at the mechanisms required to do this.

What are Parameters?

For more details
on black box and
glass box views,
see Chapter 3,
Section 3.4.

We can describe subprograms the same way we described programs: from a

birds eye view or from a worms eye view. You may remember that in Chapter
3, the birds eye view was called the black box or external approach. Its
main focus was on w h a t data was passed in and out. The worms eye view was
called the glass box or internal approach. Its main focus was on h o w the
data were manipulated.
Figure 7.6

Definition and representation of Max subprogram

a. External view:
Data flow diagram (black box)

Y
Max
M

b. Alternative External view

Pass-in X , Y

Max
Pass-out M

c. Internal view:
pseudocode (glass box)

If X > Y
Set M to X
Else
Set M to Y

parameters

The data-flow diagram shown on the left of Figure 7.6 gives an external view of
the subprogram Max which we already encountered in Chapter 3. In this view,
Max is seen as a black box with two inputs X and Y and one output M , the
maximum of the two values X and Y.
Another external view of Max is shown in the middle of the same figure by
another black box called Max, having three variables X, Y and M . These three
variables are parametersand are used for communicating data with the
programs that use Max. This view, like the one on the left, shows nothing of
the way in which M is derived from X and Y.
Finally, at the right of the Figure 7.6, the subprogram Max is defined
completely with all its detail as a glass box. Here we can see exactly how the
value of M is obtained from X and Y.
Although X, Y and M are all parameters of the subprogram Max, X and Y serve a
different function from M . X and Y transfer information from the caller into the
subprogram and are called input parameters. The parameter M works in the
opposite way, it transfers the result of the computation out of Max, back to the
caller. It is called an output parameter. The definition of the number of
parameters, their data type and whether they are input or output, form the
subprograms interface specification.
Parameters are subprogram variables used to communicate data between the
subprogram and either the main program or another subprogram.

Section 7.2

Figure 7.7

A
subprogram
parameters

Subprograms

305

Data-flow diagram for Max3

B

Y
Max
M
E
X

Y
Max
M

Max3
Input A, B, C
Max( A , B , E )
Max(E, C, L)
Output L
End Max3

program
arguments

To see how such a subprogram is used, lets look at a program to find the
maximum of three variables. At the left of Figure 7.7, the data-flow diagram
of the program Max3 shows how we can obtain the maximum of the three
variables by interconnecting two of the Max subprograms. The right side of
Figure 7.7 shows the inner workings of Max3. As we could have guessed from
the data-flow diagram, the subprogram Max is invoked(or called) in the
following two ways:
In the first call, Max (A, B, E), Max3s variables A, B and E are
connected to Maxs parameters X, Y and M . The values of A and B are
transmitted to X and Y, the input parameters. The result of the
calculation, the maximum of the two value X and Y, is transmitted
through M , the output parameter, to E
Similarly, in the second call, Max (E, C, L); Max3s variables, E, C, and
L, are connected to Maxs parameters X, Y and M . The values of E and C
are transmitted to X and Y, the input parameters. The result of the
calculation, the maximum of the two values X and Y, is transmitted
through M , the output parameter, to L.
In the first call, A, B, and E, and in the second call E, C, and L, are said to be
arguments. Thus, in a subroutine call, a connection is established between the
callers arguments and the subprograms parameters and the values are
transmitted through this connection.
Lets look at a non-computer example from everyday life to help us understand
this connection between arguments and parameters: bungee-jumping. Here
is a program which, if followed, would make sure a person had an exciting day.

306

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Pseudocode 7.1
jumping

Program for an exciting day of bungee-

Pr ogram Excitement
Get up at dawn.
Go do some bungee-jumping
.
Tell all your friends how exciting it was.
Go to bed.

If you prefer, you could go sky-diving instead of bungee-jumping.

Pseudocode 7.2

Program for an exciting day of sky-diving

Program Excitement
Get up at dawn.
Go do some sky-diving .
Tell all your friends how exciting it was.
Go to bed.

In both cases, most of the steps in Program Excitement remain the same. Only
the name of the sport varies: we call bungee-jumping or sky-diving in the
program. If we take a closer look at the line Go do some bungee-jumping, we
notice that it refers to more instructions.
Actually, the line Go do some bungee-jumping is a subprogram invocation. It
calls SubProgram Go do some dangerous sport and performs its instructions by
replacing dangerous sport with bungee-jumping each time dangerous sport is
written. We call dangerous sport the subprograms parameterand bungeejumping the main programs argument. This program and subprogram are shown
in Figure 7.8.
Figure 7.8

Subprogram Go do some dangerous sport

Program Excitement
argument
Get up at dawn.
Go do some bungee-jumping.
Tell all your friends how exciting it was.
Go to bed.

SubProgram Go do some dangerous sport

Eat a light lunch.
Write out your will.
Put on dangerous sport equipment
Perform dangerous sport.

parameter

Section 7.2

Subprograms

307

The steps to follow for bungee-jumping are given in Pseudocode 7.3.

Pseudocode 7.3

Steps for bungee-jumping

Get up at dawn.
Eat a light lunch.
Write out your will.
Put on bungee-jumping equipment.
Perform bungee-jumping.
Tell all your friends how exciting it was.
Go to bed.

Go do some
dangerous sport
is invoked.

Notice that the subprogram is general enough so that is may be used for just
about any risky sport: bungee-jumping, sky-diving, heli-skiing, and so on. Its
parameter remains the same for each of them. However, as the sport practiced
changes, so does the main programs argument. If you preferred to go skydiving, as mentioned above, only the argument bungee-jumping would need to
be changed. The rest of the program (including the subprogram) would remain
as is. Figure 7.9 shows our Excitement program modified for sky-diving.
Figure 7.9

Excitement program using sky-diving

Only the argument
is changed.

Program Excitement
Get up at dawn.
Go do some sky-diving.
Tell all your friends how exciting it was.
Go to bed.
SubProgram Go do some dangerous sport
Eat a light lunch.
Write out your will.
Put on dangerous sport equipment
Perform dangerous sport.

This subprogram
and its parameter
remain as is.

Data Space Diagrams

In previous chapters, when we considered sub-algorithms and subprograms, we
concentrated on the flow of data (data-flow diagrams) and the flow of control
(flowcharts, flowblocks, and pseudocode). We have just seen how during a
subprogram invocation, a link is established between its calls arguments and
the subprograms parameters and that this link is used to transmit data. Now
we need to be more complete. We also must concentrate on the space occupied by
the data and on how the data values are communicated from one space to
another.
To see these
algorithms in
more detail, see
Figures 3.32, 3.24,
3.25, 3.26 and
3.35.

To introduce the concept of a data space diagram, lets consider again the
Divide subprogram. We already saw Divide in Chapters 3 and 5, and used it in
many algorithms such as Change Maker, Convert Grams, and Decimal to
Binary. A particular version of the Divide subprogram is shown in Figure 7.10.

308

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Figure 7.10 A version of the Divide subprogram

Local variable
Numerator

Divisor

Num

Num
Denom

Denom
Divide

Quot

Rem

Quotient

Remainder

Quot
Rem

Count
Divide ( Num, Denom, Quot, Rem )
Set Rem to Num
Set Count to 0
While Rem Denom
Set Count to Count + 1
Set Rem to Rem Denom
Set Quot to Count
End Divide

Parameters

On the left of Figure 7.10, there is a data-flow diagram of Divide, showing that
it has four parameters. Two of them, Num and Denom, are passed in and the
other two, Quot and Rem, are passed out.
On the right of the same figure, the corresponding data space diagram shows
the actual space occupied by the variables associated with the subprogram.
Also shown here is the pseudocode of the subprogram, from which we see that
Divide makes use of a temporary variable Count in the course of performing the
division. Count is private, or local, to Divide. Programs that make use of
Divide do not need or have access to Count.
In the pseudocode for the subprogram (Figure 7.10), the title line shows the
names of the subprograms parameters, Num, Denom, Quot and Rem. The
underlining of the names of two of the parameters, Quot and Rem, denotes that
their values will be passed out of the subprogram.
Note:

In this chapter, only parameters that pass values out of a

subprogram are underlined. The corresponding arguments are not
underlined.

The following conventions are used in data space diagrams:

1.

Subprogram parameters, both passed-in, like Num and Denom, and

passed-out, like Quot and Rem, are drawn at the left of the diagram.

2.

Passed-in parameters, like Num and Denom, are drawn as boxes at the
top left. Passed-in parameters correspond to the arrows pointing into a
data-flow diagram.

3.

Passed-out parameters, like Quot and Rem, are shown as dotted boxes
at the bottom left. Passed-out parameters correspond to the arrows
pointing out of a data-flow diagram.

4.

Local variables, like Count in our example, are accessible only from
within a subprogram and are drawn at the upper right of the data
space diagrams. Local variables have no meaning outside the
subprogram, and are used to hide or protect any data that have no need
to be accessible from the outside.

5.

Solid boxes used for local variables and passed-in parameters represent
actual memory locations within the subprogram, where the values are
stored.

6.

Dotted boxes used for the passed-out parameters do not represent actual
space. They refer or point to actual memory locations outside the
subprogram.

Section 7.2

Subprograms

309

Figure 7.11 Data flow and data space diagrams

Data Flow Diagram
arguments
A

Data Space Diagram

passed-in
local
parameters
variables

A
B
C

E
F
G

S
T
Sub ( E, F, G, U, V )

Sub

subprogram body

U
V

Y
Z
Z

End Sub

passed-out
parameters

Figure 7.11 presents a general example of a data flow and data space diagram
for a subprogram Sub with five parameters. The data space diagram at the
right of the figure also shows the connections between arguments and
parameters for this invocation of Sub:
Sub(A, B, C, Y, Z)
In such a call, the arguments are enclosed in parentheses and separated by
comas.
Figure 7.12 The Change subprogram
Tendered

Cost

T
C

Change
Q

R
Change ( T, C, Q, D, N, P )
subprogram body

Quarters
Nickels
Dimes
Pennies

Q
D
N
P

End Change

The subprogram Change, shown in Figure 7.12, has six parameters: an amount
tendered T and a cost C, which are passed-in, and the number of quarters Q,
dimes D, nickels N, and pennies P that form the change, which are passed-out.
There is also a local variable R, representing the remaining money at each
stage during the computation of the change.
Figure 7.13 Change as a program

If Change
were a
main program
...

Change
program body
End Change

R
T
C
Q
D
N
P

310

Chapter 7

An example of
this is the
Change Maker
programs (all 1
through 4) of
Chapter 5,
Section 5.7.

Better Blocks

Lets say Change were a main program:

There would be no parameters,
All of the variables would be local to the main programin other
words they would become global variables. Remember that global
variables are accessible to all parts of the program, including to any
subprograms the program involves.
Now that we know the basics, we are ready to examine more closely just how
data are input and passed in and out of subprograms.

7.3

Parameter Passing
Passing Parameters In and Out
The actual way in which the data are passed in or out of a subprogram depends
on whether they correspond to input parameters (passed-in) or output
parameters (passed-out):
Input parameter: the parameter behaves as a local variable that is
initialized by the value of the argument. Once this initialization has
taken place, the link between the argument and parameter is broken.
Thus, even though the subprogram may change the value of the
parameter, this has no effect on the corresponding argument. Since only
the arguments value is used, the argument can be a constant, variable or
expression. This mechanism for passing data is called passing
parameters by value.
Output parameter: the parameter is linked to the argument in such a
way that all references to the parameter in the subprogram become
references to the argument, which must be a variable. Any change to
the value of the parameter by the subprogram is a change to the value
of the argument. Thus, the argument and the parameter become
equivalent during this invocation of the subprogram. This mechanism
for passing data is called passing parameters by reference.
These two methods will be illustrated first by a simple program,
AverageExample, that uses the Divide subprogram, and later by another
program, Change, that also uses Divide.
Figure 7.14 give two different views of the subprogram Divide. It includes a dataflow diagram and a data space diagram with a description of the algorithm in
pseudocode. The data-flow diagram shows the invocation:
Divide(A + B, 2, C, D)
where input parameters Num and Denom are initialized with the values A + B
and 2, and where output parameters Quot and Rem are made equivalent to C and D.

Section 7.3

Parameter Passing

311

Figure 7.14 Two views of subprogram Divide

Data Flow Diagram

Data Space Diagram

Pseudocode

A+B
inputs
1

Num

Denom

Num Count
Denom

Divide
Actions
Quot

Rem

Quot
Rem

4
outputs

Divide ( Num, Denom,

Quot, Rem )
Set Rem to Num
Set Count to 0
While Rem Denom
Set Count to Count + 1
Set Rem to RemDenom
Set Quot to Count
End Divide

Our program Average Example is shown in Figure 7.15 and uses this same
subprogram Divide to find the average of two values A and B. It also displays
Exactly when the computed average is exact. Otherwise, it displays
Approximate.
We will use our Average Example program to describe in detail what happens
when a subprogram is invoked. The statement that invokes the Divide
subprogram is the same as before:
Divide(A + B, 2, C, D)
Executing this invocation causes the following sequence of actions:
1.

The point of return in AverageExample is immediately noted. The

point of return is the point to which control will return after Divide has
completed its work. Here, the point of return is the statement: Output
C.

2.

The variables for the input parameters of Divide and the local
variable are set up. We prepare memory space to hold the values for
Num, Denom, Count. Note that no memory space is reserved for the two
output parameters Quot and Rem. Remember from the last section that
only solid boxes take up memory space.

3.

The links between the Average Example program and the Divide
subprogram are established by setting up a correspondence between the
arguments in the invoking statement Divide(A + B, 2, C, D) and the
parameters shown in Divides header Divide(Num, Denom, Quot,
Rem)
a. The expression A + B is evaluated to 7 and that value is copied
into Divides variable Num.
b. The value 2 is copied into Divides variable Denom.
c.

The name of AverageExamples variable C is linked to Divides

parameter Quot so that Quot acts as an alias for C.

d. The name of AverageExamples variable D is linked to Divides

parameter Rem so that Rem acts as an alias for Average Examples
variable D.

312

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Figure 7.15 The program Average Example invoking Divide

invoke

A 2
B 5
C 3
D 7 5 3 1
AverageExample
Set A to 2
Set B to 5
Divide (A+B,2,C,D)
Output C
If D = 0
Output "Exactly"
Else
Output
Approximate"
End AverageExample

5+2=7

A+B
2
C
D

Num
Denom
Quot
Rem

return

7
2

Num Count 0
Denom

Divide (Num, Denom,

Quot, Rem)
Set Rem to Num
Set Count to 0
While Rem Denom
Set Count to
Count +
1
Set Rem to
Rem - Denom
Set Quot to Count
End Divide
C Quot
D Rem

4.

Subprogram Divide is executed: its actions are carried out. Each time
the output parameters Quot and Rem are modified (by the Set Rem to
Rem-Denom and Set Quot to Count statements), the actual values that
are changed are those of Average Examples variables C and D.

5.

The memory space for Divides variables, Num, Denom and Count is
released. If the subprogram Divide were re-invoked, a completely new
memory space would be used for these three variables.

6.

Control is returned to Average Example at the point of return, which is

Output C.

This simple example might seem a bit complicated when we look at it with
that much detail! Be sure to understand it completely as it illustrates the two
methods by which data are passed between a program and an invoked
subprogram:
By Value: The arguments (A + B, 2) corresponding to Divides
parameters Num and Denom were passed by value. With this method,
an argument (which can be an expression like A + B or a constant like
2) is evaluated and copied into the temporary space allocated to the
corresponding parameter in the subprogram. If this value is then
changed in the subprogram, the change remains local to the subprogram
and does not affect the original corresponding variable in the calling
program.
By Reference: The arguments (C and D) corresponding to Divides
parameters Quot and Rem, which were underlined in Divides header,
were passed by reference. With this method, the parameters of the
called subprogram become aliases for the actual variables in the
calling program. This requires that arguments be variables. Whenever
the parameters of the subprogram are assigned new values (as in Set
Quot to Count), it is the values of the corresponding arguments in the
calling program that are actually changed (like C in this instance).
To help you remember the difference between these two methods, we can say
that passing parameters between program and invoked subprogram can be done
via two channels of communication:

Section 7.3

Parameter Passing

313

By Value: one-way communication from calling program to invoked

subprogram
By Reference: two-way communication.
Deciding on which way to pass parameters is usually clear from the data-flow
diagram. Parameters that are input (with arrows into the box) should be
passed by value: in Figure 7.14 this is the case for parameters 1 and 2.
Parameters that are output should be passed by reference: in Figure 7.14 this is
the case for parameters 3 and 4. Sometimes, parameters serve a dual roleboth
input and output. The subprogram uses the value of the argument and then
modifies it. Such a parameter is passed by reference so that its modified value
can be passed back to the caller. We will illustrate this with many more
examples in the following sections.
Note:

Arguments passed by value can be variables, expressions, or

constants. Arguments passed by reference can only be variables.
They cannot be expressions or constants.

Special Cases
In the previous section, we were introduced to the communications between
programs and subprograms via parameters. Among all possible cases for
subprograms, there are two special cases:
Subprograms with no parameters (only local variables), and
Subprograms with only parameters (no local variables).
We will now take a look at both of these extreme cases in order to improve our
understanding of communications among subprograms.
The case of a parameterless subprogram is illustrated by the example in
Figure 7.16. There, the main program has a global variable A and the
subprogram has one local variable B. The main program communicates with
the subprogram through the global variable A.
Figure 7.16 Parameterless communication
A
Main Program
Set A to 5
Sub1()
Output A
End Main

25

This global
variable is
used to
communicate
with Sub1.

Sub 1 ()
Set B to A x A
Set A to B + 3
End Sub1

In Figure 7.16, A is being used not only to receive the results of the subroutines
calculation, but also send the data to be used by the subroutine. This use of
global variables is fairly common but is not recommended because it makes the
program more difficult to understand. The problem is that when you read the
invocation Sub1(), there is no indication that the global variable A is being
used as a communication channel and that its value will be changed. To
discover this, you must study Sub1 in detail. This is not practical. Such
implicit uses of global variables often lead to hard-to-find problems.

314

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

In the example in Figure 7.16, the names of the variables are different. What
would happen if this were not so and the name of a local variable in the
subprogram were the same as the name of a global variable?
Figure 7.17 Parameterless communication with name duplication
A
B
Main Program
Sub 2()
Output A
Output B
Output C
End Main

Sub 2 ()
Set A to 1
Set B to 2
Set C to 3
End Sub2

B
C

1
??

Note that there

are 2 different B's:
a local variable
and a global
variable.

In Figure 7.17, there is a main program with two variables A and B, and a
subprogram with two local variables B and C. Notice that we have used the
same name B to refer to two different variables, one in the main program and
one in the subprogram. We have done this on purpose to illustrate the
independence of name spaces. In practice, it is not recommended to use identical
names in different parts of a program even though it is allowed. We will say
more about this in a later section.
When we have subprograms nested in the main program or within other
subprograms, access to the various variables is determined by the rules in Figure
7.18.
Figure 7.18 Rules on using variables in subprograms
Rule 1: A (sub)program cannot
access the local variables
of any subprograms nested
within it.

Main Program
Set Local1 to 0

Rule 2: A (sub)program can access

a variable that is local to
itself.

Main Program
Set Global1 to 0

Rule 3: If a variable is not in a

subprogram, a search is
made in the enclosing
subprogram and continues
until either:
(i) The variable is found, or
(ii) The main program is
reached.
If the variable is not found,
the variable is undefined
and there is an error in the
program.

Main Program

Global1
Global2
Local1
Local2
Subprogram

Global1
Global2
Local1
Local2
Subprogram
Set Local 1 to 1

Global1
Global2
Local1
Local2
Subprogram
Set Global1 to 0
Set Extra to 0
Where is Extra? This is
an error in the program.

Section 7.3

Parameter Passing

315

Lets apply these rules to the example of Figure 7.17.

1.

When the main program calls subprogram Sub2, it does so with the
statement Sub2() where the argument list is empty because the
subprogram has an empty parameter list.

2.

Subprogram Sub2 assigns values to the three variables A, B and C,

beginning with Set A to 1. First, since there is no variable A within
Sub2 (Rule 3), it looks for the variable A in the next higher block, the
main program in this case. It finds A in Main Program and sets this to
the value 1. Lets call this variable AMain to show where it is located.

3.

The next variable B is found within Sub2 (Rule 2), so that B Sub2
receives the value 2. The outer variable B Main cannot be accessed by
Sub2 since B Sub2 exists and was found first (Rule 3). Its value was
never set and remains undefined, denoted by ??.

4.

Finally, the variable CSub2 is assigned the value 3 (Rule 2).

5.

After Sub2 is invoked, the Main Program is to output A, B and C.

Remember that by Rule 1, A, B and C can only be variables local to the
Main Program. So Main Program first outputs the value of A (Rule 2),
which is 1.

6.

Main Program then attempts to output variable B Main, but fails as

B Main has no value (Rule 2).

7.

Finally, the attempt to output the value of C also causes an error

because the main program cannot access CSub2 (Rule 1).

It should now be clear that we can use local variables to hide some values, just
as Sub2 hid the values 2, and 3 of B Sub2 and C. This simplifies the program
structureand makes the resulting program much less prone to error. However,
the access to variables at higher levelsglobal variablesprovided by Rule 3
is very dangerous and should be avoided. Why? Because, as we said before,
communication through global variables is not explicit and occurs sometimes
without us being aware of it.
Tip 1: Only use parameters when communicating between programs and
subprograms.
Tip 2: Try to use different variable names whenever possible.
Figure 7.19 Parameter-only communication
X
Y
Main Program
Input X
Sub3(X, Y)
Output Y
End Main

Y
Sub3(Y, Z)
Set Z to Y + Y
End Sub3

No box here
means no
local variables.

Our next example, in Figure 7.19, uses only parameters to communicate, and
Sub3 has no local variables. The main program has two global variables X and
Y, and the subprogram has two parameters Y and Z. Notice that we have again
used the same variable name Y in both the main program and the subprogram,
but there are no ambiguities as there were in Figure 7.13.

316

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

The subprogram header Sub3(Y, Z) indicates that the first parameter, Y, is

passed by value and the second parameter, Z, is passed by reference. When the
subprogram is called, the value of the first argument, X, is copied into YSub2, is
doubled and then copied into the space of the second argument, YMain.
Note:

It is still preferable to use different variable names when possible.

Figure 7.20 General communication

Main Program
Input Q
Input P
Input S
Sub4(Q, R)
Output R
End Main

T
Sub4(R, S)
Set T to R + 3
Set R to T + R
Set S to R + 4
End
Sub4
S

P
Q
R
S

Q is copied
into R.

Each reference to S
refers to Rmain.

In general, subprograms have both parameters and local variables, as shown in

Figure 7.20. You will note several things here:
Variables P and Q are global variables, which could be accessed by the
subprogram Sub4, but should not be!
Main Program has 2 more global variables: R and S. Normally they
too would be accessible to Sub4. However, Sub4s parameters are also
called R and S. This means that any references to R and S in the
subprogram are to those parameters. The global R and S of Main
Program are therefore not accessible to Sub4.
When the subprogram is invoked, the first argument is passed by value.
The value of variable Q is copied into the variable R Sub4 and the link
with Q is lost. So the value of Q cannot be modified by the subprogram
even when it makes an assignment to R Sub4.
The second argument is passed by reference, and every reference to S in
the subprogram refers to R Main.
Any references to variable S in the main program refer to the global S
(Rules 1 and 2).
Variable T, local to subprogram Sub4, is inaccessible from Main
Program (Rule 1).
You might already have noted in the preceding examples that names are very
significant. You have also seen in the last three examples that the same names
may refer to different data spaces and have different meanings as shown in
Figure 7.21. For example, the same name R is the result in the main program
and is the quantity received in the subprogram. Also, S is both the sum in the
main program, and the value sent by the subprogram.

Section 7.3

Parameter Passing

317

Figure 7.21 Table of names and meanings

Names and Meanings of variables used in Figure 7.20
Name

P
Q
R
S
T

in

Main Program

Paid
Quantity
Result
Sum

in Subprogram

Sub4

Received
Sent
Temporary

Such conflicts in naming can become very confusing for humans, but are not a
problem for computers. Normally, such short and duplicated names are to be
avoided, but if they happen to be chosen, they cause no problem for the
computer and confuse only the reader. Obviously, in our small examples we
could easily have chosen different names that could have helped the reader
understand more easily. The important thing to note is that, in large programs
where different people work on many parts, we do not need to have some
elaborate scheme to prevent programmers from using names already used by
others.
In most cases the names chosen would also be more meaningful, as they have
been in the examples of the preceding chapters. However, here we have used
short names to keep the lists of subprogram parameters and arguments short as
well. In practice, we will always use meaningful names.
Tip:

Always use meaningful names for variables, such as Result or

Received. This way, your algorithms are easier to read.

318

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Some Examples...
Figure 7.22 Data-flow diagram for Change program
Input Tendered
Input Cost
100

42

Subtract
58
25

Divide

D
Q
2

10

Divide

D
Q
0

N
R

Divide

D
Q

1
N
3

See Figure 3.32

for the original
Change Maker
data-flow
diagram.

Lets consider an algorithm Change, which calls the subprogram Divide three
times. The Change algorithm inputs the amount Tendered and the Cost and
outputs the number of Quarters, Dimes, Nickels, and Pennies. It was
introduced in Chapter 3 and is shown in the data-flow diagram of Figure 7.22.

Section 7.3

Parameter Passing

319

Figure 7.23 Data space diagram for Change program

Change
Input Tendered
Input Cost

Tendered
Cost
Rest

100
42
8

Quarters
Dimes
Nickels
Pennies

2
0
1
3

Snapshots of

58
25

Divide (Tendered - Cost, 25,

Quarters, Rest)

Num Count
Denom

Num Count
Denom
Quot
Rem

8
5
1
3

Num Count
Denom
Quot
Rem

The data space diagram of Figure 7.23 has been extended to show snapshots of
the subprogram calls. Even though the figure shows three instances of the
Divide subprogram, it should be noted that only one Divide subprogram exists at
any time.
The first call to Divide passes the value of the expression Tendered
Cost and the constant 25 as the denominator. Divide then returns the
quotient in Quarters (2) and the Rest of the change (8).
The second invocation of Divide passes the value of Rest obtained from
the first call and the constant 10. Divide then returns the quotient in
Dimes (0), and the same Rest (8). The correspondence between the
arguments Rest, 10, Dimes, Rest and the parameters Num, Denom,
Quot, Rem is established by their order of listing from left to right, as
shown in Pseudocode 7.4. The fact that two arguments are the same
variable (Rest) causes no problem. The value of Rest is used to
initialize Num which is divided. When Rem is set to the remainder,
this actually sets a new value in Rest, as illustrated in Pseudocode 7.4.
The third and last call to Divide passes in the Rest, and the constant 5,
and returns the number of Nickels and also of Pennies.

Divide ( Rest,

10,

Two arguments with the same variable

Dimes, Rest )

Divide ( Num, Denom, Quot, Rem )

Divide (Rest, 5, Nickels, Pennies)

Pseudocode 7.4

Quot
Rem
8
10

Output Quarters, Dimes,

Nickels, Pennies

Calls

Divide (Num, Denom,

Quot, Rem)

Divide (Rest, 10, Dimes, Rest)

Divide

320

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Normally, the examples we have just seen on how to pass parameters should be
sufficient to understand everything about parameter passing. However, you
will need more practice in actually passing parameters to reach complete
understanding. We will look at a few more examples to help you with it. In
fact, many aspects of parameter passing can be illustrated by the familiar
simple Divide subprogram. We will look at some of these aspects here.
Figure 7.24 The subprogram invocation Divide (A, B, C, D)
A
B
C
D

Main
Set
Set
Set
Set

1
2
3
4

0
1

A to 1
B to 2
C to 3
D to 4

Divide (A,B,C,D)
Output A, B, C, D
End Main

1 Num
2 Denom

copy values

main
A
B
C
D

Count

Divide (Num, Denom,

Quot, Rem)
sub
Set Rem to Num
Num
Set Count to 0
Denom
While Rem Denom
Quot
Set Count to Count + 1
Rem
Set Rem to RemDenom
Set Quot to Count
End Divide

reference variables

Quot
Rem

Notice that we put the names Quot and Rem

inside of the dotted boxes to serve as a
reminder never to put any numbers there.

See Figure 7.15

for a closer look
at Average
Example.

Here is a simple program (Figure 7.24) very similar to the already-seen

Average Example program. Lets review how the subprogram Divide works.
Divide(A, B, C, D) firstly copies the values of A and B into Num and Denom.
The quotient Quot refers to C and Rem refers to D. The output of Main here are
the values of A, B, C, and D: 1, 2, 0, 1.
Drawing Data space diagrams such as the one above clarifies parameter
passing. You may note that Quot and Rem were written inside the dotted boxes.
Tip :

Writing the output parameter names inside the dotted boxes can
prevent you from making the common mistake of putting values in
the boxes. Remember that passed-out parameters are only
references to actual data spaces. Also, using arrows to match
arguments with parameters can be very helpful.

We will use this simple Main program to see how changing subprogram
arguments can affect output. The Main program contains 4 variables: A, B, C, D.
These 4 variables can be passed in/out of Divide at lease 4 4 4 4 = 256
different ways (such as AABC, AACB, ABCD, ABDC, ACBD, and so on). The
next few examples illustrate some of these variable combinations.

Section 7.3

Parameter Passing

321

Figure 7.25 Subprogram invocation Divide (D, B, A, C)

Main
Set
Set
Set
Set

A to 1
B to 2
C to 3
D to 4

A 1 2
B 2
C 3 0
D 4

Divide (D,B,A,C)

4
2

copy values

main
D
B
A
C

Num
Count 0
Denom

Divide ( Num, Denom,

Quot, Rem )
sub
Set Rem to Num
Num
Set Count to 0
Denom
While Rem Denom
Quot
Set Count to Count + 1
Rem
Set Rem to RemDenom
Set Quot to Count
End Divide

Output A, B, C, D
End Main

reference variables

Quot
Rem

In Figure 7.25, the subprogram invocation becomes Divide(D, B, A, C). This

time, the values of Main program variables D and B are passed into subprogram
parameters Num and Denom. Quotient Quot references A, whereas remainder
Rem references C. Again, only A and C of the Main program are modified, and
the output is 2, 2, 0, 4.
In our next example, the invocation becomes Divide(B, B, B, D). Figure 7.26
shows the corresponding data space.
Figure 7.26 Data space for invocation Divide (B, B, B, D)
A

Num

Denom

Quot
0

Rem
Divide ( B, B, B, D )

In Figure 7.26, the same value of B, which is 2, is copied into both subprogram
parameters Num and Denom. The action of Divide produces a quotient of 1 and
a remainder of 0, as it is dividing 2 by 2. Now Quot also refers to variable B of
the main program, so that value is now changed to 1. The zero remainder is
assigned to variable D of the Main program, and the output is then 1, 1, 3, 0.
In this case, the main programs variable B was actually used twice to copy a
value into Num and Denom, and that same variable B was also referenced by
Quot, and then modified when a value was assigned to Quot. What would
happen if we used the variable B for all 4 arguments? Try it and see.
Note:

Using the same variable as an argument to two different output

parameters, in a single invocation of a subprogram , may lead to
results that are difficult to predict. Dont do it!

In our next example, illustrated by Figure 7.27, the invocation was changed to
Divide(BD , C + B , A , C ) , and the data space for the invocation shows that
expression values can be passed into a subprogram.

322

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Figure 7.27 Data space for the invocation Divide (B

B, A, C)

D, C

B D
A

1
3

C+B

Num

Denom

Quot
Rem

Divide ( B D, C + B,

A, C )

In this case, the evaluation of the two expressions is done first:

BD = 2 4 = 8 and C+B = 3 + 2 = 5. Then, the values of 8 and 5 are copied
into the subprogram parameters Num and Denom producing a quotient Quot of 1
and a remainder Rem of 3. Since parameter Quot refers to variable A, the value
of A is set to 1. Similarly, since parameter Rem refers to variable C, its value is
set to 3, and the output is then 1, 2, 3, 4. The four values are exactly the
same as before the subprogram call. What a complex way of doing nothing!
Figure 7.28 Data space for invocation Divide (11, 7, A, B)
11
7

11

Num

Denom

Quot

Rem
Divide ( 11, 7, A, B )

Figure 7.28 shows the data space for the next example where the invocation
has become Divide(11, 7, A, B). This shows that constants can be used as
value arguments. Here, 11 is divided by 7 to yield a quotient of 1 and a
remainder of 4. The subprogram quotient Quot refers to variable A and Rem
refers to variable B, so the output is 1, 4, 3, 4.
Figure 7.29 Data space for the invalid Divide (A,B,C,B+D)
A

Num

Denom

??

Quot

??

Rem

Divide ( A, B, 3, B + D )

The invocation Divide(A, B, 3, B + D), Figure 7.29 has two errors. The
problems are:
The third argument is a constant. Arguments passed by reference must
be variables.
The fourth argument is an expression. Again, arguments corresponding
to output parameters can only be variables.

Section 7.3

Parameter Passing

323

So far in this chapter, we have looked at subprograms and the way they
communicate with their environment through parameters. We have identified
methods of passing parameters: by value and by reference, corresponding to oneway and two-way communications. Lets look at a few more examples that
illustrate the following ways of passing parameters:
Passed-in parameters only,
Passed-out parameters only,
Passed-in and passed-out parameters.
Our first example, subprogram Spellout, is shown in Figure 7.30. It outputs some
small numerical values, not as numbers but spelled out as a word. The
pseudocode shown in the figure only spells out integers in the range 0 to 4, but
you could extend it easily. Here only one parameter, theNumber to be spelled
out, is passed into the subprogram . Nothing is passed out. However, the result
of the invocation is the output of a value.
Figure 7.30 Parameter passing
Cost
Quarters
Changer
Nickels
Input Cost
Dimes
Input Quarters Pennies
etc.
Output "Quarter count is "
Spellout (Quarters)
Output "Dime count is "
Spellout (Dimes)
Output "Nickel count is "
Spellout (Nickels)
Output "Penny count is "
Spellout (Pennies)
End Changer

passing in only
Number
Spellout(Number)
Select
Number < 0:
Output Number
Number = 0:
Output "Zero"
Number = 1:
Output "One"
Number = 2:
Output "Two"
Number = 3:
Output "Three"
Number = 4:
Output "Four"
Otherwise
Output Number
End Spellout

The second example in Figure 7.31 shows another subprogram, EnterPos, which
uses an output parameter, passed by reference, to return a value to the calling
program. The subprograms pseudocode shows that EnterPos first prompts the
user to enter a positive value, and then inputs the Value. As long as this Value
is not positive, the subprogram keeps outputting the message Try again and
inputting a new Value.
Figure 7.31 Parameter passing
Age
Height
Opinion Poll
Output "What is the age?"
EnterPos (Age)
Output "What is the height?"
EnterPos (Height)
End Opinion Poll

passing out only

Value
EnterPos (Result)
Output "Enter positive value"
Input Value
While Value < 0
Output "Try again"
Input Value
Set Result to Value
End EnterPos
Result

324

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

As soon as a positive Value is entered, the loop terminates. The subprogram

then assigns that positive Value to the output parameter Result, setting the
value of Age and thenHeight in the main program. Using Result as an output
parameter like this allows the subprogram EnterPos to be recycled. EnterPos
can be used over and over to enter values into many different variables (such as
Age and Height in the Opinion Poll program shown in Figure 7.31).
Figure 7.32 Parameter passing: passing in-out or through
Main Program

Num1
Num2
Num3

D
Sort3 ( A, B, C ) E
F

Input Num1
Input Num2
Input Num3

Sort2 (A, B, D, E)

Sort3 (Num1,Num2,Num3)

Sort2 (D, F, A, B)

Output Num1, Num2, Num3

Sort2 (E, C, F, C)

End Sort3
A
B
C

Val1
Val2

Temp

Sort2 (Val1, Val2,

Small, Big)
Set Small to Val1
Set Big to Val2
If Small > Big
Set Temp to Small
Set Small to Big
Set Big to Temp
End Sort2
Small
Big

Our third example shows why we can refer to parameters passed by reference as
passed in-out or passed through. This may seem a little confusing at first,
but lets take a look at Figure 7.32. Shown is a Main Program which calls
subprogram Sort3. Sort3 sorts three values A, B, C into non-decreasing order
with the help of another subprogram, Sort2.
Sort3s parameters A, B, C are all passed by reference, as we can see by the
underlining. Remember that parameters passed by reference are aliases of
variables from the calling (sub)program. Here A, B, C are all passed by
reference: they are all aliases of some variables. Which variables? Num1,
Num2, and Num3. What is the calling (sub)program? Main Program.
Since A, B, C are aliases of Num1, Num2, and Num3, Sort3 can perform
whatever operations it wants on Num1, Num2, and Num3. In other words,
Sort3 has total control over those variables. When the variable A is called on
for an operation, the value of A used is that of Num1.
So, it is as if we copied this main program value into Sort3 and then performed
the operation on it, as if we were passing values in and out (hence the name inout or through). But we did not really copy it. To actually copy Num1 into
Sort3, we would have to add a parameter passed by value and Sort3 would
look like Sort3(Z, A, B, C) . Sort3 would have to have an extra box labeled Z
in its top left corner. In fact, we could have made Sort3 with 3 parameters
passed in and A, B, and C passed out. Then we could say that parameters are
passed in and passed out (not in-out).
The interesting thing to note here is that when Sort3(A, B, C) is executed, the
original values of Num1, Num2, Num3 are destroyed. Depending on the
problem to be solved, this may be all right. However, it is usually preferable
to pass the values in by value, and then out by reference, for example: Sort3(Z,
X, Y, A, B, C) . This way the original Num1, Num2, Num3 values would be
preserved.

Section 7.3
For a closer look
at Swap, see
Chapter 5,
Figure 5.18.

7.4

Parameter Passing

325

When examining Figure 7.32 closer, you may notice that subprogram Sort2 sorts
two values with the use of 4 parameters: two passed by value and two passed
by reference. This means that it leaves the original values A, and B (which in
turn reference Num1 and Num2) untouched. Sort2 could just as well been
created with only 2 parameters passed by reference (or in-out as we saw
earlier). You may note that Sort2 functions by swapping two values if Small is
bigger than Big. The actual swapping could have been done by invoking a third
subprogram, Swap.

Bigger, Leaner, and Meaner Programs

Using Structure Charts
So far, we have considered small programs and subprograms, with little
interaction between them. We will consider now a more complex system to
illustrate the inter-relations among actions, data spaces and data flows. The
example we use is MainPay, an extended payroll problem that is sufficiently
complex to suggest the power of subprograms in large systems.
Figure 7.33 Algorithms and sub-algorithms for Main Pay
MainPay
Set Total to 0
Input Num
For EmpNum = 1 to Num by 1
NetPay(Total)
Output Total
End MainPay
NetPay(Amount)
GrossPay(Gross)
Deductions(Gross, Deduct)
Set ActualPay to Gross Deduct
Output ActualPay
Set Amount to Amount + ActualPay
End NetPay
GrossPay(Pay)
Input Hours
Input Rate
Set Break to 40
If Hours < Break
Set Pay to Hours Rate
Else
Set Pay to Break Rate
+ 1.5 Rate (Hours Break)
End GrossPay

Deductions(Gross, Total)
Set Tax to Rate Gross
GetMiscDeductions(Misc)
Set Total to Tax + Misc
End Deductions

The algorithms and sub-algorithms that comprise MainPay are shown in Figure
7.33 as break-out diagrams of pseudocode, with the dotted lines representing
the flow of control when subprograms are called. The program MainPay inputs
the number of employees Num, and then executes a loop Num times, once for
each employee. The body of the loop calls NetPay with Total as an argument,
so that it can update the total pay as each employees pay is calculated.
Finally, MainPay outputs the Total amount paid out.

326

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Subprogram NetPay calls subprograms GrossPay and Deductions to be able to

calculate the Actual Pay and output it, and Actual Pay is also used to update
the Total in MainPay. The GrossPay subprogram computes the gross Pay in the
usual way. Subprogram Deductions obtains the miscellaneous deductions Misc
by calling GetMiscDeductions, and adds this to the Tax, which is a simple
percentage Rate of the Gross pay. All these variables are either local or
global and we will use a data space diagram to show where they belong.
Figure 7.34 Data spaces of Main Pay and its subprograms
GrossPay(Pay)
Hours
Rate
Break
MainPay
Num
Total
EmpNum

NetPay(Amount)
Gross
Deduct
ActualPay

Amount

Pay

Deductions(Gross, Total)
Gross Tax
Misc
Rate

Total

The data space diagram of MainPay, in Figure 7.34, shows how data are
distributed among the subprograms. Notice first that the main program
requires only three variables of its own (the count Num, the loop control
variable EmpNum, and the amount Total), and need not have access to other
variables at lower levels! Notice also that the gross pay appears three times
in three different subprograms:
1.

The actual gross pay is first computed in subprogram GrossPay and

assigned to parameter Pay which is passed by reference.

2.

Because the parameter Pay is an alias, this computed gross pay is in

fact assigned to variable Gross in subprogram NetPay (the GrossPay
call argument).

3.

The same gross pay is also passed to subprogram Deductions as a value

parameter where it is used to initialize Deductions parameter Gross.
Notice that, although both NetPay and Deductions have variables
called Gross, they are quite distinct and occupy separate storage.

It is important to see that subprogram Deductions did not get the gross pay
directly from subprogram GrossPay, but indirectly through subprogram NetPay
at a higher level. This sub-dividing and hiding of data spaces is very
significant in large systems. It localizes the various data values, and respects
the hierarchy of subprograms defined by the structure chart for a system like
Figure 7.35.

Section 7.4

Bigger, Leaner, and Meaner Programs

327

Figure 7.35 Structure Chart for Main Pay

MainPay

NetPay

GrossPay

Deductions

GetMiscDeductions

This subdivision of the data space is extremely helpful when you are trying to
find and correct an error in a large program. It reduces the amount of program
that you must read and understand before you make a change. Making a local
change without really understanding all its ramifications is not good enough.
Even though the program may appear to work after the modifications have
been made, it may not have been properly tested. The subdivision of the data
space clearly defines the boundaries of possible ramifications. The big picture
of the system offered by the structure charts helps to see this.
We will have yet another look at the MainPay example by means of a dataflow diagram, as shown in Figure 7.36. That figure shows how the external
data flow in and out of the program, as well as how the data flow between the
subprograms through arguments and parameters. The external inputs are the
Hours, the pay Rate, the miscellaneous deductions Misc, and the number of
employees Num. The external outputs are the ActualPay and the Total amount
paid.
The hiding and sharing of data, when done properly, leads to a simplification
of the building of the program with minimal interaction between the
constituent subprograms. Each subprogram communicates only with its superior
in the structure chart. Ideally, each subprogram is provided with only what it
needs to perform its function:
At lower levels, the system components need individual details of
hours worked and rate of pay.
At higher levels, the system components do not need the same details
but need instead the total number of employees and the total amount
paid.

328

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Figure 7.36 Data flow of Main Pay and its subprograms

GrossPay
MainPay
Total

NetPay
Amount Gross

Hours
Pay
Rate

Total

Total

ActualPay
Gross

Num

Deduct

Deductions
Misc

Actual Pay

Total

Number of
Employees

Gross

For instance, the Deductions subprogram needs the value of the gross pay, to use
but not modify, in its computation. However, it does not need the net pay or the
number of employees.
The interconnection of programs with many subprograms is often shown by trees
or contour diagrams. Those are considered next.

Contour Diagrams
Contour diagrams are similar to the data space diagrams we saw earlier in
Section 7.2. They are made up of blockseach representing a piece of program
with its own data space. The blocks are nested one within another, showing
the hierarchy of the program. A contour diagram of the Main Pay program is
shown in Figure 7.37.
Notice that there are three types of information shown:
The program or subprogram names
Local variables
Parameters passed in and passed out of the subprogram
As we can see, information can both be shared between blocks, and hidden from
other blocks. Block-structured languages (like Algol 60, Pascal, Modula-2, C,
and Ada) take advantage of this sharing/hiding of information.

Section 7.4

Bigger, Leaner, and Meaner Programs

329

Figure 7.37 Contour diagram of Main Pay

MainPay
Gross
Deduct
ActualPay
Break
40
GrossPay(Pay)
Hours
Rate

NetPay(Amount)

Num
EmpNum
Total

Pay
Gross

Rate 20%
Tax
Misc

Deductions(Gross, Total)
Total
Amount

The variable access rules introduced in Section 7.3 apply directly to the blocks.
Lets see how the rules apply to Figure 7.37:
Rule 1: A (sub)program cannot access the local variables of any
subprograms nested within it.
Here, subprogram NetPay cannot access (use) the local variables Break,
Hours, Rate, Rate, Tax, Misc, since the subprograms GrossPay and
Deductions are nested within it. We could say that these inner
variables are kept protected from the outside world. (You will note
here that there are 2 separate variables named Rate in our program,
each referring to something different. The one in GrossPay refers to an
hourly rate of pay whereas the other in Deductions refers to the tax
rate.)
Rule 2: A (sub)program can access a variable that is local to itself.
Here, subprogram NetPay can access its local variables Gross, Deduct,
and ActualPay.
Rule 3: If a variable does not appear in a subprogram, a search is made
in the enclosing subprograms. This search is continued until either:
The variable is found, or
The main program is reached.
If the variable is not found in any of these nests, then the variable is
undefined and there is an error in the program.
Here, subprogram NetPay can access the variables Num, EmpNum, and
Total (as well as its own local variables, as we saw in Rule 2). We can
see this by looking out of NetPay to the next higher level(s). In our
case, there is only one higher level: the main program. This rule of
looking out is also called the most-closely-nested binding rule,
where the term bindingrefers to the relations between variable names
and data spaces.

330

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Another useful term to know is the scope of a variable. This refers to the part of
a program over which a particular name is known, or may be referenced. In
our example, the scope of Num is the whole program. This comes about because
it is defined in MainPay and nowhere elseby the application of Rule 3. The
same is true of EmpNumthey are both global variables.
However, this is not true of Total, the third variable defined in MainPay,
which is also defined with a different meaning in Deductions. Thus, the scope
of Total defined in MainPay is the whole program except for Deductions. This
illustrates the dangers of Rule 3 and how careful we must be in our program
design to avoid accessing the wrong variable.
Tip:

Use different variable names whenever possible.

Figure 7.38 Table of binding for Main Pay and subprograms

Subprograms
Names

MainPay NetPay GrossPay Deductions

Notes

ActualPay

Defined

Access

Access

Not accessible in MainPay

Amount

Defined

Access

Access

Not accessible in MainPay

Break
Deduct
EmpNum

Defined

Gross

Defined

Access

Access

Not accessible in MainPay

Access

Access

Access

Global

Defined 1

Access 1

Defined 2

Redefined in Deductions

Hours
Misc
Num

Only in GrossPay

Defined

Only in GrossPay

Defined

Defined

Access

Access

Pay

Defined

Rate

Defined 1

Tax

Defined

Only in Deductions

Access

Global
Only in GrossPay

Defined 2
Defined

Total

Defined 1

Access 1

Access 1

Defined 2

Different meaning in
GrossPa y and Deductions
Only in Deductions
Meaning in Deductions different
to meaning everywhere else.

Tables of bindingshow how variable names relate to the data spaces of various
blocks. A table for Main Pay is shown in Figure 7.38. There is one row for each
variable or parameter name, and one column for each (sub)program block. The
table is filled as follows:
If a given name is accessible in a block, the corresponding entry shows
either Defined or Access.
If the name is inaccessible the entry is empty.
An entry like Defined indicates the name is defined in the block
either as a variable or as a parameter.
If the entry is Access the name is accessible.
When there is more than one definition, the definitions and accesses
are numbered to show what name is accessible.
Variables only defined in the MainPay block are global and can be accessed
from all the subprograms. Such global variables may seem useful. For example,
the number of the employee EmpNum could be accessed directly from the
NetPay subprogram (without passing it as a parameter) and output onto the

Section 7.4

Bigger, Leaner, and Meaner Programs

331

paycheck. However, this variable EmpNum could also be changed by accident

in any of the subprograms. This kind of error could be very hard to find.
Tip:

Reference only those variables that are defined in the subprogram

in which you are working. Any time you think that using a global
variable would be simpler, look instead to see how the programs
design could be improved to avoid it. A global variables potential
for causing trouble is much greater than the simplification it can
bring to the program. Access to all variables that are not local
should be done only through parameters.

Parameter Crossing

A Common Mistake

In order to show how destructive global variables can be, we will look here at a
simple mistake that can turn out to be difficult to trace. Figure 7.39 is yet
another variation of the now famous Divide invocation of Figure 7.24. For the
sake of this example, we replaced the name of the counter Count by C.
Figure 7.39 Forgetting to declare a local variable

Main
Set
Set
Set
Set

A 1
B 2
C 3
D 4

copy values

2
0

A to 1
B to 2
C to 3
D to 4

Divide (B, A, D, C)
Output A, B, C, D
End Main

2
1

Num
Denom

No C!

Divide (Num, Denom,

Quot, Rem)
Set Rem to Num
main sub
Set C to 0
While Rem Denom
B
Num
A
Denom
Set C to C + 1
D
Quot
Set Rem to RemDenom
C
Rem
Set Quot to C
End Divide
reference variables

Quot
Rem

Suppose that in the Divide subprogram, we forgot to declare counter C as a local

variable. When C is accessed and modified in Divide, since there is no local C
defined in Divide, the global C is accessed and modified. When Divide
increments C, it actually changes the value of C in Main. In our example, a
Numerator of 2 is divided by a Divisor of 1. However, the result is not a
quotient of 2 and a remainder of 0 (as it should be) because both C and Rem in
the subprogram refer to the same value of C in Main!
Lets take a closer look at what happens. When the subprogram counter is
initially set to 0, global variable C is set to 0. As the actions proceed, global C
is changed every time C is changed in the subprogram, and also every time the
remainder Rem is changed in the subprogram. In fact, the names C and Rem in
the subprogram are both aliases of the global C.
Although you may already have a good idea of what is happening, lets trace
the algorithm step by step (Pseudocode 7.5) to see the detail of the subprogram
execution.

332

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Pseudocode 7.5

Trace of Subprogram Divide

Divide(Num, Denom,
Quot, Rem)
Set Rem to Num
Set C to 0
While Rem Denom
Set Quot to C

{ Num = 2 and Denom = 1}

{Since Rem references Main's C, this sets Main 's C to 2.}
{This now sets Main' s C to 0.}
{Since Rem references Main's C, this test becomes 0 1,
which is false, hence the body of loop is not executed.}
{Sets Main 's C to 0.}

So this Divide subprogram produces both a quotient and a remainder of 0,

which is incorrect. The values output by the program are 2, 1, 0, 0.
In general, such an accidental access of global values has very serious
consequences because it produces wrong results and is very difficult to find and
correct. Although they should know better, there are still some programmers
who deliberately access global variables from within subprograms, inviting
disastrous consequences. Accessing by parameters is the only safe way of
communicating!

Minimizing Coupling, Maximizing Cohesion

It may be useful to step back from the details of the Main Pay problem and
return to a view similar to the data-flow diagram of Figure 7.36. Lets examine
the data interactions between the various blocks. By interactions, we mean
access to data, either by an argument-parameter transmission, or through
global variables. Couplingis a measure of the degree of this interaction of the
various blocks.
Figure 7.40 Loose coupling
GrossPay
MainPay

NetPay
Deductions

The couplings between the four blocks of Main Pay are shown in Figure 7.40.
There are essentially only four interactions, each shown by a line connecting the
blocks. These respect the hierarchy established by the structure chart of Figure
7.35. Most interactions in the figure are through parameters passed by
reference, which implies a two-way communication, and only one is through a
value parameter (one-way). Since all the interconnections are through
parameters, we say that these blocks are loosely-coupled.
Figure 7.41 Tight coupling
Block 3
Block 1

Block 2
Block 4

Section 7.4

Bigger, Leaner, and Meaner Programs

333

In contrast, Figure 7.41 shows a similar set of four blocks where every block
interacts in both directions with every other block, forming 12 such interactions.
These interactions are through global and local variables. This kind of system,
referred to as tightly- coupled, would be quite complex and difficult to
understand and maintain.
Maintaining a tightly-coupledsystem is difficult because the hierarchy of the
structure chart has disappeared, and any modification is likely to affect more
than one module, making it complex and error prone. In other words, if you
forget just one of the changes required to keep all the blocks consistent, your
program will most likely have an error.
Generalizing the interactions from this 4-block example to any number N of
blocks is quite simple. In the present case, each of the 4 blocks connects to all of
the remaining 3 blocks for a total of 4 3 or 12 interactions. In general, each of
N blocks connects to the remaining (N-1) blocks for a total of N(N-1)
interactions:
For 5 blocks, there are 5 4 = 20 interactions.
For 10 blocks, there are 10 9 = 90 interactions.
For 20 blocks, there are 20 19 = 380 interactions.
As you can see, the maximum number of interactions grows quicklyalmost as
fast as the square of the number of blocks. If we assume that checking a
modification implies checking all interactions, you can see why the number of
interactions must be kept low! That is why loosely-coupledsystems are
preferred. They are usually easier to maintain than tightly-coupled ones.
Tip:

Try to always make your system loosely-coupled: use parameters as

much as possible when relaying information between your program
parts.

A complementary measure to coupling is cohesion. Coupling is a measure of the

interaction between blocks; cohesion (strength) is a measure of the interaction
between the elements that constitute the block. Just as we wish to minimize the
coupling, we wish to maximize the cohesion of each block. The basic intent of
block cohesion is to organize the elements of a program so that closely related
elements fall into a single block and unrelated elements fall into separate
blocks.
To return to the MainPay example, subprogram NetPays sole function is to
calculate the total pay Amount. MainPay has nothing to do with hours and
pay rate. Those are functions of GrossPay, or Deductions. Since we have kept
closely-related elements together, we can say that the blocks in MainPay all
have cohesion.
Again, our aim is to create programs that are easy to modify. Programs that are
built out of blocks with high cohesion are likely to be easy to modify since any
modification is probably localized to a few blocks, which reduces the
likelihood of making errors.
Tip:

Try to maximize cohesion: keep closely-related elements together

and only where needed.

What makes modification of a large program so difficult is the problem of

maintaining consistency. Anything you can do during the design step to make
this easier will help.

334

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Deeply Nested Subprograms

Depending on the programming language used, subprograms can be nested many
levels deep. To illustrate deep nests, we show in Figure 7.42 a complete
ChangeMaker program that is drawn with contours and comprises 14
subprograms.
Figure 7.42 Contour diagram for ChangeMaker
ChangeMaker
Instruct
Output Change
Make Change
SpellOut
Divide

Enter Amounts
InCost

InTend

EnterPos

Convert

Plural

CountOut
Size

CheckProper

Some parts of
ChangeMaker
have already
been developed
in pseudocode in
Chapter 4,
Section 4.4.

Notice that this contour diagram is lacking some essential things:

The local variable boxes have not been drawn in.
The parameters (passed in or out) have not been drawn in either.
The main program, ChangeMaker, calls four subprograms: Instruct,
Make Change, Enter Amounts and Output Change.
The first subprogram, Instruct, asks if the user wishes instructions. If
so, the subprogram produces a printed set of the user instructions.
The second subprogram is Make Change that actually performs the
change making computation. To do this, it calls the subprogram Divide
a number of times.
The third subprogram, Enter Amounts, contains five other subprograms
to help input the various values and validate them. Subprograms
InTend and InCost input and validate the amount tendered and the
cost. Subprogram EnterPos is used to enter only positive values, and
subprogram Convert is used to change the numerical values into
monetary values. Subprogram CheckProper checks that the cost and
the amount tendered are positive and that the cost is less than the
amount tendered.

A more detailed
SpellOut is
shown in Figure
7.30.

The last subprogram, Output Change, contains other output subprograms

and calls them to produce a nicely formatted output. Subprogram
SpellOut spells the count corresponding to the number of coins, and calls
P l u r a l to append the character s to any written plural denomination.
Subprogram CountOut provides a readable output of the number of coins,
and calls Size to determine the number of digits in a number as part of
formatting the output values.

Section 7.4

Bigger, Leaner, and Meaner Programs

335

Dates Example
So far, we have always tried to develop our various algorithms using a topdown approach, and this has usually led to better structured solutions.
However, very often in programming, there is a temptation to create all
algorithms from their smallest building blocks (starting everything from
scratch). We have seen that it is better to create algorithms out of larger
abstract boxes whose exact functions are yet to be defined, and later, when we
are more advanced in the design, we can define these boxes in detail.
In computer applications, dates are a type of data that must often be
manipulated. They usually are made of several parts, like day, month, and
year. In the next example we will concentrate on date processing.
Figure 7.43 Developing the algorithm ElapsedTime
ElapsedTime
InputDate(Date1)
InputDate(Date2)
ElapsedDays(Date1, Date2, Elapsed)
Output Elapsed
End ElapsedTime

InputDate(Date)
Input Month
Input Day
MakeDate(Month, Day, Date)
End InputDate

ElapsedDays(First, Second, Diff)

NumDate(First, Days1)
NumDate(Second, Days2)
Set Diff to Days2 Days1
End ElapsedDays

Our date example will be the creation of the algorithm ElapsedTime, which
determines the number of days between any two given dates in the same year,
such as two birth dates. Figure 7.43 shows the top two levels of the solution
chosen for ElapsedTime. Proceeding top-down, the top-level program first
inputs the two dates, computes the number of elapsed days between them, and
then outputs that value.
Notice that, at the top level, we refer to the two dates as Date1 and Date2,
ignoring the fact that they are made up of two separate values: the month and
the day. This abstraction makes it easier to avoid getting bogged down in
details. At the next level of InputDate, these constituents are recognized since
the Month and the Day are input. However, their combination into a single
data value is left unspecified in a call to MakeDate, which is, as of yet,
undefined.
The elapsed time between the two dates could be determined easily by
ElapsedDays if we knew the date in its Julian form, as the number of days from
the first of the year. The number of elapsed days can then be found by simple
subtraction of the two Julian dates. In the solution shown in Figure 7.43, we
have assumed that a subprogram, NumDate, to compute the number of days from
the start of the year already exists.

336

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Figure 7.44 The subprogram NumDate to find a Julian date

NumDate(Date, Julian)
Set Julian to 0
AccumulateDays(Date, Julian)
Set Julian to Julian + Date.Day

AccumulateDays(Date, Total)
For MonthCount = 1 to Date.Month 1 by 1
Set Total to Total + Days(MonthCount)

The subprogram, NumDate, converts a given Date into the number of days from
January 1, as shown in Pseudocode 7.6. For example, March 15, l984, has a Julian
dateof 75, (31 + 29 + 15). At this point in our development of the ElapsedTime
program, we realize that in order to find the Julian date, we probably need to
know how many days there are in February. For that, we need to know the
year. Therefore, we must go back to our sketch of InputDate and add a
statement to input the year. Notice that ElapsedTime does not have to be
changedthis is an example of the advantages of designing subprograms with
high cohesion.
Since we have only outlined Input Date, little has been changed. Each date
now has three components, Year, Month and Day, instead of only two. This
need to revise earlier subprogram outlines is typical of the program creation
process and is a major reason for proceeding top down. If we had completely
created InputDate, the change would have been much more serious and
frustrating.

7.5

More Types of Subprograms

Recursion

The Solver
algorithm was
first introduced
in Chapter 6,
Section 6.6.

Self-Referencing Subprograms

The problem solving method we introduced in Chapter 2 and used on various

examples is based in part on a divide and conquer approach. A problem is
divided and the smaller, easier-to-solve problems are divided in turn. This
way of doing things can be used to great advantage when developing some
algorithms.
For example, if an algorithm, Solver, is developed to solve a specific problem,
in some cases it is possible to apply that same algorithm to a smaller version of
the same problem; this is called recursion. By repeatedly dividing the problem
in this manner we eventually reach the smallest case, called the base case,
which is so simple that it can easily be solved.
In essence, the pattern of a recursive solution for Solver is illustrated in
Pseudocode 7.6.

Section 7.5

Pseudocode 7.6

More Types of Subprograms

337

Pseudocode for recursive problem-solving

Solver(problem)
If the problem is a base case
Solve the base case directly
Else
Split the problem into subproblems
For each subproblem
Solver(subproblem)
End Solver

Thus, recursion is a process where a subprogram will call itself. Such a selfreferring process may seem unusual at first, but many data structures and
algorithms are more naturally described recursively. In this section, we only
introduce the idea of recursion. It will be dealt with in greater depth in
Chapter 8.
Recursion in its simplest form could be viewed as an alternative to the iterative
form. To illustrate this, lets take as an example the computation of the square
of an integer. We saw in Chapter 6 that the square of integer Num can be
computed by summing the first Num odd integers. A subprogram that calculates
the Square of a number this way is shown in Pseudocode 7.7 where we find an
iterative version and a recursive version.
Pseudocode 7.7
See Pseudocode
6.10 for more
details on
computing the
square of an
integer.

Iterative and Recursive Square subprograms

Iterative Version
Iterative Square(Num, Square)
Set Square to 0
For Count going from 1 to Num by 1
Set Square to Square + 2 Count 1
End Iterative Square
Recursive Version
Recursive Square(Num, Square)
If Num = 1
Set Square to 1
Else
Recursive Square(Num - 1, Square)
Set Square to Square + 2 Num 1
End Recursive Square
Recursive Square calls itself.

Point of return

To understand how subprogram Recursive Square works, we will trace its

execution with a value of 3 for Num. The trace takes the form of a subprogram
invoking itself twice, as shown in Figure 7.45.

338

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Figure 7.45 Trace of Recursive Square for Num = 3

If 3 = 1
Else
RecursiveSquare(2, Square)

Stepping
down a level

If 2 = 1
Else
RecursiveSquare(1, Square)
stepping down
another level

If 1 = 1
Set Square to 1
Set Square to 1 + (2 2 - 1) = 4
Set Square to 4 + (2 3 - 1) = 9

lowest level
stepping back
up one level
stepping back up
another level

Each call of the subprogram yields a contour, resembling levels on a map (stairtrace). On entry to a subprogram, we step down a level, and then on exit we step
up again. It is important to have a lowest level, a stopping point (or a base
case, such as Num = 1), otherwise, the algorithm would be bottomless or
unending. This lowest level is shown shaded on Figure 7.45.
See Section 7.3
for more details
on returning
control to the
caller.

At this time, you do not need to know by which mechanism recursion is

performed. It is only necessary to know that after a recursive call, like after
any subprogram call (and subsequent detour), the control must return to the
caller.
Remember in Figure 7.15 that the first action done when Divide was invoked
was: The point of return is noted. In our case, this means that after each
recursive call, the assignment of a new value to Square is performed, as shown
in Figure 7.45. In Chapter 8, we will take a look at the actual mechanism for
recursive calls.

Functions
See Figure 5.42
for more details
on Convert
Seconds.

There is another kind of subprogram that is useful in some circumstances: the

function. When we first introduced subprograms in Chapter 5, we gave the
example of a program, Convert Seconds for converting a number of seconds into
days, hours, minutes and seconds.
Instead of using the Divide subprogram, which calculates both the quotient and
remainder, we used the following two subprograms:
Div, which found the quotient, and
Mod, which found the remainder.
The Convert Seconds algorithm is shown in Pseudocode 7.9.

Section 7.5

Pseudocode 7.8

More Types of Subprograms

339

The Convert Seconds program

Convert Seconds
Input Time
Set Days to Div(Time, 60 60 24)
Output Days
Set Seconds to Mod(Time, 60 60 24)
Set Hours to Div(Seconds, 60 60)
Output Hours
Set Seconds to Mod(Seconds, 60 60)
Set Minutes to Div(Seconds, 60)
Output Minutes
Set Seconds to Mod(Seconds, 60)
Output Seconds
End Convert Seconds

Div and Mod are very much like the subprograms we have been using in this
chapter, with one important difference. In all our examples in this chapter, we
have had subprogram invocations of the form:
Divide(Time, 60 60 24, Days, Seconds)
where the third argument, Days, is used to return the quotient. In Convert
Seconds we use Div very much like a mathematics function, like, for example
the trigonometric function Sine. For this reason, the two subprograms Div and
Mod are known a functions.
The major difference between subprograms and functions is that functions,
rather than having an argument to return the result of their computation,
actually produce the value in a form which can be used directly. This is very
convenient in situations where the subprogram has only a single value to return.
This would obviously not work with the Divide subprogram since it returns two
results, the quotient and the remainder. The pseudocode for the Mod function is
shown in Pseudocode 7.10.
Pseudocode 7.9

The Mod function

Mod(Num, Den) function

Set Rem to Num
While Rem Den
Set Rem to Rem Den
Return Rem
End Mod

There are two things to notice here:

The header finishes with the word function, and
The last statement is Return Rem, which sends the result back to the
caller.
There is an important distinction between a math function and a subprogram
function. A math function only does one thing: it produces a single value for
each invocation. On the other hand, a subprogram function may have other
effects as well as producing a value. For example, a subprogram function could
alter the value of a global variable or cause values to be written on an output
device. Such effects, called side effects, make a program that uses such
functions much more difficult to understand and to change. Therefore, side
effects should always be avoided in programming.

340

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Modules
Modules are black boxes. Think of them as walls that surround a part of a
program. These walls enclose (or hide) data, and clearly separate the inside of
the module from the outside. Communication between the inside and the
outside is totally under the control of the programmer.
The major use of modules is to provide a method for breaking up a large program
into semi-independent pieces related by well-defined and simple interfaces.
The resulting modular structure is easier to document, analyze, modify and
maintain. It is also less prone to errors.
An important use of modules is for the creation of libraries of related
subprograms. In most systems, there are typical libraries of mathematical
functions, input/output operations, and others. Libraries can be viewed as
building blocks to be used without knowing the details within them. These
library modules can also make use of other modules.
Generally, the information that is provided to the programmer is a brief
description of what the module does, not how it does it. Programmers do not
need to know how the library module performs its function in order to be able to
use it. We have come back full circle to the idea introduced in Chapters 2 and 3,
that of structuring a solution with black boxes.

Section 7.6

7.6

Review

Review: Top Ten Things to Remember

341

Top Ten Things to Remember

1.

Many of the concepts on program structureand block structurehave been

introduced and used earlier. At this stage, we are able to understand
them more fully, and to use them more creatively. In particular, the
concepts of sharing and hiding information are now extremely
significant.

2.

The hiding and sharing of datacan be achieved in a number of ways,

that have been described and compared. Local variables are useful for
hiding data, but global variables are dangerous for sharing. Sharing is
better done by using parameters that are used to communicate data
between the subprogram and either the main program or another
subprogram.

3.

During a subprogram invocation, we learned that a link is established

between its calls arguments and the subprograms parameters. This
link is used to transmit data. In previous chapters, when we considered
sub-algorithms and subprograms, we concentrated on the flow of data
and flow of control. Now we need to be more complete by concentrating
on the space occupied by the data and on how the data values are
communicated from one space to another. Data space diagrams are
useful for illustrating these concerns.

4.

Parameter passingbetween program and subprograms, or between

subprograms, is done in two manners: by value, one-way communication
from calling program to invoked subprogram, and by reference, two-way
communication.

5.

Passing a parameter by value copies the arguments value into a

subprogram parameter which appears as a local variable. This value
is used in the subprogram but is not changed by the subprogram.

6.

Passing a parameter by reference gives the subprogram access to the

variable argument within the calling program. The value of this
variable is changed by the subprogram and any previous value of the
argument is destroyed. This previous value of the argument may or may
not be used by the subprogram, depending on the subprograms interface
specification.

7.

Three rules must be followed when using variables in subprograms:

Rule 1: A (sub)program cannot access the local variables of any
subprograms nested within it.
Rule 2: A (sub)program can access a variable that is local to itself.
Rule 3: If a variable does not appear in a subprogram, a search is
made in the enclosing subprograms. This search is continued until
either the variable is found, or the main program is reached. If the
variable is not found in any of these nests, then the variable is
undefined and there is an error in the program.

8.

A programs blocks should always be loosely-coupled. This means that

their interactions are through parametersTightlycoupledblocks,which interact through global and local variables, are
more complex and difficult to understand and maintain.

9.

As an alternative control mechanism, recursionis often useful as it

simplifies the programming effort. Recursive subprograms were
introduced here, and will be used in the coming chapters.

342

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

10.

The concept of module introduced yet another method of structuring a

computer solution, that makes it possible to organize better the various
parts of a solution, and to help control coupling and cohesion. Modules
can be used to create program libraries which make it possible to re-use
programming components.

Section 7.7

7.7

Glossary

343

Glossary
Alias: An identifier that refers to a
variable that is also known by
another name. For example, the
name of a parameter that is passed
by reference; since it refers to a
variable in the calling program, it is
an alias for that variable.
Argument: A variable, expression or
constant that is passed to a
subprogram in the invocation
statement.
Base case: The special case in a
recursive subprogram that causes the
recursion to terminate.
Binding: The association of a name
with a data value.
Block structure: The hierarchical
arrangement of the subprograms that
comprise a program.
Cohesion: The quality of a program
that refers to the degree that all
statements in the subprogram are
concerned with the same objective.
Coupling: The quality of a program
that refers to the degree of
interconnection of the constituent
subprograms.
Function: A subprogram that returns a
single data value through the
execution of a return statement.
Global data: Data that are known
throughout the program.
Julian date: The ordinal of the given
data in the year.
Loosely coupled: A program in which
all the subprograms have the
minimum number of interconnections.
Parameter: A name that is local to a
subprogram and is used to refer to the
arguments in the subprograms
invocation.

Pass by reference: A method of

parameter passing whereby the
parameter is the alias of the
corresponding argument.
Pass by value: A method of
parameter passing whereby the
parameter is a local variable that is
assigned the value of the
corresponding argument.
Recursion: A situation in which a
single subprogram invokes itself.
Scope: The part of a program where a
particular identifier is known.
Side effect: A change in the value of
a variable that does not appear in
the argument list of a subprogram
invocation.
Strength: Synonym for cohesion.
Subprogram: A program that can be
called by an invocation statement.

344

Chapter 7

7.8

Problems

Better Blocks

1.

Divide Again
Create an algorithm to Divide using a subprogram which multiplies. It
may not be efficient, but it shows another way of doing something.

2.

Trace Subs
Draw a data-flow diagram corresponding to the given interconnection
of the subprograms below. Trace this program for A = 0 and B = 1.
Draw a tree showing the calling of subprograms and indicate the order
that the subprograms are called in.
Problem 2
Main
Input A
Input B
N(A, C)
P(C, B, E)

A
B
C
A
B

P(A, B, C)
Set C to A B
End P

Q(A, B, C)

N(B, D)

N(A, D)

P(A, D, F)

N(B, E)

Q(E, F, G)

P(D, E, F)

Output G

N(F, C)

End Main

3.

A
B
C
D
E
F
G

A
B

N(A, B)
Set B to 1 A
End N

D
E
F

End Q

Deep Nests
Given the nested blocks shown in the following diagram, indicate
which blocks may be called by each block. If a variable X is declared
in E only, which blocks can access it? If a variable Y is declared in B, D
and F, but is referenced in all of the modules, which variables (if any)
are accessed or seen in each module?
Problem 3
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Section 7.8

Problems

345

Problems on Subprograms
4.

Divide-And-Conquer
Use the previously defined Divide subprogram to:
a. convert pints to gallons, quarts and pints.
b. convert a decimal number to binary.
c.

determine whether a year is a leap year.

d. convert 24-hour (military) time to civil time, indicating AM or PM.

5.

Data of Easter
The algorithm to determine the data of Easter for any given year could
involve a number of Div and Mod actions. Create a subprogram to
determine the data of Easter according to the following algorithm for
an input parameter Y, whose value is the year:

6.

1.

The golden number, G is (Y Mod 19) + 1.

2.

The century number C is (Y Div 100) + 1.

3.

The number of years X in which leap year was dropped, e.g., 1900,
so as to keep in step with the sun is (3C Div 4) - 12

4.

A correction Z to synchronize Easter with the moons orbit is (8C + 5)

Div 25.

5.

If D = (5Y Div 4) - X - 10 then March ((-D) Mod 7) is a Sundayif (D) Mod 7 = 0 then March 7 is a Sunday.

6.

The Epact E specifies when a full moon occurs. E = (11G + 20 + Z X) Mod 30. If E = 25 and G is greater than 11, or if E = 24 then E is
increased by 1.

7.

Easter is on the first Sunday following the first full moon that
occurs on or after March 21. The calendar moon used for finding
Easter is defined as the Nth of March where N = 44 - E. If N < 21
then set N to N + 30.

8.

To advance N to a Sunday, set N = N + 7 - ((D + N) Mod 7.

9.

If N > 31 then the data of Easter is the (N - 31) April; otherwise,

the date is N March.

Double All
What is output by the following program when it passes parameters by
reference?
Problem 6
Main Program
Set X to 2
Double(X, X, X)
Output X
Double(A, B, C)
Set A to A + A
Set B to B + B
Set C to C + C

346

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

7.

Dates
Use some of the previous algorithms (Leap, Days) and create:
a. Valid, an algorithm to test whether a given date Year, Month, Day
is a valid date.
b. UnDate, an algorithm to convert a Julian date Julian,Year back into
the Gregorian form Day, Month, Year.
c.

DaysLived, an algorithm to determine the number of days a person

has lived, from the birth date to the present date.

d. Age, an algorithm to determine the (integer) age of a person.

8.

e.

WeekDate, an algorithm to determine the weekday a given date

falls on, when given that the first day of the year falls on the Wth
day (where W = 0 for Sunday, W = 1 for Monday, and W = 6 for
Saturday).

f.

FirstDate, an algorithm to determine the weekday of New Years

Day, given the year Y. Use the fact that January 1, 1901 was a
Tuesday (W = 2). Notice that a year of 365 days has exactly 52
weeks plus one day (i.e. 52 7 = 364).

Bind Dates
Create a binding table and contour diagram for any of the above Dates
programs.

9.

Range
Create an algorithm that reads in three values A, B, C and outputs the
range R, which is the difference between the largest and smallest
values. This must be done using the following subprograms. Provide the
maximum hiding of variables and subs possible.
The main program Range is to call a subprogram
B i g S m a l l 3 ( I , J , K , L , S ) , which finds the largest L and smallest S
of the parameters I , J , K. This subprogram in turn calls two functions
B i g ( P , Q , R ) and S m a l l ( P , Q , R ) , each of which must call a
subprogram Sort2(G, H), which takes G and H, and arranges them so
that G is largest and H is smallest.

Problems on Passing Parameters

10.

Divide Again
For the previously defined Divide subprogram and the following Main
Program,

Section 7.8

Problems

347

Problem 10
Main Program
Set A to 1
Set B to 2
Set C to 3
Set D to 4
Divide(
Output A
Output B
Output C
Output D

indicate the output of the following subprogram calls:

a. Divide(D, C, B, A)

e. Divide(A, B 2, C, D)

b. Divide(A, B, A, B)

f. Divide(0, 1, 2, 3)

c. Divide(A, A, B, B)

g. Divide(0, 1, B, B)

d. Divide(B C, A D, A, D)

11.

Non-Divide Passing
Indicate the output of the following program if the input values are 1,
2, 3 in that order.
Problem 11
A
B
C

Main Program
Input A
Input B
Input C
Sub(A, B)
Output A
Output B
Output C
End Main Program

Sub(D, C)
Set B to C + D
Set D to B + C
Set C to B + A
Set A to A + C
End Sub
C

Indicate the output if the subprogram call (in the main program) were changed
in each of the following ways:
(Note: The input values are still 1,2,3 in that order. Hint: Use the contour
diagram!)
a. SUB(A, C) (Answer: 6, 2, 5)

d. SUB(B, C)

b. SUB(B, A) (Answer: 8, 2, 3)

e. SUB(C, A)

c. SUB(C, B) (Answer: 7, 6, 3)

f. SUB(B, B)

Problems Involving Recursion

12.

Recursive Power
Create a recursive subprogram to compute the Nth (positive) power of
X.

348

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

13.

Rem (or Mod)

Create a recursive program for Rem(A, B), which computes the
remainder after A divides B (use successive subtraction).

14.

Roll Your Own

Create a recursive program to compute something you are familiar with
(another square, number conversion, craps rules).

Section 7.8

Problems

349

350

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Section 7.8

Problems

351

352

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Section 7.8

Problems

353

354

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Section 7.8

Problems

355

356

Chapter 7

Better Blocks

Chapter Outline

357

Chapter 8 Data Structures

In this chapter we introduce the basic data structures that are found in most
programming languages. This chapter also introduces dynamic variables as
well as the concept of abstract data types.

Chapter Outline
8.1
8.2

8.3

8.4

8.5

8.6

8.7
8.8
8.9

Preview....................................................................358
Arrays......................................................................358
What are Data Structures Anyway?..........................358
One-Dimensional Arrays...........................................360
Performing Operations on One-Dimensional Arrays....361
Using One-Dimensional Arrays in Algorithms...........364
Two-Dimensional Arrays..........................................367
Performing Operations on Two-Dimensional Arrays...370
Matrix Multiplication...............................................373
N-Dimensional Arrays..............................................375
Records.....................................................................377
What are Records?....................................................377
Accessing Record Components the Dot Notation........380
Combining Arrays and Records...................................382
Sets..........................................................................384
What are Sets?.........................................................384
A Difficult Sets Example (optional)..........................386
Data Structure Building Tools....................................392
Dynamic Variables...................................................392
Pointers....................................................................392
Abstract Data Types.................................................397
Strings......................................................................399
Stacks.......................................................................401
Queues......................................................................405
Trees.........................................................................407
Review Top Ten Things to Remember........................408
Glossary...................................................................409
Problems...................................................................410

358
8.1

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Preview
In this chapter, we consider the following three basic data structures. These
data structures are created by grouping together smaller items to form larger
items. These three data structures in turn are used to create larger ones in the
next chapter.
Arrays(also called vectors, tables, matrices, n-dimensional lists, and
subscripted variables) are homogeneousgroupings of items all items
are of the same kind. The items within the arrays are accessed by way
of indices. Tables, or arrays having two indices, are common, and will
be considered here. Arrays of three and more indices are less common, so
they will be considered only briefly.
Recordsare very important data structures. They differ from arrays in
that they are groupings of possibly heterogeneouselements (items of
different kinds), whereas arrays are groupings of homogeneous
elements. Also, values are not accessed by using indices, but by using
names for the elements and a dot notation.
Setsare homogeneous collections of distinct elements where the only
relation between elements is that they are either in a set or not in it.
Sets are very useful in a number of applications.
Although arrays, records and sets are very useful in many applications, they
all have one major restriction: their size is static or set at some fixed maximum
value. Because of this, they cannot represent data whose detailed structure or
size are unknown when the program is written. Data structures to represent such
unknown data can be built during program execution through dynamic
variables and pointers. An example with linear lists of undefined length is
used to show how these dynamic variables and pointers can be used.
The chapter also introduces the concept of an abstract data type, which is
defined through its values and operations. Other data structures important in
computer science, like linear lists and trees, are also briefly introduced.

8.2

Arrays
What are Data Structures Anyway?
A data structure is a collection of related items organized in a certain fashion.
It enables us to consider all of the related items as one entity. For example, a
data structure could consist of apples, bananas, and oranges. Notice that these
three items are related and organized alphabetically. They could have been
organized some other way. The important thing to remember is that, because
we are talking about a data structure, we can refer to the whole of these items,
in our case, fruit. Arrays
Data structures range from simple (like the fruit above) to very complex. They
can be viewed in many ways, as shown below.

Section 8.2

Figure 8.1

Arrays

359

Parts of a chair
Parts of Chair
Leg: 2 per chair
Seat: 1 per chair
Rung: 3 per chair
Back: 1 per chair
Attributes of Parts
Price
Quantity
ReOrdered
Status
Size
Etc.

Lets use a chair as an example. A chair may be viewed physically as a

collection of parts. The simple chair drawn in Figure 8.1 has some legs, some
rungs, a seat and a back. If we were manufacturing this chair, we would be also
interested in knowing some more of their attributes, like how much does each
piece cost, how many pieces are available, and how big are the pieces. If you
look at the list of attributes in Figure 8.1, you will notice that each attribute
may be expressed differently from the next. Price can be expressed in dollars,
quantity in numbers, reordered with a yes or a no, etc.
Lets look at the attributes of one part: the seat of the chair, in Figure 8.2.
Figure 8.2

Chairs inventory
Seat
Record

Price

$ 2.50

Quantity

100

Reorder

yes

Status

Table
list of attributes
for each part of
the chair

list of attributes
for the seat of
the chair

Part

Price

Quantity Reorder

Status

Leg
Seat

$ 1.12
$ 2.50

200
100

no
yes

A
C

rung
Back

$ 0.75
$ 3.00

400
300

no
no

B
A

We can make a list of attributes for each part of the chair, as in the lower part
of Figure 8.2. Here, the parts are listed vertically in the left column. The
various attributes (Price, Quantity, etc.) are shown as columns. Each part
corresponds to a row. This representation is called a table. Each row of this
table corresponding to a part is called a record. Each column corresponding to an
attribute is called a f i e l d . In our example, Seat is a record and Quantity is a
field.
Now that you have seen what data structures are, you are ready to discover the
different kinds of data structures used in computer science. In this chapter,
three basic types of data structures are introduced: arrays, records, and sets.

One-Dimensional Arrays
The first type of data structure introduced is an array. An array is a
homogeneouscollection of componentsall the components are of the same kind.
The simplest arrays are linear: they have only one dimension and are called
vectors, n-tuples, single subscripted variables, or more simply, one-dimensional
arrays. An example of such a one-dimensional array is shown in Figure 8.3.

360

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.3

A one-dimensional Time array

name of
array

values in
array

index

Time
12:24

8:55
15:12

2
3

22:30
10:28

4
5

3:45
11:00

6
7

This Time array could represent various times (using the 24-hour
representation) at which a given event will happen over a weeka period of
seven days. An array is also sometimes called an indexed variable, for the
following two reasons:
(i)

Like a variable, it can contain values, and

(ii)

To access a value, it is necessary to use an index.

You may have seen indices used in mathematics in the form of subscripts like
this:
Time 1, Time 2, Time 3, Time 4, Time 5, Time 6, Time 7
In most programming languages the index is written within square brackets as:
Time[1], Time[2], Time[3], Time[4], Time[5], Time[6],
Time[7]
In Figure 8.3, Time [1] refers to 12:24. Generally, the names chosen for indices
can be meaningful in the context of the application being programmed. For
example, we could replace Time [1] by Time[Monday].
Figure 8.4 illustrates another one-dimensional array, giving the body
temperature of a patient, recorded every hour of the day. Temperature[3]
represents the temperature recorded at Hour 3.
Figure 8.4

Temperature vector

Hour
1

Temperature
98.6

2
3

100.0
101.1

23

99.0

24

99.6

Figure 8.5 shows yet another example of a one-dimensional array; this one
stores the grades of all the students in a class. Grades[StudentID] represents
the grade earned by the student whose ID is given by the value of StudentID.
Figure 8.5

One-dimensional Grades array

Student ID
1

Grades
A

2
3

C
B

34

35

Section 8.2

Arrays

361

The one-dimensional array Story in Figure 8.6 shows a long sequence of

characters, one in each position from 1 to 10000. Such long arrays of characters
are often called strings.
Figure 8.6

Story vector

Position
1

Story
O

2
3

n
c
e

4
5
6

9998
9999

n
d

10000

Performing Operations on One-Dimensional Arrays

We have seen that the individual components of an array can be selected by
giving the name of the array followed by an index within square brackets:
ArrayName[IndexWanted]
For example, lets say we had an array called Vector. If Position is a variable,
we can store a Value into the array Vector at the position indicated by the
value of Position, using the following assignment:
Pseudocode 8.1

Storing a value in the Vector array

Set Vector[Position] to Value

value to be stored
where to store value

Similarly, we can retrieve a value from position Position of array Vector and
assign it to variable Value by:
Pseudocode 8.2

Retrieving a value from the Vector array

Set Value to Vector[Position]

where to retrieve value
variable to be changed

We can use these indexed variables anywhere a simple variable can be used, as
in the following statement which computes a running average of 3 adjacent
vector components.
Set Average[Index] to (Vector[Index
1]+Vector[Index]+Vector[Index+1])/3
See Chapters 3
and 5 for a
refresher on the
operations
possible for
different data
types.

An array component can be used in all the operations compatible with its type.
In other words, if an array component is of type Integer, then we can apply
Integer operations to it. Above and beyond these operations, we sometimes need
operations on entire arrays. An example of such an operation might be the input
of an entire array. This input can be done in several ways. For example, lets
input seven times into the Time array from Figure 8.3. One way to do this, is to
use seven input statements, one for each index, as illustrated in Pseudocode 8.3.

362

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Pseudocode 8.3

Inputting times into the Time array

Input Array 1
Input Time[1]
Input Time[2]
Input Time[3]
Input Time[4]
Input Time[5]
Input Time[6]
Input Time[7]
End Input Array 1

A more efficient way to do this is to use a loop:

Pseudocode 8.4

Using a loop to input times into the Time array

Input Array 2
For Index = 1 to 7 by 1
Input Time[Index]
End Input Array 2

Such input methods are not general, since we have to know how many entries we
need to make ahead of time.
For more details
on using a
terminating
value, see
Chapter 6,
Figures 6.4 and
6.5.

A more general method is shown below. You do not need to know the number of
entries ahead of time anymore. We accomplish this by using a terminating
value(or end-of-data marker), Sentinel, to detect the end of the entries. Input
Array assigns the input values to consecutive entries of the array, counting the
number of entries made. After the loop terminates, the final value of Count is
assigned to the variable Size, so that now we know how many entries were
made.
Pseudocode 8.5

See Chapter 7 to
brush up on
subprograms.

Subprogram that inputs values into Vector array

Input Array (Vector, Size)

Input Sentinel
Set Count to zero
terminating value
Input Value
While Value Sentinel
Increment Count
Set Vector[Count] to Value
Input Value
Set Size to Count
End Input Array

Obviously this bit of

pseudocode represents a
subprogram which passes
out both the whole array
Vector and the number of
entries, Size.

Clearly this method is more suited to large arrays or arrays whose size varies.
Once the data have been put into the array, the Size is known. We can write
the pseudocode to output this array with one a simple loop:
Pseudocode 8.6

Subprogram that outputs Vector array

Output Array(Vector, Size)

For Index = 1 to Size by 1
Output Vector[Index]
End Output Array

In the rare case where this Size is not known, we would have to make use of a
more complex loop with an end-of-data marker.
Using the Temperature array of Figure 8.4, lets develop an algorithm to find
the maximum temperature in the day by inspecting the values stored in the
vector. This algorithm must also indicate the position (Hour) of the first

Section 8.2

Arrays

363

maximum value encountered (since there could be several). We want to develop

the algorithm in a top-down manner so we first define a rough outline.
Pseudocode 8.7
Note that
TableSize
should be equal
to 24, the size of
the array shown
in Figure 8.4.

Algorithm to find maximum temperature

Find Maximum Temperature

Input Array(Temperature, TableSize)
Set Maximum and Hour to initial values
Find Maximum Temperature
Output Maximum and Hour
End Find Maximum Temperature

Here we use the Input Array

subprogram already written.

This outline can now be refined to the final solution. The first value of the
array is taken as the temporary Maximum. One by one, the other values are
compared to the Maximum and the first largest value encountered is kept.
Pseudocode 8.8

Final refined version of Pseudocode 8.7

Find Maximum Temperature

Input Array(Temperature, TableSize)
Set Maximum to Temperature[1]
Set Hour to 1
For Index = 2 to TableSize by 1
Set Value to Temperature[Index]
If Maximum < Value
Set Maximum to Value
Set Hour to Index
Output Maximum, Hour
End Find Maximum Temperature

Using One-Dimensional Arrays in Algorithms

The change making algorithm seen earlier in Chapters 4 and 7 can also be
implemented very conveniently with an array. The previous Make Change
pseudocode from Chapter 4 involved many repetitions, with four similar loops.
It is repeated below and has been renamed Change Maker 1.
Pseudocode 8.9

Change Maker algorithm from Chapter 4

Change Maker 1
Input Tendered
Input Cost
Set Change to Tendered - Cost
While Change 25
Output a quarter
Decrement Change by 25
While Change 10
Output a dime
Decrement Change by 10
While Change 5
Output a nickel
Decrement Change by 5
While Change 1
Output a penny
Decrement Change by 1
End Change Maker 1

In Chapter 7, Figure 7.23, repetition was avoided by using the subprogram

Divide. Here, we will avoid the sequence of Repetitions in another waywith
an array (Pseudocode 8.10).

364

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Pseudocode 8.10

Change Maker algorithm using Coins array

Change Maker 2
Input Tendered
Input Cost
Set Change to Tendered Cost
Set Coins[1] to 25
Set Coins[2] to 10
Set Coins[3] to 5
Set Coins[4] to 1
For Index = 1 to 4 by 1
Set Value to Coins[Index]
While Change Value
Output Value
Decrement Change by Value
End Change Maker 2

replaces sequence
of While loops

The new Change Maker 2 algorithm, outlined above, uses an array, Coins,
which contains the denominations 25, 10, 5 and 1 in order. As the for loops
counter, Index, goes from 1 to 4, the variable Value is assigned the
corresponding array values (first 25, then 10, 5, and 1), and the change
corresponding to this Value is computed and output.
Actually the output of Change Maker 2 is not exactly the same as the output of
Change Maker 1. Change Maker 1 outputs quarters, dimes, nickels and
pennies, while Change Maker 2 will output numerical values. It is not
difficult to modify this second version so that its output is identical to the
output of the first version. We will let you do it.
Change Maker 2 is not only shorter than the previous versions of Change
Maker, but most important, it can be modified more easily. Extending it to
apply to more denominations (such as 5 dollar bills, 10 dollar bills, 20 dollar
bills, and even 2 dollar bills) requires only a slight change in the array values
(as well as the size of the Coins array). This algorithm could also be easily
modified to make change in any foreign currency.
Another very common use of arrays is to store numerical data so that the values
are available for repeated access. For example, Figure 8.7 shows the
computation of the variance of a set of numbers.
Figure 8.7

Variance

a first approach

Array to input
Mean
I
1

A[I]
30

2
3

20
40

10

Input Array (A, N)

Set Sum to 0
For I = 1 to N by 1
Set Sum to Sum + A[I]
Set Mean to Sum / N
Set Total to 0
For J = 1 to N by 1
Set Total to Total
+ (A[J] Mean)2
Set Variance to Total / N

= (A[1] + A[2] + A[3] + ... + A[N]) / N

= (30 + 20 + 40 + 10) / 4
= 100 / 4
= 25

Variance = ((A[1] - Mean)2 + (A[2] - Mean)2 + ... + (A[N] - Mean)2 ) / N

= ((30 - 25) 2 + (20 - 25)2 + (40 - 25)2 + (10 - 25)2 ) / 4
= (25 + 25 + 225 + 225) / 4
= 125

N=4
Sum = 0
14
T
Sum = 30

24 34 44
T
T
T
50
90
100

54
F
Mean = 25
Total = 0
14
T
Total = 25

2 4 34 4 4
T
T
T
50

275

54
F

500
Variance = 125

Section 8.2

Arrays

365

The algorithm of Figure 8.7 requires the calculation of the mean of the numbers
before it can compute their variance. This forces it to make two passes over
the array components, first to compute the mean and then to compute the
variance.
There is another method for computing the variance. This method, shown in
Figure 8.8, does not need to compute the mean first, so only one pass over the
array components is necessary. It is always useful to approach a problem two
different ways, as we have done here. Doing so can help us choose more
efficient solutions like the one in Figure 8.8.
Figure 8.8

Variance

another way

Variance = (A[1]2 + A[2]2 + A[3]2 + A[4]2 ) / N - Mean2

= (900 + 400 + 1600 + 100) / 4 - 252
= 3000 / 4 - 625
= 125

Note how short

this second way
is compared to
Figure 8.7.

Input Array (A, N)

Set Sum to 0
Set Total to 0

N=4
Sum = 0
Total = 0
14
T

For K = 1 to N by 1
Set Sum to Sum + A[K]
Set Total to Total + A[K] 2

24 34 44
T
T
T

54
F

Sum = 30
50
90
100
Total = 900 1300 2900 3000

Set Mean to Sum / N

Set Variance to Total / N Mean2

Mean = 25
Variance = 125

Two-Dimensional Arrays
Two-dimensional arraysare also called tables, or matrices. A table may be
viewed as a vector whose components are themselves vectors. As is the case for
the one-dimensional arrays, all values in a two-dimensional array must be of
the same kind, since arrays are homogeneous.
Figure 8.9 shows a general two-dimensional array A with M rows and N columns
but no values inside of them. The value of a component is found by using two
indices, one to identify the row (first dimension) and the other to identify the
column (second dimension). The element A[I, J] is found by moving
horizontally along row I and vertically down column J until the row and the
column meet: the value of the element is at the intersection.
Figure 8.9

A general array
array name

Matrix
A[I, J]

J
I

1 2
1
2
3

row indices

4
5

3 4

column indices
N
A[2, 3]
A[3, 2]
A[4, 4]
A[M, N]

This element is
found by looking
at the intersection
of row 2 and
column 3.

366

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.10 shows a more specific table which, this time, contains actual Integer
values. This table represents the grades 4 different people received on 3
different quizzes. The grade of person P on quiz Q is denoted Grades[P, Q]. In
this example, person 2 made a grade of 80% on quiz 3. This value of Grades[2,
3] is not to be confused with Grades[3, 2], which is the grade of person 3 on
exam 2 (of 100%). The order of the indices is important! This small table has
only four rows and three columns, but could be expanded easily to accommodate
more people or more quizzes.
Figure 8.10 A 4
Q
P

3 array for Grades

Grades[P, Q]
1

40

60

80

70

30

80

100

100

100

80

60

40

N=3

Grades[2, 3]

Grades[3, 2]

M=4

We could represent a variety of games, such as chess, checkers, or Tic-Tac-Toe

using tables. A representation of Tic-Tac-Toe is shown on the left-hand side of
Figure 8.11. Each table entry (i.e. Tic-Tac-Toe[Row,Column]) can have one
of three character values: an X, an O or a blank .
Figure 8.11 Two-dimensional tables
Tic-Tac-Toe[Row, Column]

Charge[Adults, Kids]

Column
Row

1
1
2
3

See Figure 3.1 in

Chapter 3 for
the Charge
algorithm.

Kids
2
X

Adults
1
2
3

0
1
2
3
3.00 5.00 7.00 9.00
6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00
9.00 11.00 13.00 15.00

Another example of a two-dimensional array is the table of admission charges

Charge Table for different combinations of Adults and Kids, also shown in
Figure 8.11. There are two important things to notice in this table.
(i)
(ii)

The column indices begin from 0, instead of 1; and

The row and column indices are more than simple reference points: they
represent the actual number of adults and kids necessary for the
corresponding charge.

Notice that the values within each of our example arrays are all of the same
kind: the grades are all percentages, the game positions are all characters, the
admission charges are all money values.
We saw in the last section how to scan values into a one-dimensional array.
Lets look at how it is done for a two-dimensional one. The following algorithm
shows how the items of Figure 8.12 can be scanned row by row.

Section 8.2

Arrays

367

Figure 8.12 Scanning an array row by row

Table [First Index, Second Index]
Col.
Row

10

11

12

Row Traversal
For First Index = 1 to 4 by 1
For Second Index = 1 to 3 by 1
Output Table[First Index, Second Index]
End Row Traversal

The algorithm loops through the table elements in the order shown by the
arrows: Table[1, 1], Table[1, 2], Table[1, 3], Table[2, 1], and so on, row
by row. Lets take a look at the trace of the indices of Row Traversal:
Figure 8.13 Trace of indices from Figure 8.12
First Index = 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4
Second Index = 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

Notice how the First Index

changes more slowly than
the Second Index.

We could just as easily have scanned the table column by column. Try it out.
The following Input Matrix algorithm inputs a sequence of values into a
matrix, row by row.
Pseudocode 8.11

The Input Matrix algorithm

Note that we need to know the number
of rows and columns at the beginning.
This might pose a problem if we use
large tables. It's always better to use
terminating values (as we did for
inputing vectors) whenever possible.

Input Matrix
Input Rows
Input Columns
For First Index = 1 to Rows by 1
For Second Index = 1 to Columns by 1
Input Value
Set Table[First Index, Second Index] to Value
End Input Matrix

A two-dimensional array can also simply be an extension of a one-dimensional

array. For example, lets extend the Temperature array of Figure 8.4 by
keeping the hourly temperatures for a full week (or 7 days) instead of only for
one day. To do this, we need the equivalent of 7 vectors. Figure 8.14 shows the
resulting matrix.

368

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.14 A week of Temperatures

Temperatures [Hour, Day]

Each number corresponds to

a day of the week. Here Day
7 could refer to Sunday.

Day
1
2
3

1
98.6
100.0
100.1

23
24

99.0
98.6

Hour

Original vector

Performing Operations on Two-Dimensional Arrays

We have already seen in this section how to perform operations on onedimensional arrays. Lets look at what happens when you add a dimension to
the array.
We will start with a calculation involving the Temperatures Table we recently
constructed (see Figure 8.14). We can use the data entered in this table to
calculate a number of things. For example, we could find the average
temperature of a patient over the week, by summing all of the temperatures in
the array and dividing this Sum by the total hours (7 24), as shown in the
following algorithm (Pseudocode 8.12).
Pseudocode 8.12

Algorithm to find the average of Temperatures

Weekly Average
Set Sum to 0
For Day = 1 to 7 by 1
For Hour = 1 to 24 by 1
Set Sum to Sum + Temperatures[Hour, Day]
Set Average to Sum / (24 7)
End Weekly Average

Here we sum
the hours one
day at a time.

Using the Grades array of Figure 8.10, which gives the grades various students
got on quizzes, we can also perform various kinds of operations. For example, it
may be of interest to find the average grade for each quiz, the average grade of
each student, the average weighted grade, or the average grades when the
poorest values are dropped or forgiven.

Section 8.2

Arrays

369

Figure 8.15 Average of columns

Grades

2 different
arrays

Averages

40

60

80

70

30

80

100

100

100

80

60

40

72.5

62.5

75.0

Lets start by developing an Average Quiz algorithm to compute the average

grade for each quiz. We will begin with a rough outline of the steps involved.
Pseudocode 8.13

Rough outline of Average Quiz Algorithm

Average Quiz
For all columns
Set Sum to zero
Sum Grade in column
Set Average[Column] to (Sum/Number)
End Average Quiz
Averages are stored in another array.

This first draft consists of a For loop that selects a column, and for this column,
accumulates the sum of all the grades before computing the column average.
Lets refine this algorithm by defining how the accumulation of the grades is
done.
Pseudocode 8.14

Refined version of Average Quiz Algorithm

Average Quiz
For Column = 1 to 3 by 1
Set Sum to zero
For Row = 1 to 4 by 1
Increment Sum by Grades[Row, Column]
Set Average[Column] to Sum / 4
End Average Quiz

Summing each
column, to find
its average.

The resulting averages are shown at the bottom of Figure 8.15.

Going a little further, lets compute the final grade from the existing grades by
computing a weighted average. Each quiz has a weight associated with it, as
shown at the top of Figure 8.16 in the array Weights. This means that the first
grade must be multiplied by 0.2 (i.e. it is worth 20% of the final mark), the
second by 0.3, and the third by 0.5. For instance, the final grade of the first
person (first row) is computed as:
Final Grade = 0.2 40 + 0.3 60 + 0.5 80 = 66

370

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.16 The weighted average of rows

Weights

0.2

0.3

0.5

Final Grades

40

60

80

66

70

30

80

63

100

100

100

100

80

60

40

54

initial arrays
Grades P Q

resulting array

We could develop in a top-down manner an algorithm to do this. However, this

is so similar to the previous algorithm that we can simply modify it slightly,
as shown below (Pseudocode 8.15). The resulting final grades are shown at the
right of Figure 8.16.
Pseudocode 8.15

Weighted Averages Algorithm

Weighted Averages
For Row = 1 to 4 by 1
Here we sum by row,
instead of by column.
Set Sum to zero
For Column = 1 to 3 by 1
Increment Sum by Grades[Row, Column] Weights[Column]
Set Final Grades[Row] to Sum
End Weighted Averages

Now that we have seen how to add and multiply parts of arrays, lets look at
how to add and multiply w h o l e arrays together. Adding arrays together is
simple: all you have to do is add each pair of corresponding values together
and place the result in the corresponding spot.
For example, in Figure 8.17, we have added the 2 tables A[I,J] and B[I,J]
together to produce C[I,J]. If you look at the shading, the 1 in position [1,1] is
added to the 5 in position [1,1] to produce a 6 in position [1,1].
Figure 8.17 Array addition
Array Addition
A[I, J]
The 3 shaded
values are all in
the same [1,1]
position.

B[I, J]
5

+
3

C[I, J]
6

10

12

=
7

The algorithm to accomplish this addition is simple and is shown in

Pseudocode 8.16.
Pseudocode 8.16

Algorithm for Array Addition

Array Addition
For Row = 1 to Number of rows by 1
For Column = 1 to Number of columns by 1
Set C[Row, Column] to A[Row, Column] + B[Row, Column]
End Array Addition

Section 8.2

Arrays

371

It is important to note that only arrays of the same dimensions can be added
together.
Figure 8.18 Invalid array addition

Matrix Multiplication
Multiplying two arrays is a lot trickier. Array multiplication is used in
Mathematics, Science and Engineering. A complex series of operations between
the rows of one matrixand the columns of another is involved, as shown in
Figure 8.19. It resembles a dance between the items in a row of array A and the
items in a column of array B.
Figure 8.19 Mechanism of matrix multiplication
A
Notice that here
the two arrays
need not be of
the same
dimensions. The
rule of
dimensions is
shown in Figure
8.20.

.......... r

...

... n

b1j

b2j

..
.
..
.

..
.
..
.
..
.

a i1 a i2

a ir

...

... n

c ij

..
.
m

ai1 ai2
b1j b2j

..
.

air
+

brj

a i1b1j + ai2b2j + ... + airb rj = c ij

Note

We have represented the elements differently here: we use Ci j

instead of our usual C[I,J]. Both conventions are correct. Choose the
one you prefer.

Each element Cij is determined by taking the ith row of matrix A and the jth
column of matrix B, multiplying the corresponding elements, and summing these
products. Figure 8.20 illustrates further the computations involved in a matrix
multiplication.

372

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.20 Matrix multiplication

1 2 3

... R

1 2

1
2
3
4

1 2

... N

1
2

.
.
.
.
.

..
.

.
.
= ..
.

R array

N array

... N

1
2
3
4

M N array

8 11
50 62

Example
0 1 2
3 4 5

3 array

6 7
8 9
0 1

2 array

Notice that the number

of columns of the first
matrix must equal the
number of rows of the
second matrix.

3 6 + 4 8 + 5 0 = 50

2 array

An algorithm for matrix multiplication is defined below (Pseudocode 8.17).

Note how simple it is, even though it involves a great many computations.
Pseudocode 8.17

Algorithm for Matrix Multiplication

Matrix Multiplication
For Row = 1 to Matrix 1 Rows by 1
We take it one
row at a time.
For Column = 1 to Matrix 2 Columns by 1
Set Sum to zero
For Index = 1 to Matrix 1 Columns by 1
Increment Sum by A[Row, Index] B[Index, Column]
Set C[Row, Column] to Sum
End Matrix Multiplication

N-Dimensional Arrays
Lets complicate things a bit and add one more dimension to our tables to make
them three-dimensional arrays. This way, we can store even more information
in them. Take, for example, our patient temperatures from Figure 8.14. So far,
we can only store the temperatures for a patient hour by hour over one week. It
would certainly be more useful for a doctor to have a record of the temperatures
taken for a whole month. Now, we know that the number of days in a month
can go from 28 to 31. To simplify matters, lets assume that our month is 28 days
long: exactly 4 weeks.
So, to store temperatures for a full month, we need 4 of the tables shown in
Figure 8.14. But we do not want to deal with 4 arrayswe want all of the
temperatures in one spot: in one array. To accomplish this, we need to build a
three-dimensional array by putting the 4 tables together layer by layer (we
will have 4 layers), forming a cube. Figure 8.21 shows this cube.

Section 8.2

Arrays

373

Figure 8.21 Three-dimensional temperature array

Day

Hour

Layer 2 represents
the 2nd week of
temperatures.

Week
Layer 1 represents
the 1st week of
temperatures.

We can also extend our previous w e e k l y temperature average computation to a

monthly one. If you take a look at our previous weekly average pseudocode, you
will see that all we have to do is extend the weekly temperature summations.
We do this below by adding a loop for the weeks, adjusting the indices in
Temperatures to 3, and changing the averaging divisor to reflect that we have
4 times more hours.
Pseudocode 8.18

Algorithm for Monthly Average

Monthly Average
Set Sum to 0
For Week = 1 to 4 by 1
added loop
For Day = 1 to 7 by 1
For Hour = 1 to 24 by 1
Set Sum to Sum + Temperatures[Hour, Day, Week]
Set Average to Sum / (24 7 4)
End Monthly Average

We could go even further and extend this example to a fourth dimension: we

could keep the temperatures over a year (for long care patients). The fourdimensional array will be equivalent to 13 three-dimensional arrays like the
one in Figure 8.21 (Why 13? Remember our months are lunar!). An
individual temperature in that array would be denoted by
Temperatures[Hour, Day, Week, Month].

8.3

Records
What are Records?
Remember that an array is a homogeneouscollection of components; all
components of the same kind. A record is a heterogeneouscollection of
components. In other words, the components may be of different kinds. A record
is a compound data structure consisting of a number of components, usually called
fields. Think of a record as a template that outlines each of the records fields.

374

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.22 An empty and a full Date record

Empty Record
(Template)

Date

Date

generic
record name
field name

Full Record
(Instance)
MoonDate

Year

Year

Month

Month

Day

Day

20

1969

specific record
name

field values

Two different Date records are shown in Figure 8.22. The one on the left is
empty and the one on the right is full. Take a look at the empty one; it is a
template or a skeleton. We can see that Date is a collection of 3 fields: Year,
Month, and Day. On the right, MoonDate represents a specific date: the day
humans first set foot on the moon. You will note that there are now values
inside of the fields.
Figure 8.23 The Ace of Spades card record
Ace of Spades
Card
Suit
Rank

Spade
Ace

The Card record of Figure 8.23 describes a playing card in terms of its two main
features, Suit and Rank. This particular diagram shows the specific Ace of
Spades record. Since card decks usually have 52 cards with four possible suits
and 13 possible ranks, we could use the Card record to describe any of the 52
cards.
Figure 8.24 A Complex Number record
3 + 4i
Complex Number
Real
Part

3.0

Imaginary
Part

4.0

The Complex Number record of Figure 8.24, often used in engineering and
mathematics, consists of two parts, a Real Part and an Imaginary Part.

Section 8.3

Records

375

Figure 8.25 A Part record

Part
ID Number
Price
Quantity
Size
Length

sub-record

Diameter

The Part record of Figure 8.25 describes a typical part (like the parts of a chair
we introduced earlier). It consists of an identification Number, a Price, a
Quantity, and a Size, which is itself a record with two components (Length and
Diameter). We could say that Size is a subrecord of Part.
Figure 8.26 Joe Kings student record
Joe King
Student
ID

1234

Sex

Male

Birth Date

Grade

3.14

Year

Status

Birth Date

Month
Day

1969
7
20

The Student record of Figure 8.26 consists of an Identification number, a Sex

(Male or Female), a Grade average, and a Status (Full time or Part time). A
student also has a Birth Date, which is a subrecord within this record. This
subrecord is described by the Date record, defined earlier.
The Book record of Figure 8.27 shows a more complex record. It comprises a
number (ISBN), a Title (character string), a Price (dollars), an Author and a
Date received. The author is described by another subrecord consisting of one
field called Name, and another subrecord called Address. More of such complex
records will be considered later.

376

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.27 Practical Programming Book record

Practical Programming Book
Author

Book
ISBN

Name

0-1234-56789

John Marcobrini

Address
Title Practical Programming
Price

Street

23.45

Author
Received

Date

300 Main

City

Northridge

State

California

ZipCode

91324

Records can be used to describe most anything from cars to clothes, catalog
items, employees, loans, reservations, customers, bank accounts, schedules,
patients, and many others.

Accessing Record Components

the Dot Notation

Record components are accessed by using a special dot notation. For instance,
the value in the Title component of the Book record in Figure 8.27 is indicated
by the following:
Pseudocode 8.19

Accessing a records components

Book.Title
record name

record component

For example, consider the two students named Joe and X described in Figure 8.28.
Joes identification number is written Joe.ID and Xs is written X.ID. Record
components are treated as any other variables, and can be assigned, input,
output, or compared, as shown in Pseudocode 8.20.
Pseudocode 8.20

Operations on a records components

Set Joe.ID to 12345

If X.Grade < 2.5
Output X.ID
While X.Status = P
Set Sum to Sum + X.Grade

Section 8.3

Records

377

Figure 8.28 Accessing nested records

Joe

Sue

Student

Student
ID

12345

ID

Sex

Male

Sex

Grade

3.14

Grade

2.17

Status

Status

Birth Date
Year
Month
Day

98765
Female

Birth Date
Year

1969
7
20

1972

Month

Day

The fields of nested records (or subrecords), such as Birth Date, are also easily
accessed by extending the dot notation. For example, since Joe.BirthDate is a
record, the dot notation can be used to access its components, as in:
Pseudocode 8.21

Accessing components of records within records

Set Joe.BirthDate.Year to 1969

Output Joe.BirthDate.Day

We could have made our student record more detailed and used deeper nests of
subrecords. The deeper the components, the longer the dot notations. For
example, we could have had:
Pseudocode 8.22

Longer dot notations; deeper components

Joe.Spouse.BirthDate.Year
Joe.Address.Street.Number

An entire subrecord like Joe.Birth Date can be assigned values in one shot,
without assigning values to each component individually, by a simple
statement as shown in Figure 8.29.
Figure 8.29 Assigning values to entire subrecords
This simple statement replaces the 3 shown at right.

Set Joe.Birth Date

to Moon Date

Set Joe.Birth Date.Year to Moon Date.Year

Set Joe.Birth Date.Month to Moon Date.Month
Set Joe.Birth Date.Day to Moon Date.Day

equivalent

Figure 8.30 shows how one of the components of a chair can be described for
inventory purposes.

378

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.30 Accessing nested records

Rung
Part
ID Number

1234

Price

0.56

Quantity

789

Length
Feet

Inches

Eighths

Size
Length
Diameter

Size
Brand
R

Brand

Phono

Phono
Area Code

123

Prefix

456

Suffix

7890

Etc.

Notice that the Size of a Rung has two parts, a Length and a Diameter, and
that the Length itself is described by a number of Feet, a number of Inches and a
number of Eighths of an inch. Accessing a deeply nested record component
proceeds naturally top-down from the trunk of the main record. For example
the Rung suppliers phone number Area Code is denoted:
Rung.Phono.Area Code
Similarly the statement:
Set Rung.Size.Length.Eighths to 5
indicates that the part of the Rungs length expressed in eighths of an inch is
assigned the value 5. In this way, the concept of top-down applies to items as
well as actions.

Combining Arrays and Records

Arrays and records can be combined in various ways and may be nested within
one another. We will show here some of the more common combinations.

Section 8.3

Records

379

Figure 8.31 Record of arrays

Joe
Pupil
record

Projects
1
2

C
B

3
4

A
A

5
6

B
A

2 arrays nested
in the record

Quizzes
1
2

87
66

3
4

92
70

Records of arrays are simply records whose components are arrays. For
example, Figure 8.31 shows a Pupils record consisting of two arrays.
The first one contains all the grades received on Projects, and the second
contains all grades received on quizzes. The score of Pupil Joe on Quiz 2
is represented by using the mixed dot and bracket notation as
Joe.Quizzes[2]
or more clearly, if the second Quiz is the midterm, as
Joe.Quizzes[Midterm]
Figure 8.32 Array of records
Workers
Worker[1]

Worker[2]

Worker[3]

40
10

Hours
Rate

50

Hours

10

Rate

20
15

Hours
Rate

168
10

Hours
Rate

array

record nested
in the array

...

Worker[N]

Arrays of records are arrays whose elements are records. For example,
Figure 8.32 shows an array of workers where the number of Hours
worked and an hourly Rate of pay is specified for each Worker. The
time worked by the third person can be selected by the notation:
Worker[3].Hours
More complex structures can be created from the above two structures. For
example, the array of workers could actually be a component of a Department

380

Chapter 8

Data Structures

record. In such a case, the hours worked by the third person in the research
department are denoted by:
Research.Worker[3].Hours
We can keep on combining records and arrays, nesting them deeper and deeper
within each other. We can even construct arrays of arrays which are
convenient for structuring data. A two-dimensional array is in fact a onedimensional array whose components are themselves one-dimensional arrays.
Similarly, a three-dimensional array is a one-dimensional array whose
components are themselves two-dimensional arrays, and so on.

8.4

Sets
What are Sets?
In mathematics, sets are collections of items where each item appears only
once. The order of the items is immaterial and the size of the sets may be
infinite. In computer science, we use a similar definition except for the fact that
set sizes cannot be infinite. They also are implementation dependent. Sets are
usually represented using braces as in {2, 4, 6, 8}, or { } for the empty set.
Operations on sets are the usual mathematical set operations: membership,
union, intersection, and difference.
Set membership is denoted by the symbol as in:
1 {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} and 1 {2, 4, 6, 8}
The union of two sets A and B is the set comprising all elements in A and
B, and is denoted by the symbol as in A B, and is illustrated by
Figure 8.33.
Figure 8.33 Set union
A

The intersection of two sets A and B is the set comprising the elements
common to both A and B, is denoted by the symbol as in A B, and is
illustrated by Figure 8.34.
Figure 8.34 Sets intersection
A

Section 8.4

Sets

381

The difference of two sets A and B is the set comprising the elements of
A that are not in B, is denoted by the symbol as in A B, and is
illustrated by Figure 8.35.
Figure 8.35 Difference of sets
A

Lets look at a few examples to illustrate the various set operations. First, lets
define some sets:
Digits = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}
Evens = {0, 2, 4, 6, 8}
Primes = {2, 3, 5, 7}
Lucky = {7}
X = {1, 8}
Y = {1, 5, 9}
PowersOfTwo = {0, 2, 4, 8}
We then have the following identities:
X Evens = {0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8}
Primes Evens = {2}
Lucky X = {}
Y X = {5, 9}
1 Evens Primes
Digits = Evens Primes Lucky X Y

A Difficult Sets Example (optional)

As an example of the use of sets, we will consider a simplified version of the
problem of constructing a school timetable. Suppose that:
The students are identified by student numbers in the range 1 to
Number of Students.
The courses from which the students choose are numbered from 1 to
Number of Courses.
During registration, each student makes a selection of courses. The problem is to
construct a timetable where certain courses are scheduled concurrently but will
not pose a conflict for any of the students. For instance, if Student 1 has chosen
courses 1 and 2, these cannot be scheduled at the same time.
In practice, the construction of a timetable is a most difficult problem since the
number of potential timetables is very large and a choice must be made under
many constraints and with many factors to be considered, like faculty
availability. In this example, we will simplify the problem drastically, and
will not attempt a realistic solution of the timetable problem.

382

Chapter 8

Data Structures

The data obtained from registration, Registration, can be represented as a

vector of sets of courses. This vector will have as many elements as the Number
of Students. To help understand this, Figure 8.36 shows a Registration array
that might come from five students choosing from six courses.
Figure 8.36 Sample of Registration data for timetable problem
Registration vector
Student

Set of chosen courses

{1, 2}

{2, 3}

{2, 3, 4}

{1, 5, 6}

{3, 6}

By inspecting these data, we can try to find courses that can be offered
concurrently. For instance, it is obvious that courses 2, 5 and 6 cannot be given at
the same time as course 1 because of students 1 and 4. However, there is no
conflict between course 1 and courses 3 and 4, so course 1 could be given at the
same time as courses 3 and 4. But courses 3 and 4 are in conflict because of student
3 and cannot be given together, so it appears that course 1 can be given at the
same time as either course 3 or course 4.
We could continue and determine our timetable this way. However, if we want
to be able to solve timetable problems that are realistic, we must find a
systematic way of doing this. You must be aware that even in a small college
the number of students and the number of courses are much larger than our
example, and would not be as easy to manage.
Based on our first try above, our solution will have the following structure:
Pseudocode 8.23

Structure of timetable solution

Build Timetable
Get registration data
Find the Conflicting Courses
Build sets of Non-conflicting Courses
End Build Timetable

The first part of the solution will be easy to define, as we want to input data
and end up with one set of courses per student as seen in Figure 8.36.
From this registration data, we want to Find the Conflicting Courses. To do
that, we construct a new vector of sets of courses, Conflicts, with one element for
each course. The ith element of Conflicts is the set of courses with which course
i conflicts. A course conflicts with course i because one student (or more) has
selected both of the courses. Conflicts[i] is then the set of courses that cannot
be scheduled concurrently with course i. Thus, returning to our example data in
Figure 8.36, courses 1, 2, 5 and 6 all conflict and cannot be run concurrently
because Student 1 has chosen courses 1 and 2, and Student 4 has chosen courses 1,
5 and 6. Pseudocode 8.24 constructs the Conflicts vector.

Section 8.4

Pseudocode 8.24

Sets

383

Algorithm to construct Conflicts vector

Here we set up a
Find Conflicting Courses
vector of empty
For Course Num = 1 to Number of Courses by 1
sets called
Set Conflicts[Course Num] to { }
Conflicts.
For Student ID = 1 to Number of Students by 1
Loop through all
For Course Num = 1 to Number of Courses by 1
courses, one
student at a time.
If Course Num Registration[Student ID]
Set Conflicts[Course Num] to Conflicts[Course Num]
Registration[Student ID]
End Find Conflicting Courses

Figure 8.37 Trace of Conflicts vector

Conflict Set Values
After
Course
Number

After
Student 3

After
Student 4

After
Student 5

{1, 2}

{1, 2}

{1, 2, 5, 6}

{1, 2, 5, 6}

{1, 2, 3}

{1, 2, 3, 4}

{1, 2, 3, 4}

{1, 2, 3, 4}

{2, 3}

{2, 3, 4}

{2, 3, 4}

{2, 3, 4, 6}

{}

{2, 3, 4}

{2, 3, 4}

{2, 3, 4}

{}

{}

{}

{1, 5, 6}

{1, 5, 6}

{}

{}

{}

{1, 5, 6}

{1, 3, 5, 6}

Initial

After
Student 1

{}

{1, 2}

{}

{1, 2}

{}

{}

{}

{}

{}

{}

After
Student 2

Based on the sample data in the Registration vector, Figure 8.37 shows a trace
of how the Conflicts array is built, using the Find Conflicting Courses
algorithm. The final Conflicts array is found in the last column at the right of
the figure. This shows, for example, that courses 2, 4 and 6 all conflict with
course 3 and cannot be run concurrentlybecause Student 2 has chosen courses 2
and 3, Student 3 has chosen courses 2, 3 and 4, and Student 5 has chosen courses 3
and 6.
Note

In Figure 8.37, course 3 conflicts with course 3 - this is an unwanted

but harmless by-product of our Find Conflicting Courses
algorithm. Also, the shaded elements represent those that have
changed during the loop.

Now that we have a list of the conflicting courses, we must construct a

timetable. The timetable will be a vector, Schedule, with sets of nonconflicting courses as its elements, indexed by the session number. These
elements are constructed one by one by picking from the complete set of courses a
suitable non-conflicting subset of courses, Session. We then subtract the
suitable course subset from the set of Unscheduled courses until Unscheduled is
empty. Unscheduled is initialized to the set of all courses at the beginning.

384

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Pseudocode 8.25
Courses

Algorithm to build Sets of Non-Conflicting

Build Sets of Non-conflicting Courses

Set Unscheduled to {1..Number of Courses}
Set Session Num to zero
While Unscheduled { }
Find Next Possible Session
Set Unscheduled to Unscheduled - Session
Increment Session Num
Set Schedule[Session Num] to Session
End Build Sets of Non-conflicting Courses

Initializing Unscheduled.

Still to be defined.

How do we choose Next Possible Session? We start by selecting any course

from Unscheduled and putting it into Trial Set. We then add to Trial Set other
courses from Unscheduled that do not conflict with any of the courses already in
Trial Set until no more courses can be added. The condition for a course to be
added to Trial Set is that the intersection of the conflict set of the candidate
course and Trial Set must be empty. We can therefore expand Find Next
Possible Session as shown in Pseudocode 8.26.
Pseudocode 8.26

Expanded Find Next Possible Session

Find Next Possible Session

Set Course Num to 1
finding lowest numbered
While Course Num Unscheduled
unscheduled course
Increment Course Num
Set Session to {Course Num}
Set Trial Set to Unscheduled Conflicts[Course Num] The trial set
consists of all of
For Test Course = 1 to Number of Courses by 1
the courses that
If Test Course Trial Set
don't conflict with
If Conflicts[Test Course] Session = { }
the Course
Set Session to Session {Test Course}
Number in
question.
End Find Next Possible Session

The first three lines of this algorithm find the lowest numbered course in
Unscheduled and set Course Num to that value. Lets put these two pieces of
pseudocode together (Figure 8.38).

Section 8.4

385

Sets

Figure 8.38 Combined Algorithms from Pseudocode 8.25 and 8.26

Build Sets of Non-conflicting Courses

Set Unscheduled to {1...Number of Courses}
Set Session Num to zero
While Unscheduled { }
Find Next Possible Session
Set Unscheduled to Unscheduled Session
Increment Session Num
Set Schedule[Session Num] to Session
End Build Sets of Non-conflicting Courses

Find Next Possible Session

Set Course Num to 1
While course Num Unscheduled
Increment Course Num
Set Session to {Course Num}
Set Trial Set to Unscheduled Conflicts[Course Num]
For Test Course = 1 to Number of courses by 1
If Test Course Tr ial Set
If Conflicts[Test Course] Session = { }
Set Session to Session {Test Course}
End Find Next Possible Session

We will now trace the Build Sets of Non-conflicting Courses algorithm with
the same data we have used so far for the first three sessions.
Figure 8.39 Trace of Session 1 generation
Session 1

Set Session to {Course Num}

Set Trial Set to Unscheduled
Conflicts[Course Num]
For Test Course from 1 to Number of Courses

Unscheduled

{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

Course Num

Session

{1}

Trial Set

{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} {1, 2, 5, 6} = {3, 4}

Test Course

If Test Course Trial Set

1, 2

1, 2 {3, 4}?
False

3 {3, 4}?
True

Session

{1}

{1, 3}

{1, 3}

Figure 8.40 Trace of Session 2 generation

Session 2

Set Session to {Course Num}

Set Trial Set to Unscheduled
Conflicts[Course Num]
For Test Course from 1 to Number of Courses

Unscheduled

{2, 4, 5, 6}

Course Num

Session

{2}

Trial Set

{2, 4, 5, 6} {1, 2, 3, 4} = {5, 6}

Test Course

1, 2, 3, 4

We've already
scheduled courses
1 and 3, as shown
in Figure 8.35.

1, 2, 3, 4 {5, 6}? 5 {5, 6}?

False
True

If Test Course Trial Set

If Conflicts[Test Course] Session = { }
Set Session to Session {Test Course}

5, 6

4 {3, 4}? 5, 6 {3, 4}?

True
False

{2, 3, 4, 6} {2, 3, 4}
{1} = { }? {1, 3} = { }?
True
False

If Conflicts[Test Course] Session = { }

Set Session to Session {Test Course}

All of the courses have

yet to be scheduled.

Session

{2}

6
6 {5, 6}?
True

{1, 5, 6}
{2} = { }?
True

{1, 3, 5, 6}
{2, 5} = { }?
False

{2, 5}

{2, 5}

{1, 3}

386

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.41 Trace of Session 3 generation

Session 3

Set Session to {Course Num}

Set Trial Set to Unscheduled - Conflicts[Course Num]
For Test Course from 1 to Number of Courses

Unscheduled

{4, 6}

Course Num

Session
Trial Set
Test Course

We only have
2 courses left
to schedule.

{4}
{4, 6} - {2, 3, 4} = {6}
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

False

6 {6}?
True

If Test Course Trial Set

{1, 3, 5, 6} {4} = { }?
True

If Conflicts[Test Course] Session = { }

Set Session to Session {Test Course}

Session

{4}

{4, 6}

Figures 8.39, 8.40 and 8.41 trace the execution of the algorithm for each of the
three sessions. Notice that it only took us 3 sessions to schedule the 6 courses.
Lets summarize the course lists for each session:
Session 1

Courses 1 and 3

Session 2

Courses 2 and 5

Session 3

Courses 4 and 6

Obviously, each session has 2 courses taught at the same time. However,
please note that this algorithm for selecting suitable sessions will not
generate an optimal Schedule. In unfortunate circumstances, the number of
sessions in the Schedule may be as large as the number of courses, even if
simultaneous scheduling were feasible.
If you have been able to follow this entire example, congratulations! This was a
difficult example, and you will find that algorithms that need to use sets are
usually complex. Check your understanding by using the algorithm to generate
a timetable from the following registration data:
Student
1
2
3
4
5

8.5

Set of Chosen Courses

{1, 4, 6}
{2,4}
{3, 4, 5}
{1, 4, 5}
{2, 5}

Data Structure Building Tools

Dynamic Variables
The problem with the data structures we have seen so far, is that their
structure is static. That is, their size and layout are fixed when the program is
written. This is a problem if we want to be able to use a broad range of data.
Dynamic variables can solve this problem. Dynamic variable
Dynamic variables are variables of a special nature. Like regular variables,
they are used to store data, but unlike regular variables, their number is not
known during algorithm development. They are instead created and used
during the execution of the algorithm when needed. The advantage of using
dynamic variables is that we do not have to guess at the number needed
beforehand: we will use exactly what is needed and nothing more.

Section 8.5

Data Structure Building Tools

387

Pointers
Since we do not know how many dynamic variables we will need (that is the
whole point of having dynamic variables), we cannot give them names, like we
did with other variables. To represent and name dynamic variables, we need
another kind of variable: pointervariables. Pointers can store only one kind of
value: the location of a dynamic variable. When you point your finger at
something, you answer the question Where? Same thing with pointers: they
answer Where is the dynamic variable?
Lets take a look at how pointers and dynamic variables are used together. In
Figure 8.42, we use them together to create a list whose length is not known
until the program is run.
Figure 8.42 Pointers in a dynamic list
List1

Pointer

Item 1

End (NIL Pointer)

Item 2

Item 3

Item 4

Element Record:
includes item and pointer

You will notice that this list contains 4 element records. On top, we have a
pointer called List1 whose function is to tell us Where? the list begins. The
end of our list is marked with a pointer that has a special value, known as NIL,
that points to nothing. A NIL pointer is shown as a slashed box. Each of the
element records in Figure 8.42 contains 2 parts, as shown in Figure 8.43.
Figure 8.43 Two parts of an element record
Part 1: an item
Item 1

Item 1
Part 2: a pointer

An element record in general contains a minimum of two fields (like ours above):
one for the element information, and
one for the pointer to the next element record.
It is not unusual that a record contains more fields than that: it could have,
say, three more information fields and a couple of other pointers. Data
structures built in this way are known as linked lists because the pointers act
as links between the elements. Here, we are going to keep it simple and say
that we have one pointer per element record. Our element record could look like
the one in Figure 8.44.
Figure 8.44 A sample list element record
Sample list element record
Name
Age

Item

Height
Pointer to Next

Item 1
Pointer

388

Chapter 8

Data Structures

The element record in Figure 8.44 has three information fields: Name, Age,
and Height. Our last field is the pointer to the next element. Using this sample
element record, we could redraw Figure 8.42, now specifying the content of the
Item parts (Figure 8.45).
Figure 8.45 A simple dynamic list of linked element records
List1

Name

Name

Name

Name

Age

Age

Age

Age

Height

Height

Height

Height

Pointer
to Next

Pointer
to Next

Pointer
to Next

We have made the arrows bend here so that you remember this:
Note:

Pointers point to the whole element record (both the item and the
pointer), not to one part in particular. Usually, pointers are drawn
as straight lines.

Now that we have seen what element records can contain, lets return to our
original generic example of Figure 8.42. There are certain algorithm
instructions to remember when using dynamic lists. Remember that the whole
of the dynamic list is only created while the program is run, not when it is being
written by the programmer. So we have to give our algorithm instructions on
how to create this list.
We will begin at the beginning: a dynamic list begins with a pointer. In our
case, it is called List1. This pointer variable already exists in the algorithm.
However, it has no value: it is empty. If we wanted to create a list, we would
have to give List1 a value to define Where? the list begins. The instruction
to do this is:
Set List1 to New(Element)
There are two parts to this instruction:
New(Element) uses a special function called New to: (i) allocate the
memory space for the first element record; and (ii) return a value: the
location of this new memory space.
Set List1 to New(Element) takes this location value and puts it into
the List1 variable.
Now that List1 is defined, we can use it to refer to either of the two parts of an
element record (the item or the pointer). To do so, we write List1 followed by
an arrow like this: List1->.
List1->blabla can be read as blabla pointed to by List1.
To refer to Item 1 (the first part of the first element record) in Figure 8.42,
we would write:
List1->Information fields
To refer to the pointer of the first record, we would write:
List1->Next
Now to refer to Item 2, it gets a little trickier:
List1->Next->Information fields

Section 8.5

Data Structure Building Tools

389

To refer to the pointer of the second element:

List1->Next->Next
In other words, we use the pointers to point the way towards the part we want.
We refer to the element records as follows: the information in list elements is
called Information fields and pointers are called Next. To remember how to
reference dynamic lists, think of everything written before the last -> as
arrows pointing the direction of the path to follow. The name after the last ->
is the name of the part wanted. So when we are looking for Item 2, we need to
write down the names of the pointers before it, followed by Item 2s name,
hence:
List1->Next->Information fields.
Lets take a look at some pseudocode written to create the list of Figure 8.42.
Pseudocode 8.27

Algorithm to create the list from Figure 8.42

List Creation
Set List1 to New(Element)
Input Item 1
Set List1 Information fields to Item 1
Set List1 Next to New(Element)
Input Item 2
Set List1 Next Information fields to Item 2
Set List1 Next Next to New(Element)
Input Item 3
Set List1 Next Next Information fields to Item 3
Set List1 Next Next Next to New(Element)
Input Item 4
Set List1 Next Next Next Information fields to Item 4
Set List1 Next Next Next Next to NIL
End List Creation

Everything should look relatively familiar here, in light of what we have just
covered, except for the last statement:
Set List1->Next->Next->Next->Next to NIL
This makes sure the last pointer does not point to anything. We should take a
look at what each instruction accomplishes.

390

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.46 The step-by-step creation of a dynamic list

List 1

Set List1 to New(Element)

List 1

Input Item 1

List 1

Item 1
A
B

Set List1 Information

fields to Item 1

List 1

Item 1
A
B

Note: this is not a

pointer, but just an
arrow to show
where information
is put.

A
B

Set List1 Next to

New(Element)

List 1

A
B

Input Item 2

List 1

Item 2
C
D
A
B

List 1
Set List1 Next
Information fields to Item 2

Set List1 Next

Next to New(Element)

Item 2
C
D
A
B

C
D

A
B

C
D

List 1

etc.

Obviously creating a list in this manner will soon be too difficult to follow as
we will have long lists of pointers. Worse than that, the length of such chains
of pointers must be specified when the program is created, thus falling back into
the very problem we were trying to solve.
Luckily, it is possible to proceed in a more general manner when developing
such an algorithm. By using an extra pointer, Current, to refer to the list
element being added, it is possible to rewrite our algorithm in the following
manner without changing the order of the creation.

Section 8.5

Pseudocode 8.28

Data Structure Building Tools

391

Refined List Creation Algorithm using Current

List Creation
Input N
Set List1 to New(Element)
Set Current to List1
Input Item
Set List1 Information fields to Item
For Index = 2 to N by 1
Set Current Next to New(Element)
Input Item
Set Current Next Information fields to Item
Set Current to Current Next
Shifting the pointer
so that it always refers
Set Current Next to NIL
to element being added.
End List Creation

We now have an algorithm that can create a list with 4 elements or with 4,000
elements depending on the value we give to N. However, we still have not
resolved the problem of creating a list without knowing its size (i.e. we still
need to input N in the above pseudocode). That is left as an exercise for you to
do (hint: use pieces from the List Creation pseudocode).

8.6

Abstract Data Types

We know that, through programs, computers can model real-world processes
like company payrolls (see Chapter 2), warehouse inventory control, and
weather predictions. However, real-world processes are too complicated to
be exactly mimicked by a computer. Using computers to model these realworld processes is only productive when the program accurately represents a
problem. Figure 8.47 shows how a real-life process is transformed into a
computer program. Abstract data type
Remember the company payroll example? To calculate the payroll, we needed
to know the number of hours each employee worked. In the real world, an
employees hours could be recorded by punching into a time clock, which records
time in the form 8:33 a.m., or 4:59 p.m. But getting the number of hours worked
is not as simple as subtracting the two numbers, as if we had 2 Integers: 459 833. We would get -374 hours? What does this mean?

For a computer
to do this
conversion, we
would need an
algorithm like
the one called
Time difference
in Chapter 5,
Figure 5.43.

If we converted 8:33 a.m. into the total number of minutes elapsed since
midnight, when the day started, we could then represent it as an Integer. For
example, 8:33 a.m. would become 8 60 + 33 = 480 + 33 = 513 minutes.
Time is one of those real-world objects that is hard for a computer to
manipulate. Other real-world objects include names, dates, money, and
meteorological data. Luckily, objects like money are easily represented by
Integers. However, as we have seen above, Time is not easily represented by
either Integers or Real Numbers. We need a data type that more closely models
time as it is used in the real world.

392

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.47 A program is a model of a real-world process

Real World environment of given system

Input Data

Results

Real-World
Objects
and
Operations

Real-World
Algorithm

Human or
electro-mechanical
interpretation of
results

Conversion to the
computer model
by the programmer

Programming
Language
Objects and
Operations

Real-World
Objects

Computer
Algorithm

Computer
representation
of results

Computer model of real-world process

You should remember from Chapter 3 that a data type (like Integers, Real
Numbers, and Characters) is made up of 2 parts:
the value
the operations possible on the value
For example, an Integer can have any whole number value and it can be added,
subtracted, multiplied, divided to produce a quotient and remainder, and
compared.
All programming languages (like Pascal, Modula-2, and so on) have a number of
predefined types. We saw a number of them in Chapter 5, including Integers,
Real Numbers, and Characters. However, when we come across some realworld objects that cannot easily be modeled with these types, we need to
define new types ourselves, called Abstract Data Types.

Section 8.6

Abstract Data Types

393

Abstract Data Types are not predefined: they must be defined by the
programmer when needed. As the case with types in general, an Abstract Data
Type must be defined in terms of its:
possible values
operations possible on the values.
For example, if we had to simulate a line of people waiting in line for tickets at
a rock concert, we could do so quite easily by using an Abstract Data Type called
a queue. The rest of the chapter is devoted to introducing four Abstract Data
Types: strings, stacks, queues, and trees.

Strings
A character stringis a sequence of characters that is viewed as one single item.
A character is any element of the character set used on a particular computer.
Character sets include:
letters (upper case and lower case)
digits
punctuation signs, and
other special signs including spaces.
The treatment of character Strings varies greatly from one programming
language to another. Some programming languages do not include Strings,
while others allow Strings of a fixed length, and still others allow all kinds of
Strings of any variable length. Some programming languages, such as Snobol4,
are specialized languages for string processing. Although general purpose
programming languages treat Strings in a variety of ways, we can define here
an Abstract Data Type String, which will illustrate the characteristics of
character Strings.
Abstract data type Strings
Values
Sequences of characters
Here are a few examples (we will enclose strings in double quotation
marks).
February 29, 1984
F
For a view of your results, press Enter
Operations

Operation

Example

Explanation

Input

Input New Name

---

Output

Output Please enter

---

quantity.
Assign

Set Customer Name to New

name

Assign one string to another

394

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Concatenate

Set StringC to
Concat(StringA,
StringB)

Append one string to another

to create a new string. If the
value of StringA were ABC
and StringB were DEFG,
then this concatenation would
produce ABCDEFG for
StringC.

Count

Set Character Count to

Length(StringC)

Count the number of

characters in the string. Here
Character Count would be 7.

Search

Set Pattern Position to

Search(StringC,
CDE)

Search a string for a

particular pattern. If
StringC had the value
assigned in the Concatenate
example, this instruction
would set the value of
Pattern Position to 3. Note
that the way in which the
position of a pattern in a
string is defined varies from
language to language,
depending upon whether
counting starts at 0 or 1. In
this example, we started
counting at 1.

Insert

Set StringD to
Insert(StringC,

Insert one string into another

after a given position. This
instruction would set the
value of StringD to
ABCXYZDEFG

XYZ, 3)

Extract

Set StringE to
3)

Delete

Substring(StringD, 2,

Set StringF to
DeleteString(StringD,
2, 3)

Compare

If Less(Month1, Month2)

Extract a substring from a

string. This instruction would
set the value of StringE to
BCX (3 characters starting
at position 2) and leave
StringD unchanged.
Delete a substring from a
string. This instruction would
remove BCX (3 characters
starting at position 2) from
StringF, changing its value to
AYZDEFG.
Compare two strings. This
comparison is done
alphabetically, i.e. April
is less than March.

Stacks
Stacksare used to implement a number of things, in particular subprogram calls.
It is therefore quite natural to define an Abstract Data Type Stack that can be
used in a number of applications. A Stack is an ordered collection of items,
where only one item is accessible: the last one entered in the stack.

Section 8.6

Abstract Data Types

395

A Stack is a homogeneous structure in which all the elements are of the

same type, so the values in a Stack are all of a given type. We can
have Stacks of Integers, Stacks of Real Numbers, Stacks of Characters,
Stacks of a given record type, and so on.
Figure 8.48 shows a small stack of Integers, as well as the operations of
the Stack Abstract Data Type.
The top item in a Stack is the last one that was entered into the Stack.
The first item entered into the Stack is at the bottom of the Stack.
The behavior of a Stack is often described as LIFO: Last-In FirstOut.
Figure 8.48 Stacks
Stack

Stack operations

Push
X

Pop

Last one in is
first one out.

Y
8

Top

9
First item
entered

Bottom

Create
Push (X)
Pop (Y)
Is Empty
Is Full
Depth (Z)

Abstract data type Stacks

Values
All of the values of the stack element type
Operations
Create a stack.
Push an item onto a stack: the new stack top contains the pushed item.
Pop an item from a stack: the top stack item is deleted from the stack
and returned as result.
Check if a stack is empty.
Check if a stack is full.
Count the number of elements in a stack.
As we have already mentioned, stacks are very useful in computing. Lets use
the Abstract Data Type we have just defined to detect palindromes.

396

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Figure 8.49 Using Stacks to detect palindromes

Palindrome detector

S2
S
T
O
P

Notice that this

stack is drawn
upside down.

S
SPOTS
STOPS

Input

EQ

Pour

False

STOPS
S

S1

S3

We need to develop an algorithm able to detect whether a given String is a

palindrome. Palindromes are sequences of characters that read the same
forwards as backwards (usually the spaces are not taken into account). For
example, the sequence RADAR is a palindrome, while RADIO is not. The
sentence EVIL DID LIVE is a palindrome. Some other well known
palindromes are ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA, and A MAN A PLAN A
CANAL PANAMA.
Figure 8.49 shows how we can test a String for this property. A string STOPS
is input character by character into both Stacks S1 and S2. This could be done
by a sequence of pushes, as shown in Pseudocode 8.29.
Pseudocode 8.29

Sequence of Pushes onto a stack

Input Character
While Character Terminator
If Character ' '
Push Character onto S1
Push Character onto S2
Input Character

The Pour operation transfers the contents of Stack S1 into Stack S3. Notice that
doing this reverses the order of the contents of the Stack: the top item of S1
becomes the bottom item of S3. This reversing transfer is done by the
algorithm in Pseudocode 8.30.
Pseudocode 8.30

Reversing Stack S1 onto Stack S2

While NOT IsEmpty(S1)

Pop Character from S1
Push Character onto S3

Finally the character sequence from Stack S2 can be compared to the reversed
sequence in Stack S3 by the following pseudocode.

Section 8.6

Pseudocode 8.31

Abstract Data Types

397

Comparing Stack S3 to Stack S1

Set Palindrome to True

While NOT IsEmpty(S2)
Pop Character 1 from S2
Pop Character 2 from S3
If Character 1 Character 2
Set Palindrome to False

Figure 8.50 Big Adder

S1
1
Notice that Adder
adds 3 digits at a
time together.

2
3
4

Adder
4

1 234

Input

56 789

Input

Digit1

Sum

Output
5

Digit2

8
9

Carry

Carry

0
2

S4

S2

S3

As another example, the Big Adder of Figure 8.50 shows how two Integers of
any length can be added digit by digit.
1.

The two numbers are input with most significant digits first, and put
into stacks S1 and S2 with the least significant digits on top. The two
numbers are 1 and 5 in the given example.

2.

The Adder begins with a Carry of 0 on a one-digit-Stack S3.

3.

The digit in S3 is added to the sum of the top values of Stacks S1 and
S2.

4.

The sum digit is placed onto another stack S4, with the new carry
replacing the previous carry digit in S3.

5.

The output stack S4 is finally output, with the most significant digits
leading.

The algorithm for Big Adder is shown in Pseudocode 8.32.

398

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Pseudocode 8.32

Algorithm for Big Adder

Big Adder
Push 0 onto S3
While NOT (IsEmpty(S1) AND IsEmpty(S2))
If NOT IsEmpty(S1)
Pop Digit1 from S1
Else
Set Digit1 to 0
If NOT IsEmpty(S2)
Pop Digit2 from S2
Else
Set Digit2 to 0
Pop Carry from S3
Set Sum to Digit1 + Digit2 + Carry
If Sum 10
Push 1 onto S3
Set Sum to Sum 10
Else
Push 0 onto S3
Push Sum onto S4
Pop Carry from S3
If Carry = 1
Push 1 onto S4
End Big Adder

Queues
Queues occur much too often in everyday life. Queues, as we are familiar with,
are the lines of people usually waiting to be served one at a time (bank teller,
bus line, supermarket cashier). Examples of Queues are not restricted to people,
but also include vehicles stopped at an intersection, tasks waiting to be done,
and so on. Queue
Queues are used as a way of providing service according to the order in which it
is requested. For example:
All our agents are busy helping other customers. Please hold. Your call will be answered in the order
in which it was received.

Queues are first-come, first-served or First-In-First-Out (FIFO) structures,

in contrast to Stacks, which are Last-In-First-Out structures. Queues are
similar to stacks in some ways, but items are accessed from both ends: a front
and a rear (unlike the single top access of stacks). Many of the Stack concepts
extend to Queues. In particular, Queues are homogeneous and contain only
values of the same type: queues of Integers, queues of vehicles, queues of people,
etc.
Figure 8.51 A general queue
General queue
First one in is first one out.

Queue

Enter

Exit
3

Rear

Front

Section 8.6

Abstract Data Types

399

In general, a Queueconsists of a channel where items enter at one end (called the
Rear) and ultimately exit at the other end (the Front) as shown in Figure 8.51.
There is no entry or exit in the middle of the queue. The first item into a queue
is the first one out: this is why a queue is called a FIFO structure.
Abstract data type Queues
Values
All of the values of the Queue element type
Operations
Create a queue.
Check if a queue is empty.
Check if a queue is full.
Count the elements in a queue.
Enter an element into a queue.
Remove an element from a queue.
Queues are used in a great number of computer science applications. They are
needed in all operating systems, to keep track of the various processes that are
active at a given time, and to help allocate the computer resources in an
optimal manner. Queues are also used in all simulation applications.
Simulation is an important field of computer science in which models of various
systems of the physical world are developed. These models help us to better
understand the behavior of complex systems, without having to develop or
alter the real thing.

Trees
So far, we have seen that Stacks and Queues are useful ways to represent items
that are arranged in lines (like the line of people at the bank). However, if
you wanted to represent your family tree you would find that it cannot be
represented by a stack or queue because a family tree contains lines with
branches. This is where Abstract Data Structures called Trees can be extremely
useful.
Figure 8.52 A tree
A - (B + C)

root node

root node

node number

leaf node

leaf node

A treeconsists of elements that are called nodes. Each node is a record that
contains a number of information fields and a number of pointers. Each node in a
tree may have zero, one or several descendants that are connected to the nodes
by branches as shown in Figure 8.52.

400

Chapter 8

Data Structures

In this figure, we have represented the same tree in two ways: one starts at the
bottom and the other starts at the top. The nodes usually have values
associated with them. The root is the main node and is the ancestor of all
others. On the right, branches from a node lead downwards to children, or
upwards to a parent. The nodes that have no children (A, B, C, D in Figure
8.52) are called leaf nodes, leaves, or terminal nodes.
Binary trees, where every node have at most two children nodes, are the most
common in computing. Figure 8.52 shows a binary tree used to represent an
arithmetic expression, A (B + C) D. This tree is also called an expression
tree.

Section 8.7

8.7

Review

Review: Top Ten Things to Remember

401

Top Ten Things to Remember

1.

The data structures we have considered here make it possible to create

large groupings of smaller items. Arrays represent homogeneousgroups;
records represent heterogeneousgroups. Sets represent homogeneous
groups of items, but offer different operations than arrays.

2.

Arrays give a common name to the items they group, and make it
possible to access the different components via indices, and a bracket
notation. One-dimensional arrays are quite common and easy to use.

3.

Two-dimensional and multi-dimensional arraysare less common but

sometimes better adapted to particular applications.

4.

Records group heterogeneous items by their individual names, and

make it possible to access their components by a dot notation.

5.

Records may consist of other records or arrays, and in turn may be part of
other records or arrays. This combination of structures is very powerful
and leads to very useful structures like arrays of records or records of
arrays, and so on.

6.

Two-dimensional arrays are used to represent matrices and the

algorithms for mathematical matrix operations.

7.

In computer science, sets are a form of the familiar and useful concept
found in mathematics. The elements of a set are homogeneous, like in
arrays, but the operations on sets are very different. The set operations
include Membership, Union, Intersection and Difference.

8.

Dynamic variables are created during the execution of an algorithm

and are referred to by pointers. Linear lists, a series of records connected
by pointers, were also briefly presented as an introduction to dynamic
data structures.

9.

Abstract Data Types are defined by the values they represent and the
operations that can be applied to these values. In this chapter, we
defined the following three Abstract Data Types:
Strings,: a sequence of characters that is viewed as one single item,
Stacks,: an ordered collection of items, where the last item placed
in a stack is the first one out (LIFO), and
Queues,: an ordered collection of items, where the first item placed
in a queue is the first one out (FIFO).

10.

Trees were also briefly introduced as an example of a nonlinear Abstract

Data Type. Data structures are so important in computer science that,
often, a whole course is devoted to them and their many
implementations and uses.

402

Chapter 8

8.8

Glossary

Data Structures

Abstract data type: A data type,

generally specified by the
programmer, that is defined purely in
terms of its values and the operations
that may be performed on them.
Dimension: The number of dimensions
of an array is the number of subscripts
that are needed to reference a single
element of the array.
Dynamic variable: A variable that
is created during execution of a
program and is referenced through a
pointer.
Field: An individual component of a
record.
Leaf node: In a tree data structure, a
node that points to other nodes.
Linked list: A data structure where
the elements are linked by pointers.
Matrix: A two dimensional array
that is used as a computer
representation of a mathematical
matrix.
N-dimensional list: An ndimensional array.
N-tuple: A group of n numbers, a
vector of n elements.
Node: A location in a tree where
branches connect.
Pointer: A data item whose value is
either the address of another data
item or is the value NIL, in which
case it is specifically not pointing to
another item.
Queue: A data structure from which
items are removed in the order in
which they were inserted into the
structure.
Root node: The first node of a tree
data structure.

Set: A group of data values, all of

the same type, stored without
ordering or duplicates.
Stacks: A data structure in which
data items are removed in the reverse
order of their insertion.
String: A sequence of characters that
is viewed as a single data item.
Subscripted variable: An array
variable where the individual data
items are referenced by subscripts.
Terminal node: The leaf node of a
tree data structure.
Tree: A data structure that is similar
to a linked list, except that each
element, known as a node, has
links, known as branches, to two or
more elements instead of just one. The
first node in a tree is known as the
root node and the nodes that are not
pointing to any other nodes are known
as leaf nodes or terminal nodes.
Vector: A one-dimensional array.

Section 8.9

8.9

Problems

403

Problems
1.

Mystery
What does the following algorithm do?
Problem 1
A[I]

For Index = 0 to N by 1
Swap A[Index] and A[N - Index]

0
1
2
3
4
N

2.

Side Bar Plot

Create an algorithm (top-down) to draw a bar plot as follows, given
any number of bars N with values in array A for any given thickness of
bars T, and space between bars S. Here N = 4, T = 2, and S = 2.
****
****
************
************
********
********
*****
*****

404

Chapter 8

Data Structures

3.

Upright Bar Plot

Create an algorithm to draw an upright bar plot as shown, having M
bars and a maximum of N height. Here M = 5 and N = 8.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

*
*
*
*
*

*
*
*
*
*
*
*

*
*
* *
* *

More Problems: Manipulations of Linear Lists

4.

Reverse
Create an algorithm to reverse the values in an array A (with and
without using recursion).

5.

Normalize
Create an algorithm to convert an array of numbers (frequencies) into an
array of probabilities, by summing all the values and then dividing
each by this sum.

6.

Weed
Create an algorithm to weed out or eliminate duplicate entries from
an array V, creating a second array W.

7.

K-Big
Create an algorithm to find the k-th largest value of an array A of N
different values.

8.

Intersection
Create an algorithm to compare the items of two sets (arrays each
having no repeated items) and to output those items that are common to
both sets.
Create also the union, those items in either set or in both.

9.

Hilo-Grade
Create an algorithm that computes an average of grades, and then
indicates for each grade whether it is above, at, or below the average.

Section 8.9

10.

Problems

405

Median
Create some algorithms to find the median value of an array; this is
the middle value (for an odd-sized array), or the average of the two
mid values (for an even-sized array).

11.

A La Mode
The mode M of an array A of N values is the value which occurs most
often. Show two general algorithms to determine the mode. Anticipate
exceptional cases and handle them in any way you wish.

Problems On Tables
12.

Scale Time
Given a table indicating the time T[I, J] to travel between points I and J
in hours, create an algorithm to convert this time to minutes.

13.

More-Charge
Recall the previous Charge algorithm of Chapter 3, when drawn as a
table (where the charge C[Adult, Baby] is three dollars for each Adult,
and two dollars for each Baby). Create an algorithm to draw such a
table for any given number of adults M and babies N.

14.

Flip-N-Flop
Trace the algorithm given below when operating on the given table.
Then verbally indicate its behavior in general.
Problem 14
For I = 1 to N by 1
For J = 1 to N by 1
Swap A[I, J] and A[J, I]

15.

Transpose
Create an algorithm to transpose a rectangular array (i.e., to convert
all values A[I, J] to A[J, I]). This essentially rotates the array values
about a diagonal.

16.

MiniMax
Given an array of M rows and N columns, construct a flow block diagram
that finds the smallest entry in the row having the greatest sum.

17.

Tic-Tac-Win
The game of Tic-tac-toe (or Xs and Os, or naughts and crosses) is played
on a table as shown in Figure 8.11. A game is won if there are three
identical symbols in a row, in a column, or along a diagonal. Show two
different algorithms to detect a win.

406

Chapter 8

Data Structures

18.

Normalize Frequencies
Two dice are rolled N times, with outcomes D1 and D2 noted and put
into a table F[D1, D2] of frequencies of occurrence. Create an algorithm
to convert (normalize) this table of frequencies F into a table of
probabilities P, by dividing each entry by N. Then use this P table to
find the probability of all sums S from 2 to 11. For example, the
probability of (S=11) is P[5,6] + P[6,5].

More Problems on Data Structures

19.

University Record
Create a record of a university. It is described by a name, enrollment,
age, ZIP code, and phone number (having three parts: Area code,
Prefix, and Suffix). The university is also classified as being Private or
Non private.
Write a program to search an array of such universities and output the
names of all those within a given telephone area code.

20.

Play Record
Create a record describing a card game, such as Bridge or Poker, and
indicate various actions which could be performed on such an item.

Still More Problems

21.

Convolution
Trace the following algorithm when operating on the given arrays.
Problem 21
Convolution
For Index 1 = 1 to N by 1
Set Sum to zero
For Index 2 = 0 to Index 1
Set Sum to Sum + A[Index 2] B[Index 1 - 1]
Set C[Index 1] to Sum
End Convolution

22.

1
2

2
3

5
0

0
A

0
B

Bar Plot
Create an algorithm that draws an histogram (bar plot) where values
are plotted in proportion to some values (given in an array). Do this

Section 8.9

Problems

407

first with the bars plotted horizontally, then again with the bars
plotted vertically.

23.

Weighted Forgiving Average

The Weighted Average computed for Figure 8.16 can be modified to
forgive the lowest value. To do that, it is necessary to find the lowest
value and its position in the array, and then to subtract this minimum
from the sum and to modify the weighting that it applies to all of the
other values. For example, if for some student the lowest grade were on
the first project (having weight of 0.2), then the remaining projects
(having a combined weight of 0.8) would be weighted by the new
values 0.375 and 0.625 (computed from 0.3/0.8 and 0.5/0.8). Create the
algorithm that will apply this forgiving method when computing a
weighted average.

408

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Section 8.9

Problems

409

410

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Section 8.9

Problems

411

412

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Section 8.9

Problems

413

414

Chapter 8

Data Structures

Chapter Outline

415

Chapter 9 Algorithms To Run With

The primary purpose of this chapter is to provide more extensive examples of
how to use the data structures introduced in Chapter 8. We also want to
introduce you to a number of standard algorithms that are used frequently in the
course of programming applications.

Chapter Outline
9.1
9.2

9.3

9.4

9.5

9.6
9.7
9.8

Preview....................................................................416
Sorting......................................................................416
General Sorting Strategies.........................................416
The Four Methods of Sorting......................................418
Count Sort..........................................................419
Count Sort Analysis...........................................421
Swap Sort..........................................................422
Swap Sort Analysis...........................................424
Select Sort.........................................................425
Select Sort Analysis...........................................427
Insert Sort..........................................................428
More Complex Sorting...............................................428
Improving Sorts.........................................................428
Recursive Sorts..........................................................432
Searching.................................................................435
Linear Searching.......................................................436
Binary Searching......................................................437
Pattern Matching......................................................438
Implementing Abstract Data Types............................441
Stacks.......................................................................441
Implementing Stacks with Arrays.............................441
Implementing Stacks with Pointers............................444
Queues......................................................................445
Implementing Queues of Arrays.................................446
Implementing Queues with Pointers...........................448
Trees.........................................................................449
Review Top Ten Things to Remember........................451
Glossary...................................................................453
Problems...................................................................454

416

Chapter 9

9.1

Preview

Algorithms To Run With

The first two tasks that are studied, sorting and searching, are applications of
the array data structures. The objective of sorting is to rearrange the data into
a specific sequence, e.g. alphabetic or numeric order, while the objective of
searching is information retrieval.
As is common with many tasks, there are several ways to perform sorting and
searching. For example, although there are only four basic ways to sort an
array, there are dozens of variations of each of these ways. Only a few of the
variations are considered here. Their individual advantages and
disadvantages are discussed.
A particular area of interest in the study of algorithms is their analysis. This
is an investigation of the way in which their execution timeincreases with the
amount of data being worked with. Algorithm analysis is presented and
applied to the various algorithms that are introduced in this chapter.
As another example of the use of data structures, methods of implementing
stacks, queues and trees are also introduced and discussed. Some of these
techniques use arrays as the underlying data structure, while others use
dynamic variables and pointers.

9.2

Sorting
General Sorting Strategies
Sorting is an extremely common operation in computer applications. Sorting is
the process of putting items in sequence according to some criterion (e.g.
numerical order, or alphabetical order, etc.). The sorted items can be small,
like numbers, letters or character strings, or large records, like a library catalog
where each record contains a lot of information about a book. The items of data
are sorted in increasing or decreasing order of a specific field called the sort key
(numerical or alphabetical). The small sorts that we have seen in Chapter 7,
Sort2 and Sort3, worked with a fixed number of items. Now, we want to be
able to sort any number of items stored in an array.
The sorting process can operate according to three different strategies, as
illustrated in Figures 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3. We will assume that we want to sort
numbers in decreasing order here.
Figure 9.1

Sort and copy

General Method

A1

A2

Example

A3

...

An

21

12

54

A1

A2

A3

Sort and copy

B1

B2

B3

...

48

...

An

Sort array A into B

Bn

B1

B2

B3

B 1 > B2 > B3 > ... > Bn

54

52

48

...

Bn

12

sorted
items of
array A

Section 9.2

Sorting

417

Sort and copy(Figure 9.1)

This method sorts the items of array A and copies them in their proper
order into another array, B. This method may waste space, since it
needs a second array as big as the original array to store the result. The
important thing to note is that the original array is preserved
throughout the sorting process.
Figure 9.2

A1

A2

Sort and rank

A3

...

An

23

11

90

A1

A2

A3

Sort and rank

R1

R2

R3

...

47

...

An

Sort A showing rank in R

Rn

If A i > Aj then i appears

before j in array R

R1

R2

R3

18

11

...

Rn

positions of
sorted items

22

Sort and rank(Figure 9.2)

Here, using A once again, we generate a second array R which contains
the rankof each sorted item. The rank is expressed as the position of
the specific item in the original array A. For instance, in Figure 9.2, the
highest value in A is 90. So R1 refers to 90 by containing the position
that 90 occupied in the original array, A: position 3. As for sort and
copy, this method preserves the original array but requires a second
array. That second array is probably not as big as the original one since
its elements are only Integers instead of complete records.
Figure 9.3

A1

A2

Sort in place

A3

...

An

Sort in place
A1

A2

A3

...

11

45

99

A1

A2

A3

78

...

An

Sort and destroy the values in A

An

A1

A2

A3

A1 > A2 > A3 > ... > An

99

78

69

...

An

sorted items

11

Sort in place(Figure 9.3)

This technique is also known as sort in situor sort and destroy, since it
uses only one array A. The final ordered values are placed back into A,
thus destroying the original values in A. On the up side, this sorting in
place is economical of space, as it requires only one array.

418

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

The Four Methods of Sorting

For each of these three fundamental strategies (Figures 9.1 to 9.3), there are
many different algorithms for sorting. All of them fall into one of the
following four categories:
1.

Count Sort, where enumerating and comparing occur;

2.

Swap Sort, where pairs of items are swapped;

3.

Select Sort, where extreme values are selected;

4.

Insert Sort, where moving and inserting of values occur.

We will illustrate these basic sorting methods with specific algorithms in the
following sections. In order to simplify the algorithms, we assume that we will
sort positive, non equal integer values into decreasing order. These algorithms
can be modified very easily to sort character strings in alphabetical order. To
illustrate the workings of our algorithms, we will use the first nine decimal
digits as the sequence of numbers to be sorted. The original sequence is as
follows:
8, 5, 4, 9, 1, 7, 6, 3, 2
You might have noticed that these values are sorted in alphabetic order
(eight, five, four, nine, etc.). However, we wish to sort them into numerical
order.

Count Sort
One of the simplest sorting methods is Count Sort although it tends to be
forgotten. This method finds the rank of all values in an array: the largest
value has a rank of 1, the smallest has a rank of N (if all values are different).
The top left part of Figure 9.4 shows the original array A before it is sorted.
The rank of a value X is found by comparing it to a l l values in the array of N
elements, and counting the number of values that are greater than or equal to
that value X. The largest value has only one value (itself) equal to it, and so
has rank 1. The second largest has two values greater than or equal to it, and so
has rank 2. The smallest has all N values greater than or equal to it, and so
has rank N.

Section 9.2

Figure 9.4

419

Sorting

Count Sort

There are only 2

array elements
greater than or
equal to 8.
Trace of Pass 1: Ranking A[1]

Before
A[I]

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

8
5
4
9
1
7
6
3
2

counter trace for the first element (8) in A

C=

1
C=

1
C=

1
C=

2
C=

2
C=

2
C=

2
C=

2
C=

After the first pass, the first value 8 has rank 2.

Rank
R[I]

After
R[I]
2

2
5

2
5
6

2
5
6
1

2
5
6
1
9

2
5
6
1
9
3

2
5
6
1
9
3
4

2
5
6
1
9
3
4
7

2
5
6
1
9
3
4
7
8

After pass = 1

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

The first pass of the sort is shown in the top half of Figure 9.4. It takes the first
value, 8, and compares it to all of the values in the array (including itself). It
increments a counter each time it finds a value that is greater than or equal to 8.
1.

In our case, it takes 8, compares it to the first value, 8, and puts the
counter at 1.

2.

Then, when it encounters the 9, the counter goes to 2.

This determines that the first value, 8, has a rank of two because only two
values are larger or equal to it. The bottom half of Figure 9.4 shows how the
results of each pass are used to build the Rank array. Nine passes are done in
all, one for each value (N=9).
Now that we have seen how the sorting process operates, we can develop an
algorithm. We will proceed top-down, first defining a rough outline for the
Count Sort algorithm.
Pseudocode 9.1

Rough outline of Count Sort algorithm

Count Sort(A, Rank)

For Pass = 1 to Number of Items by 1
Count values larger than or equal to A[Pass]
Set Rank[Pass] to count
End Count Sort

Actions for each pass

We now refine this algorithm by giving the detail of the loop body.

420

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Pseudocode 9.2

Refined version of Count Sort

Count Sort(A, Rank)

For Pass = 1 to Number of items by 1
Set Value to A[Pass]
Set Count to 0
For Index = 1 to Number of items by 1
If A[Index] Value
Increment Count
Set Rank[Pass] to Count
End Count Sort

Actions for each pass

During each pass, a Value is selected.

That Value is then compared to all the items in the array and a Count
is kept of the number of elements that are greater than or equal to the
Value.
The resulting Count is stored into the Rank array.
Notice that all of the values used in this example were different, producing all
different ranks from 1 to N. If some values were repeated, then some ranks
would be repeated, and some ranks would not correspond to any values. For
example, if the value 8 were changed to 9, then there would be two items
having rank 2 and none having rank 1.

Count Sort Analysis

Whenever you develop an algorithm, you should do two things:
(i)
(ii)

Test it to make sure it works, and

Analyze it to see how well it performs.

An algorithms performance can be measured in several ways. It can be

measured through its execution time or through the storage space needed for the
data. This algorithm analysis can become quite complex, and a thorough
treatment of this subject is beyond our scope here. However, a brief introduction
to measuring algorithm performance, often called efficiency, is important.
The time it takes for an algorithm to run is called its execution time. It is
directly related to the number of operations it must perform. For example, in
Count Sort, for an array of N values, the outer loop repeats N times and, for
each of these N times, the inner loop also repeats N times. Hence, the total
number of repetitions is N N or N2. In our example, there were 81 repetitions
because the array had 9 elements. Since each repetition means one comparison,
we can say that there were 81 comparisons.
You can see that doubling the size of the array (say from 9 to 18) does not simply
double the number of comparisons, but quadruples it (from 81 to 324). This
quadratic growth results in a very slow sorting algorithm, especially for large
size arrays.
Some computers are better than others for doing comparisons. In order to
measure the algorithms performance in a manner which is independent from
the computers that run them, we must rate algorithms by assigning them orders
of complexity. We call time complexityan expression that gives us an estimate
of the running time of the algorithm. For example, Count Sort requires about n2
comparisons for sorting an array of n items. Such an algorithm is said to have a
complexity of order n-squared, denoted O(n2)read as big-oh of n-squared.
This big-O notation defines an upper bound for the complexity of the
algorithms. More formally the big-O notation is defined as follows:

Section 9.2

Sorting

421

We say that g(n) is O(f(n)) if there exist two constants, C and k, such that:
|g(n)| < C |f(n)| for all n > k.
If a sort has a complexity of O(n3) it is definitely slower than Count Sort. The
best general sorts have a complexity of O(n log2 n), which is far better than
O(n2). If the sorts are very specific and limited in some way, then their
computing times could be shorter, possibly linear (of order O(n) ) or even
logarithmic (of order O(log n) ).
Space efficiencyis related to the amount of memory required. In the Count Sort
algorithm, a second array R is required for storing the ranks, so this Count Sort
algorithm is not the most economical of space. However, although the extra
array has N elements, if the original array were an array of records, the extra
array is likely to be much smaller since it only has to store Integers. The space
efficiency of the algorithm might be acceptable after all. Of course, in our
specific example, the rank array is as big as the original array (they both
contain Integers), and the space efficiency might be considered to be somewhat
weak.

Swap Sort
This family of sorts comprises a great number of variations on a common theme.
We will introduce the Swap Sort theme on a specific and very well known
example, the Bubble Sort.
Bubble Sort involves the comparison of adjacent values in the array being
sorted, and swapping them if they are not in order. The top half of Figure 9.5
shows the first pass over all the items of an original array A, where all pairs
of adjacent items are compared. After this pass we can say that the array is
slightly more sorted. Notice that the largest value (originally in position 4)
has finished in the first position, which is where it should be.
The results after each pass are summarized in the bottom half of Figure 9.5. As
we see, after pass 1, the largest value (which is 9) has bubbled up to its final
position at the top of the array, and everything else has shifted past it. After
pass 2, the second largest value (which is 8) has bubbled down to the second
position. This continues for each pass as shown by the shaded values. This
bubbling action of each value leads to the name of this sorting method, Bubble
Sort.
Note that after pass 4 all the values are already sorted, but the algorithm
continues and does all 8 passes. Why? Because in a worst case scenario, the
algorithm actually requires N1 passes for all N values to arrive at their final
positions. To check this out, try sorting some values that are already sorted in
reverse order (like A[9] = 9, A[8] = 8, etc.). Lets develop the algorithm topdown as usual, starting with a first draft of the algorithm.
Pseudocode 9.3

First draft of our Bubble Sort algorithm

Bubble Sort(A, Size)

For Pass = 1 to Size - 1 by 1
Bubble largest value up
End Bubble Sort

We now need to refine the bubbling action, where we must pass through all
pairs of adjacent elements, comparing and swapping them as we go along.

422

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Pseudocode 9.4

Second draft of our Bubble Sort algorithm

Bubble Sort(A, Size)

For Pass = 1 to Size - 1 by 1
For Index = Size - 1 to 1 by -1
Compare adjacent values and swap them if increasing
End Bubble Sort

Figure 9.5

Bubble Sort

Trace of Pass 1
Before
A[I]

I
1

2
3

5
4

5
4

5
4

5
4

5
4

5
4

9
5

8
5

4
5

9
1

9
1

9
1

9
1

9
7

4
7

4
7

6
7

7
6

7
6

7
6

7
6

1
6

9
7
1
6

5
9
4
7
1
6

1
6

1
6

8
9

3
2

3
2

3
2

3
2

3
2

3
2

3
2

3
2

3
2

After the first pass, the largest value 9 "bubbles" to the top position.

After
A[I]

A[I]
1

2
3

5
4

8
7

8
7

8
7

8
7

8
7

8
7

8
7

4
5

9
1

5
4

6
5

6
5

6
5

6
5

6
5

6
5

6
7

7
6

6
1

4
3

4
3

4
3

4
3

4
3

4
3

8
9

3
2

3
2

1
2

2
1

2
1

2
1

2
1

2
1

After pass = 1

5
4
7
1
6
3

Note that all values are already

sorted at this stage. The rest of the
passes just "go thru the motions".

We reach the final and complete algorithm by specifying the details of the
comparison.
Pseudocode 9.5
The Swap subalgorithm was
introduced in
Chapter 5,
Figure 5.12.

Final version of our Bubble Sort algorithm

Bubble Sort(A, Size)

For Pass = 1 to Size - 1 by 1
For Index = Size - 1 to 1 by -1
If A[Index] < A[Index + 1]
Swap A[Index] and A[Index + 1]
End Bubble Sort

Swap Sort Analysis

As the pseudocode shows, this Bubble Sort algorithm requires (N1) passes (in
our case, 8 of them). Furthermore, each of these passes requires (N1)
comparisons, for a total of (N1)(N1) comparisons. In our example of Figure
9.5, we have 9 elements to sort, so we need 64 comparisons. This algorithm is

Section 9.2

Sorting

423

already better than the Count Sort (which required 81 comparisons), and could
be improved still further.
There are many ways to improve this Bubble Sort. Perhaps the easiest
improvement comes from noticing that each pass can be one comparison shorter
than the previous pass (because at the end of each pass one item has bubbled to
its final position and should not be considered any more). So on pass 1 we still
make 8 comparisons, but on pass 2 we need make only 7 comparisons since the 1 is
already in its final position. On pass 3, we need only 6 comparisons, and so on
until the eighth pass where we need make only 1 comparison. The total number
of comparisons for our specific example is then
(8 + 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1) = 36
which is less than half of the 81 comparisons of Count Sort.
We can generalize this result for an array of N values. In this case, the number
of comparisons necessary for an improved Bubble Sort is
C = ( N 1) + ( N 2) + (N 3)++3 + 2 + 1
or
C=

N (N 1)
2

Lets compare the new and improved Bubble Sort to the first sort, Count Sort.
In Count Sort, N 2 comparisons were needed. Here, using the new and improved
Bubble Sort, N(N-1)/2 comparisons are needed.
If we were to sort big arrays, where N is very large, we notice two things:
Count Sort would need N2 comparisons
Improved Bubble Sort would only need half as many comparisons:
N 2/2. This is because when N is large, N(N-1) N2.
So we can say that improved Bubble Sort is almost twice as fast as Count Sort,
but both sorts have complexity O(N2). If you do not know the above formula, its
derivation is shown below.

The formula
C =

N ( N 1)
2

for the sum of the first N-1 natural numbers is easy to derive by noting that the sum C can be
expressed in two ways:
C = ( N 1) + ( N 2) + ( N 3)++3 + 2 + 1
and
C = 1 + 2 + 3++ ( N 3) + ( N 2) + ( N 1)
If we add both formulas, forming the sum term by term, we get the following:
2C = (( N 1) + 1) + (( N 2) + 2)++(2 + ( N 2)) + (1 + ( N 1))
Notice that each of these N1 terms has a value of N, so that
2C = N ( N 1) .
The formula below is equivalent to the one above as an expression for the sum of the first N
natural numbers:
1 + 2 + 3++( N 3) + ( N 2) + ( N 1) + N =

N ( N + 1)
2

424

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Another way to prove this is to use induction:

1.

Show that it holds for N = 1.

2.

Suppose it holds for N, show that it also holds for N+1.

Select Sort
The Select Sort algorithm is based on the selection of extreme values, either
the maximum value or the minimum value. For example, the algorithm could
start by finding the maximum value of the array to be sorted. This value is
then noted, put into another array and eliminated from the original array.
This process is repeated on the remaining original array: the maximum of the
remaining values is selected, recorded and eliminated. So, as the sorted array
is filled, piece by piece, the original one is emptied, piece by piece. This cycle
continues until the N values in the array have been recorded.
Figure 9.6

Select Sort

Trace of the First Pass

Before
A[I]
8
5
4
9
1
7
6
3
2

After
A[I]

trace of how the maximum M

of array A is found
M=

8
M=

8
M=

8
M=

9
M=

9
M=

9
M=

9
M=

9
M=

8
5
4
0
1
7
6
3
2

after the first pass

I
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Maximum
B[I]

After
B[I]
9

9
8

9
8
7

9
8
7
6

9
8
7
6
5

9
8
7
6
5
4

9
8
7
6
5
4
3

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

After pass = 1

The top half of Figure 9.6 shows the first pass over our array of positive
integers. The first maximum value is found to be 9, is output (or stored in
another array), and its value is replaced by zero.
The bottom half of Figure 9.6 shows snapshots of the resulting array B after
each pass. Notice that the original array A is slowly destroyed in the process,
ultimately becoming an array of zeros. Lets develop our Select Sort algorithm
using our usual top-down approach. We loop N times, one pass for each value in
the array to be sorted.

Section 9.2

Pseudocode 9.6

Sorting

425

Rough draft of Select Sort algorithm

Select Sort(Table, Size, Result)

For Pass = 1 to Size by 1
Set Maximum value
Output Maximum
Eliminate Maximum
End Select Sort

Lets refine the various parts of the algorithm. During each pass, the maximum
value is found, stored in the resulting array and eliminated from the original
array.
Pseudocode 9.7

Refined version of Select Sort algorithm

Select Sort(Table, Size, Result)

For Pass = 1 to Size by 1
Set Maximum to 0
For Index = 1 to Size by 1
Compare Maximum to Table[Index]
Update Maximum and Position if necessary
Set Result[Pass] to Maximum
Set Table[Position] to 0
End Select Sort

finding the
Maximum
value in A

Lets refine further the algorithm into its final form. The Maximum is
compared in turn to each value in the array and updated together with its
position in the original array.
Pseudocode 9.8

Final form of Select Sort algorithm

Select Sort(Table, Size, Result)

For Pass = 1 to Size by 1
Set Maximum to 0
For Index = 1 to Size by 1
If Maximum < Table[Index]
Set Maximum to Table[Index]
Set Position to Index
Set Result[Pass] to Maximum
Set Table[Position] to 0
End Select Sort

finding the
Maximum
value in A

The Select Sort method, as we have presented it, only works with positive
integers, since eliminated values were replaced by zero, the smallest positive
integer. If the data had included negative values, we would have to modify
our algorithm to mark deleted items with the lowest possible negative value
available.

Select Sort Analysis

The analysis of this sorting algorithm shows that there are N passes, and that
each pass examines the N elements of the table. Consequently there are N2
comparisons, which is similar to what we found for Count Sort. This version of
Select Sort uses a second array to store the result, which, as we have already
seen, is not the most efficient use of space.
We can improve this algorithm in several ways:
We could first take the initial value of Maximum to be the first value
in the table, and thus reduce the number of comparisons to N1.
We could also combine the selection with swapping, as follows. Instead
of storing the first Maximum found into a second array, we swap it

426

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

with the first element of the table. Then the Maximum of the rest of
the array is found and is swapped with the second element of the table.
This selection and swapping continues until the entire array is sorted.
This Select Swap Sort involves only one array, the original array,
which is considered during the sort to be split into two parts, a sorted
part initially empty, and the rest of the array which is unsorted. The
sorted part will grow until it occupies the entire array.

Insert Sort
The fourth sorting method, Insert Sort, involves entering one item at a time
from the original array A into a sorted array B by moving the existing items in
B to make room for the inserted item. It is rather like a card player sorting a
hand. Initially, the sorted array B is empty, and the items are inserted into it
one at a time. B grows as the sort proceeds. This algorithm has a form very
similar to all the sorting algorithms we have seen and, for that reason, we
leave it as an exercise.

9.3

More Complex Sorting

Improving Sorts
The four sorts we considered are the simplest forms of the four basic methods.
As we have already glimpsed, many variations and improvements are possible
on each of these sorts. Here we will consider some ways of improving the
Bubble Sort algorithm.
The first improvement was already discussed when we noticed that each pass
could be one shorter than the previous pass, because at the end of each pass one
item had bubbled to its final position. So, on Pass 1, we must make Size 1
comparisons, on Pass 2 we must make Size 2 comparisons and for a given Pass
we only have to make Size Pass comparisons. This leads us to the algorithm
in Pseudocode 9.9.
Pseudocode 9.9

Improvement to Bubble Sort algorithm

Bubble Sort(A, Size)

For Pass = 1 to Size - 1 by 1
For Index = 1 to Size - Pass by -1
If A[Index] < A[Index + 1]
Swap A[Index] and A[Index + 1]
End Bubble Sort

Only one change

is necessary:
1 was changed
to Pass.

In the pseudocode describing the algorithm, this improvement is made by

simply changing the inner loop terminal value from 1 to Pass as shown above.
In the presentation of the example of Figure 9.5, we have already noted that
after Pass 4 the array was already completely sorted. This shows that the
number of passes the outer loop does are not always necessary. Hence, this
number, Size 1 is a worst case maximum. In fact, in many cases like in our
example, the array is sorted before all Size 1 passes are done.
In order to not be wasteful, we can try to detect when the array is fully sorted
and stop the loop right away. When a full pass is made without any swapping
(like pass 4 in the example of Figure 9.5), this means that the array is ordered.
To check this, we will use a logical variable, Finished, that will be set to True

Section 9.3

More Complex Sorting

427

before each pass, and set to False whenever we actually do a swap. This way,
if during a pass we do not have a swap we can stop the process because the
values are all in order.
Pseudocode 9.10

More efficient version of Bubble Sort algorithm

Bubble Sort(A, Size)

Set Finished to False
Set Pass to 1
While (Pass < Size) AND NOT Finished
Set Finished to True
For Index = Size - 1 to Pass by -1
If A[Index] < A[Index + 1]
Set Finished to False
Swap A[Index] and A[Index + 1]
Increment Pass
End Bubble Sort

If a swap is done,
Finished is set to False.

The above pseudocode implements this solution by changing slightly our

original pseudocode. With this new version, if the original array is already
sorted, only one pass will be made!
You may have wondered why the inner loop of our Bubble Sort algorithm
works backward. We must admit that this was done so that you could see the
largest value bubbling up to the top of the list. If the inner loop had worked
forward, you would have seen the smallest value sink to the bottom. This
would have been fine if the algorithm had been called Sink Sort. Either
way, the result is the same. Try it for yourself and see. In the following
examples, the inner loop works forward.
We can further improve our example of Bubble Sort in a major way by only
comparing those values that are situated at a given distance apart instead of
comparing adjacent values. The idea is that when two values that are a
Distance apart are swapped, this possibly saves Distance individual swaps.
Such a method of sorting is called Shell Sort. It starts by comparing values
that are a distance Size/2 apart, then on the next cycle it compares values that
are Size/4 apart, then values that are Size/8 apart, and so on. It continues to
reduce this distance until finally it compares adjacent values. This last pass
resembles our original version of the Bubble Sort algorithm, but as the values
have already been largely pre-sorted, the number of actual swaps is low.
Figure 9.7 illustrates the Shell Sort method. During the first pass we consider
the sequences (8, 1, 2), (5, 7), (4, 6), (9, 3). They are sorted and in the second
cycle we consider the sequences (8, 6, 2, 4, 1) and (7, 9, 5, 3). The last cycle
considers the entire array. In the figure, the comparisons that actually lead to
a swap are marked with crossed arrows. Pseudocode 9.11 illustrates this Shell
Sort algorithm.
Pseudocode 9.11

The Shell Sort algorithm

Shell Sort(Table, Size)

Set distance to Size/2
While Distance 1
Distant Bubble Sort (Table, Distance, Size)
Divide Distance by 2
End Shell Sort

Shell Sort uses a modified version of Bubble Sort called Distant Bubble Sort.
This version compares subsets of values from the original array, values that are
Distance apart. To do that, we have to modify the part of our latest version of

428

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Bubble Sort shown below so that the comparisons are made between values
Distance apart.
Pseudocode 9.12

Section of Bubble Sort algorithm to be changed

For Index = 1 to Size Pass by 1

If A[Index] < A[Index + 1]
Set Finished to False
Swap A[Index] and A[Index + 1]

The inner For loop above must be changed to a While loop, and the comparison
and swap must be changed so that elements Distance apart (not adjacent
anymore) are considered. Another necessary modification was to make certain
all sequences of spaced values were processed. To do that, we had to repeat this
inner loop Distance times, as the number of such sequences is equal to Distance.
These modifications, the addition of three nested loops, lead to a more
complicated algorithm, Distant Bubble Sort, which makes it harder to
follow. The algorithm is shown in Pseudocode 9.13.
Figure 9.7

The Shell Sort process

A[I]
After Cycle 1

A[I]
Before Cycle 1
8

5
4

5
4

5
4

7
4

7
6

7
6

9
1

9
1

9
2

9
2

9
2

9
2

7
6

7
6

7
6

5
6

5
4

5
4

3
2

3
2

3
1

3
1

3
1

3
1

Distance = _9
2

4 apart

A[I]
Before Cycle 2
8
7
6
9
2
5
4
3
1

A[I]
After Cycle 2
8
7
6
9
2
5
4
3
1

8
7
6
9
2
5
4
3
1

8
7
6
9
4
5
2
3
1
Distance = _94

8
7
6
9
4
5
2
3
1

2 apart

8
9
6
7
4
5
2
3
1

8
9
6
7
4
5
2
3
1

8
9
6
7
4
5
2
3
1

Section 9.3

More Complex Sorting

429

A[I]
After Cycle 3

A[I]
Before Cycle 3
8

9
6

8
6

8
6

8
7

8
7

8
7

8
7

8
7

8
7

7
4

7
4

7
4

6
4

6
4

6
5

6
5

6
5

6
5

5
2

5
2

5
2

5
2

5
2

4
2

4
2

4
3

4
3

3
1

3
1

3
1

3
1

3
1

3
1

3
1

2
1

2
1

Distance = _9
8

Pseudocode 9.13

1 apart

The Distant Bubble Sort algorithm

Distant Bubble Sort (A, Distance, Size)

Set Finished to False
Set Pass to 1
While (Pass < Size) AND NOT Finished
Set Finished to True
For Start = 1 to Distance by 1
Set Index to Start
While Index Size Distance
If A [Index] < A[Index + Distance]
Set finished to False
Swap A[Index] and A[Index + Distance]
Increment Index by Distance
Increment Pass
End Distant Bubble Sort

As the algorithm is more complex, the analysis of Shell Sort is far from trivial
and is beyond our scope, so we will not do it here. Suffice it to say that the
complexity of Shell Sort is O(n1.2), which makes it better than the sorts we
have seen so far, but still not quite as good as a number of other sorts that are
more efficient, like Radix Sort, Heap Sort, and Quick Sort. Depending on the
data they process, these sorts have complexities going from O(n) to O(n log n).
They will not be presented here, but in the next section dealing with recursion,
we will look at a similarly efficient sort called Merge Sort.

Recursive Sorts
The idea of recursive subprograms was introduced in Chapter 7. A recursive
subprogram is one that invokes itself. Recursionis often a very useful technique
to solve complex problems, and we will use it here for manipulating simple
arrays. Later in this chapter, it will be applied to more complex structures.
Lets start with a simple example to illustrate the use of recursion with an
array. Summing the N numerical elements of a Table array (which was seen in
our mean and variance examples of Chapter 8) can also be done by adding the
last value Table[N] to the sum of the remaining (N1) values. Using function
Sum, this can be formally written as shown below:
Sum(Table, N) = Table[N] + Sum(Table, N - 1)
Function Sum is thus defined recursively (in terms of itself). The base case,
which causes the recursion to terminate, is obtained by realizing that the sum is
zero for an array with no element. The complete recursive summing up
algorithm is shown in Pseudocode 9.14.

430

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Pseudocode 9.14

The recursive Sum Up algorithm

Sum Up(Table, Size) function

If Size is 0
Return 0
base case
Else
Return Table[Size] + Sum Up(Table, Size - 1)
End Sum Up

As another example of the use of recursion with arrays, lets look at how to
reverse the elements of an array. Among the many ways this reversal can be
done, well choose to do it recursively by following two steps:
1

Swap the end points of the array, and

Apply the same Reverse algorithm to the remaining items, as shown in

Figure 9.8. The end points Left and Right correspond to the positions of
the array element. They continue to move inward, and the recursion
stops when they meet (base case).

Figure 9.8
1
Left

Recursive Reverse
1

M A R G O R P

7
Right

P A R G O R M

P R R G O A M

.......

P R O G R A M

The following pseudocode defines this recursive reversal.

Pseudocode 9.15

Recursive Reverse algorithm

Reverse(Left, Right, Table)

If Left < Right
Swap Table[Left] with Table[Right]
Reverse(Left + 1, Right - 1, Table)
End Reverse

Lets take now a more complete example of the use of recursion with arrays.
Another Swap Sort method for an array of N elements, Merge Sort, can be
defined as a recursive algorithm by finding the array midpoint, and splitting
the array into two arrays starting at indices First and Middle+1. Then these
two arrays are sorted (by calling this same Merge Sort algorithm!). Once
sorted, the two parts are finally merged together.
Pseudocode 9.16

The Merge Sort

Merge Sort(First, Last, Table)

If First Last
Set Middle to (First + Last) / 2
Merge Sort(First, Middle, Table)
Merge Sort(Middle + 1, Last, Table)
Merge(First, Last, Table)
End Merge Sort

Section 9.3

More Complex Sorting

431

Figure 9.9 illustrates the Merge Sort method applied to the set of data that
we have been using in the other sorting algorithms.
The left half of the figure shows a succession of array splitting operations,
corresponding to the recursive calls. The right half of the figure shows the
reconstruction of the array through invocations of the Merge subprogram.
Although this Merge Sort mechanism might look complex, this sort is
considerably faster than all the sorting methods considered thus far.
Figure 9.9

Merge Sort execution

8

8
5
8

Split

Merge
5

8
5
Merge

Split
4

4
9

4
Split

Merge

9
8
5

7
6

Split

1
7

Merge

1
Split

Merge
7

6
Split

3
Split

Merge
3

Split
6
3
Merge
2

Merge

The merging of the two sub-arrays is done simply with an index sliding down
each array, with the maximum value of the two indexed values put into the
array Result, as shown by the following pseudocode:
Pseudocode 9.17

The Merge Sub-algorithm

Merge(First, Last, Table)

Set Index to 1
Set Middle to (First + Last)/2
Set Top to First
Set Bottom to Middle + 1
While (Top Middle) AND (Bottom Last)
If Table[Top] > Table[Bottom]
Set Result[Index] to Table[Top]
Increment Top
Else
Set Result[Index] to Table[Bottom]
Increment Bottom
Increment Index
Copy remaining elements to Result
Copy Result back to Table
End Merge

The method of Bisection described in Chapter 6 is similar in behavior to the

Merge Sort algorithm. In both methods the array is repeatedly split until we
are left with one element sub-arrays. The number of times we split a sub-array
is easily found if we note that the size of the sub-arrays is divided by two at
each pass:
N

N/2

N/4

N/8

...

N/2P

432

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

The last size is equal to 1 which gives us the following:

N/2P = 1

or

2P = N or

p = log2 N

The number of passes, or the number of times the array is split, is thus log2 N.
Merge Sort must also perform as many merges as there were splits, and each
merge operation is O(N). The performance of Merge Sort is therefore
proportional to the product Nlog2N, and its time complexity is O(N log N).
This complexity is considerably better than the O(N2) performance of all the
previous sorting algorithms.
To obtain a better perspective on algorithm complexity, lets look at the time
complexities of the other recursive algorithms we have seen so far. Algorithms
Sum up and Reverse both have a linear complexity of O(N), while algorithm
Merge Sort has a larger time complexity of O(N log N).

9.4

Searching
Searching for a particular item in a table is a very common operation. The item
searched is sometimes called the search key or the target. If the item occurs in
the table, we would like to know its position. If it is not in the table, we would
like to receive a special value that can be tested for, or some message to
indicate its absence. In some cases, we might even want to count the number of
times the required item occurs in the table.
Figure 9.10 Searching for data items
Data items
1

11

2
3

38
23

4
5

19
38

7
...

13

Sample data
Key

38

Item searched

Index

Count

Number found

Position

Position of last item found

Number

13

Items in table

The data structure of Figure 9.10 shows an array of 13 items. We are to search
the array for a given item Key, to count in the variable Count the number of
times it is found and to record in the variable Position the index of the last
item found with the given key.
Of the many ways to search, we will consider the two most important ways:
Linear search; and
Binary search.

Linear Searching
The simplest search, a linear search, involves one pass over the elements of an
entire array. The following pseudocode illustrates a simple sequential or linear
search algorithm.

Section 9.4

Pseudocode 9.18

Searching

433

The Linear Search algorithm

Lenear Search
Input Array(Table, Number)
Input Key
Set Position to 0
Set Count to 0
For Index = 1 to Number by 1
If Table[Index] = Key
Increment Count
increments counter
each time a key is found
Set Position to Index
If Count = 0
Output "Not found"
Else
Output "Found" Count "at position" Position
End Linear Search

This algorithm examines each element in the array once, incrementing the
counter of found items when it finds an array element equal to the Key.
Position indicates the position of the last occurrence found. If only the first
occurrence is required, then the algorithm can be easily modified, replacing the
For loop by a While loop as shown in Pseudocode 9.19. If the item is not found,
the value of Count remains zero.
In our example in Figure 9.10, if the key were 38, the following would be output.
Found 2 at position 5
If we require only the first occurrence, we can define a faster linear search
algorithm, where the loop stops with Position indicating the first occurrence.
Pseudocode 9.19 illustrates this change.
Pseudocode 9.19

The Fast Linear Search algorithm

Fast Linear Search

Input Array(Table, Number of Items)
Input Key
Set Position to 1
While (Position Number of Items) AND (Table[Position] Key)
Increment Position
If Position > Number of Items
only
Output "Not found"
searching
for first
Else
occurence
Output "Found at position" Position
of key
End Fast Linear Search

With this faster search, the item might be found after only a few comparisons
or after inspecting almost all the elements in the table. It depends on where
the item is located. On average, half of the elements of the table must be
inspected before finding the desired element, which gives the Fast Linear
Search a complexity of O(N).

Binary Searching
The previous two versions of the linear search were general, and made no
assumptions about the data. Sometimes the data values in the table are sorted,
in increasing or decreasing order, and we can use this fact to speed up the search.

434

Chapter 9

We used the
Bisection
method as early
as in Chapter 4
for our guessing
game.

Algorithms To Run With

We can use the method of Bisection described in Chapter 6 to keep reducing the
size of the part of the array to be searched until either we find the item, or we
know that it is not present. The binary searchalgorithm proceeds by halving
the search range at each stage. You may wish to create this Binary search
algorithm on your own by modifying the Bisection algorithm described in
Chapter 6 (Pseudocode 6.26).
The Binary search method is considerably faster than the previous linear
search algorithms. For example, searching an array of N items requires N/2
comparisons, on average, using a fast linear search algorithm. On the other
hand, using a binary search method only requires log 2N comparisons. This
means that, for an array of 1000 items, the fast linear search makes on the
average 500 comparisons, whereas the binary search makes only 10
comparisons. For arrays with very large sizes the contrast is even more
significant; for a million items the linear search will make 500 000 comparisons
whereas the binary search makes only 20 comparisons!
Of course, remember that nothing is free, and to achieve this speed, the binary
search requires the initial array to be sorted. If a sort has to be done before the
binary search, this will add quite a number of additional comparisons. But if
the array, once sorted, is searched often, this binary search method is
extremely efficient.

Pattern Matching
Sometimes, we need to do a different kind of searching called Pattern
Matching. Pattern Matching is necessary when we are searching a string of
characters for a particular sequence of characters. It can be accomplished by
trying to match the particular pattern as we move it along the string, like in
Figure 9.11.
Figure 9.11 Pattern matching
S_Index
String =
1

Pattern =

String =

Pattern =

N o w

String =

N o w

Pattern =

N o w

Lets look at 2 different pattern matching algorithms called Search and

Countand Find First Match. The first pattern matching algorithm, Search
and Count, is a rather simple and plodding algorithm. It examines the entire
string and counts the number of times the given pattern is found. At each
character in the string (except for the last characters for which the pattern
would go beyond the string end) we check to see if the pattern fits.
This algorithm skeleton (Pseudocode 9.20) is extremely simple but we have yet
to give the details of how the pattern comparison is done: it is performed one

Section 9.4

Searching

435

character at a time. Each character of the pattern is compared to the

corresponding character in the string; if a difference is discovered, the logical
indicator Found is set to false, as there is no match. Note in Figure 9.11 how
the pattern is compared to parts of the string, 4 characters at a time.
Pseudocode 9.20

Skeleton of Search and Count algorithm

Search and Count

Set Count to 0
For S_Index = 1 to (String length Pattern length + 1) by 1
If Pattern fits after position S_Index
Increment Count
Output Count
End Search and Count

The expanded algorithm (Pseudocode 9.21) is not very efficient because it keeps
comparing the characters of the pattern and the string even after setting Found
to False.
Pseudocode 9.21

The Search and Count algorithm

Search and Count

Set Count to 0
For S_Index = 1 to (String length-Pattern length + 1) by 1
Set Found to True
For P_Index = 1 to Pattern length by 1
If Pattern[P_Index] String[S_Index + P_Index - 1]
Set Found to False
If Found
Increment Count
Output Count
End Search and Count

Our second example of a pattern matching algorithm, Find First Match, will
be faster, because it stops after finding the first match, and compares the
characters of the pattern to the characters of the string only until it finds a
mismatch. Once a mismatch is found, the pattern is moved forward in the
string for another try. In order for this algorithm to stop when finding the first
match, we will use a logical flag to indicate this condition as soon as it
happens. Pseudocode 9.22 defines this new pattern matching algorithm.
Pseudocode 9.22

The Find First Match algorithm

Find First Match

Set Found to False
Set S_Index to 1
While S_Index (String length - Pattern length + 1) AND NOT Found
Check if Pattern fits
Increment S_Index
If Found
Output "Found at " S_Index
Else
Output "Not present"
End Find First Match

We still have to define the details of the actual pattern matching. We are
using a solution similar to our previous algorithm, but modifying it so that the
process stops as soon as a mismatch is detected. To do that, we use another
logical indicator, Equal, to transmit the result of the pattern matching to the
enclosing loop (Pseudocode 9.23).

436

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Pseudocode 9.23
pattern matching

The Find First Match algorithm with detailed

Find First Match

Set Found to False
Set S_Index to 1
While S_Index (String length - Pattern length + 1) AND NOT Found
Set Equal to True
Set P_Index to 1
While P_Index Pattern length AND Equal
If Pattern[P_Index] String[S_Index + P_Index - 1]
Set Equal to False
As soon as equal is
Increment P_Index
false (one pair of
Set Found to Equal
characters does not
match), we move on to
Increment S_Index
next string chunk.
If Found
Output S_Index
Else
Output "Not present"
End Find First Match

These two pattern matching algorithms are rather simple, but are not the most
efficient pattern matching algorithms. There are other much faster pattern
matching algorithms, such as the Boyer-Moore algorithm, the Knuth-MorrisPratt algorithm and the Rabin-Karp algorithm. These algorithms go beyond
our scope and will not be presented here.

9.5

Implementing Abstract Data Types

In Chapter 8, we defined and used Abstract Data Types without giving any
information about their implementation. In order to run programs involving
ADTs, we need to learn how to implement them. The pattern matching
algorithms we just saw could be part of the implementation of the String ADT,
which will not be covered here.

Stacks
Stacks were introduced in Chapter 8 as an abstract data type with the
following operations:
Create a stack.
Push an item onto a stack: the new stack top contains the pushed item.
Pop an item from a stack: the result is the top stack item, which is
deleted from the stack.
Check if a stack is empty.
Check if a stack is full.
Count the number of elements in a stack.
Stacks can be implemented in many ways. Here we will look at two
implementations, one using arrays, and the other using pointers.

Section 9.5

Implementing Abstract Data Types

437

Implementing Stacks with Arrays

Figure 9.12 Four ways of implementing stacks as arrays
1
2
3

1
2
3

Method a

Top
Bottom

1
2
3

1
2
3

Top

Bottom

Bottom

Top

Method b

Method c

Bottom
Top

Method d

We can use arrays to implement stacks and this can be done in a number of
different ways as shown in Figure 9.12, where the bottom and top of the stacks
are shown as well as the indices of the array. Notice how the indexing changes
from method to method. Each of the following four methods is analogous to a
physical situation
Method a corresponds to books in a box; the first book put in goes to the
bottom and the top changes as books are placed on the stack.
Method b corresponds to stacks of plates in some restaurants, where the
top plate is at the counter level, and the bottom plate is moved up by a
spring whenever the top plate is taken.
Method c corresponds to a number of drinking cups in a dispenser where
the top cup is at the bottom, and as it is taken all the cups move down
one.
Method d corresponds to lighter than air balloons in a vertical tube,
with the bottom balloon floating at the ceiling.
Selection of one of these stack implementations is made easy if you realize that
Methods b and c require all the items in a stack to be moved when the top is
pushed or popped. Methods a and d are better candidates for our
implementation; they do not involve such inefficient moving of the stack
elements. We might choose the first way, Method a, to implement our stacks,
for it seems more natural in that the stack Top can be represented at the top of
the page. On the other hand, it would seem more natural to number the array
elements from the bottom of the stack as Method d does. So well choose
Method d but we will reverse it in the diagram as shown in Figure 9.13.
Figure 9.13 One stack implementation
Array contains
N elements.

arrays

N
Push

Bottom

3
2
1

Finally
Pop
Initially

Top

Variation of Method d

Our choice consists of an array with N elements, and a variable, Top, which
indicates the stack top. Because of the structure we chose, the implementation
of the various stack operations is simple. First, we create an empty stack as
shown by the following pseudocode.

438

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Pseudocode 9.24

Create Stack using arrays

Create Stack
Set Top to 0
End Create Stack

Checking whether or not a stack is full is easily done by checking if the stack
top is at the last element in the array.
Pseudocode 9.25

Stack Full function using arrays

Stack Full function

If Top = N
Return True
Else
Return False
End Stack Full

To check if the stack is empty, we check to see if the stack Top is zero.
Pseudocode 9.26

Stack Empty function using arrays

Stack Empty function

If Top = 0
Return True
Else
Return False
End Stack Empty

We cannot push an item onto a full stack. If the stack is not full, the Top of the
stack moves up one position and the item is copied into the next position.
Pseudocode 9.27

Push on Stack algorithm using arrays

Push on Stack(Item)
If Stack Full
Output "The stack is full"
Else
Increment Top
Set Stack[Top] to Item
End Push on Stack

We cannot pop an item from an empty stack. If the stack is not empty, the Top
of the stack is copied into Item, and the Top is changed to point to the next item
on the stack.
Pseudocode 9.28

Pop from Stack algorithm using arrays

Pop from Stack(Item)

If Stack Empty
Output "The stack is empty"
Else
Set Item to Stack[Top]
Decrement Top
End Pop from Stack

As always, remember that there are many different ways of doing things and
the implementation of stacks is no different. The implementation we have just
seen has the disadvantage that the stack size must be fixed once and for all,
when we choose the array to represent our stack. Each time an application
needs more space in its stack, we must redefine the array used in the
implementation.

Section 9.5

Implementing Abstract Data Types

439

Implementing Stacks with Pointers

To solve the problem of the fixed stack size we just mentioned, we can abandon
the array implementation of stacks and use dynamic variables instead. In fact,
we can use the dynamic list representation that was introduced in Chapter 8
(Figure 8.42) to implement our stack abstract data type. In that case, a stack
will be represented as shown in Figure 9.14
The creation of a stack will be done easily by giving the stack pointer a NIL
pointer value (pointer pointing nowhere), indicating that there are no elements
in the stack. Its algorithm is shown in Pseudocode 9.29.
Pseudocode 9.29
Notice that we
are creating a
stack in the
opposite
direction from
the creation of a
dynamic list in
Chapter 8, (see
Figure 8.46).

Create Stack
Set Stack to NIL
End Create Stack

Algorithm for creating a stack

"Stack" is the name of the
pointer to the top of the list

Checking whether a stack is empty is easy, as shown in Pseudocode 9.30.

Pseudocode 9.30

Stack Empty function using pointers

Stack Empty function

If Stack = NIL
Return True
Else
Return False
End Stack Empty

Checking whether a stack is full cannot be done as it was done with the array
implementation. If a call to New, which creates a new element, fails, then we
will know all the memory has been used up. This is equivalent to having a full
stack.
Figure 9.14 A dynamic stack
Stack

Stack
Bottom of stack
First New Top created

New Top
Item 4

Item 3

Item 2

Item 1

The pointer variable Stack will always point to the top element of the stack.
Our Push and Pop operations will be redefined by Pseudocode 9.31 and 9.32.
Pseudocode 9.31

Redefinition of Push on Stack algorithm

Push on Stack(Item)
Set New Top to New(Element)
If memory allocated
Set New Top Information to Item
Set New Top Next to Stack
Set Stack to New Top
Else
Output "No more memory"
End Push on Stack

Before pushing a new element onto the stack, we need to create that element.
This is done by a call to New. If this memory allocation is successful, we copy
the information into the new element. Remember we use New Top-> to refer to

440

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

the dynamic variable indicated by pointer New Top. We connect the new
element to the top element of the stack through its Next pointer field, and we
change the value of Stack to indicate this new element as the top element. Try
to follow this algorithm as you add Item 5 to the stack of Figure 9.14.
Note:

The dashed items in Figure 9.14 were added to help you visualize
the Push operation.

Pseudocode 9.32

Redefinition of Pop from Stack algorithm

Pop from Stack(Item)

If Stack Empty
Output "The stack is empty"
Else
Set Item to Stack Information
Set Old Top to Stack
Set Stack to Stack Next
Dispose(Old Top)
End Pop from Stack

We cannot pop an item from an empty stack, so we must check for that condition.
If the stack is not empty, the top element of the stack is copied into Item, and
Stack is changed to point to the next element on the stack, while the old top
element is freed (Dispose is the inverse operation of New). Try to follow this
algorithm as you delete Item 4 from the stack in Figure 9.14.

Queues
Queues were introduced in Chapter 8 as an ADT with the following operations:
Create a queue.
Check if a queue is empty.
Check if a queue is full.
Count the elements in a queue.
Enter an element into a queue.
Remove an element from a queue.
As was the case with the stack, there are many ways of implementing queues.
We will show only two here: one based on the use of an array, and another one
based on dynamic elements.

Implementing Queues of Arrays

Figure 9.15 shows a queueimplementation using an array to store the queue
elements. Two variables Front and Rear indicate the array position of the
front and rear elements. Another variable Size indicates the number of
elements in the queue

Section 9.5

Implementing Abstract Data Types

441

Figure 9.15 A queue implementation

Front

2
3

Rear

4
5

9
8

4
-

Size
4

As items are entered in the queue, the rear indicator advances, and as items are
removed from the queue the front indicator also advances, leaving behind some
used values. So the queue snakes through the array. As each indicator
passes the last item of the array it continues to the first item, thus creating a
circular array.
The algorithm to create a queue initially sets both Front and Rear variables to
the first index, and sets the Size of the queue to zero, as shown below.
Pseudocode 9.33

Create Queue algorithm using arrays

Creat Queue
Set Front to 1
Set Reat to 1
Set Size to 0
End Create Queue

The functions to check whether the queue is empty or the queue is full are
obvious, as illustrated by Pseudocode 9.34.
Pseudocode 9.34

Queue Empty and Queue Full using arrays

Queue Empty function

If Size = 0
Return True
Else
Return False
End Queue Empty

Queue Full function

If Size = N
Return True
Else
Return False
End Queue Full

The function to count the elements in a queue is trivial since the Size variable
tells us how many there are.
Pseudocode 9.35

Count Queue function using arrays

Count Queue function

Return Size
End Count Queue

To implement the Enter and Remove operations, we need a small utility

algorithm to advance the front and rear indicators in a cyclic manner in the
array. Advance index increases the index by l, but if the new index value goes
beyond the end of the array, it is reset to one. The pseudocode for Enter Queue
is self-explanatory and is shown below.

442

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Pseudocode 9.36

Enter Queue algorithm using arrays

Enter Queue(Item)
If Queue is full
Output "The queue is full"
Else
Advance Rear
Set Queue[Rear] to Item
Increment Size
End Enter Queue

The pseudocode for Remove from Queue is also self-explanatory.

Pseudocode 9.37

Remove Queue algorithm using arrays

Remove from Queue(Item)

If Queue is empty
Output "The queue is empty"
Else
Set Item to Queue[Front]
Advance Front
Decrement Size
End Remove from Queue

Implementing Queues with Pointers

The second queue implementation we will briefly present here is based on
dynamic variables. We will use a data structure based on a dynamic list, as
shown in Figure 9.16
Figure 9.16 A dynamic queue
New Rear
Front

Item 1

Rear

Item 2

Item 3

Rear

Item 4

The variables Front and Rear are pointer variables and the elements in the
queue are dynamic variables. With this representation for queues, the creation
operation is simple and just sets the Front and Rear pointers to NIL pointers.
The Enter Queue algorithm is defined by Pseudocode 9.38. Look at the dashed
right-hand-side of Figure 9.16 to get an idea of the operations involved.
Pseudocode 9.38

Enter Queue algorithm using pointers

Enter Queue(Item)
Set New Rear to New(Element)
If memory allocated
Set Rear Next to New Rear
Set New Rear Information to Item
Set New Rear Next to NIL
Set Rear to New Rear
Increment Size
Else
Output "No more memory"
End Enter Queue

Follow this algorithm while adding Item 5 to the queue of Figure 9.16.

Section 9.5

Implementing Abstract Data Types

443

The Remove from Queue algorithm is very similar, and is shown below.
Apply this algorithm to the queue in Figure 9.16.
Pseudocode 9.39

Remover from Queue algorithm using pointers

Remove from Queue(Item)

If Queue Empty
Output "The queue is empty"
Else
Set Item to Front Information
Set Old Front to Front
Set Front to Front Next
Dispose(Old Front)
Decrement Size
End Remove from Queue

The implementation of the other operations is easily done as it was for the
stacks, and we leave it as an exercise.

Trees
We have seen an example of the nonlinear data structure Tree in Chapter 8.
Although it is possible to represent trees using arrays, a more natural
implementation of trees uses pointers. Such a representation is illustrated in
Figure 9.17, which presents a binary search tree
Figure 9.17 A binary search tree
Tree

15

11

22

18

31

In this type of representation, a binary tree element is made of three parts: an

Information part, and two pointer parts indicating the Left and Right
descendants. Figure 9.17 represents a special kind of binary tree: a binary
search tree. At each node in a binary search tree, all the elements in the left
sub-tree have values that are less than the value of the node, while all the
elements in the right sub-tree have values greater than the node value. Binary
search trees are very useful in a number of specific applications, where
searching operations are used very often.
The operations that can be applied to trees include inserting a node, deleting a
node, searching a tree for a given value, and traversing a tree to process all its
nodes.
Lets illustrate such operations with a tree traversal operation. Trees can be
defined recursively (a tree is either empty or a node with a number of sub-trees)
and most tree algorithms are naturally expressed using recursion. The Tree
Traversal algorithm can be defined by Pseudocode 9.40.

444

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Pseudocode 9.40

The Tree Traversal algorithm

Tree Traversal(Tree)
If Tree is not empty
Tree Traversal(Tree Left)
Output Node information
Tree Traversal(Tree Right)
End Tree Traversal

Lets trace this algorithm using the tree in Figure 9.17.

We start at the root and process its Left sub-tree (Tree->Left). This will
produce the value 11. Next, we output the value of the root, 15. Then we
process the Right sub-tree of the root (Tree->Right) by recursively invoking
the Tree Traversal algorithm, starting at the node with value 22. There we
again process that nodes left sub-tree, giving the value 18. The root value of
the sub-tree, 22, is then output and, finally, we output the value of the right
sub-node of the sub-trees root, 31. Thus, the values were output in ascending
order, 11, 15, 18, 22, 31.
The Search Tree algorithm will have a similar pattern, where we start
inspecting the root, and if it is not what we are looking for, we invoke Search
Tree recursively, first on the roots Left sub-tree, and then on its Right sub-tree.
The base case remains the empty tree. Recursive algorithms are very natural
for tree structures, and make the manipulation of trees quite easy.

Section 9.6

9.6

Review

Review: Top Ten Things to Remember

445

Top Ten Things to Remember

1.

The algorithms considered in this chapter show the many ways in

which the data structures described in Chapter 8 can be manipulated
and give some idea of their applications.

2.

One of the most common operations on arrays is sorting and searching.

There are three fundamental strategies for sorting:
sort and copy: this strategy sorts an array while copying it to
another array.
sort and rank: this strategy sorts an array and stores the rank of
its elements in another array.
sort in place: this strategy sorts an array without copying it to
another array (the best as far as space complexity goes).

3.

Within the three fundamental strategies, there are many different

algorithms for sorting. These sorting methods can be divided into four
categories:
Count Sort, where comparing and counting occur;
Swap Sort, where pairs of items are swapped;
Select Sort, where extreme values are selected;
Insert Sort, where moving and inserting of values occur.

4.

Recursion can be used to sort arrays as shown by the Merge Sort

algorithm (recursive subprograms were introduced in Chapter 7).

5.

Another very common operation on arrays is searching. Searching

arrays is usually done in two basic ways:
a Linear Search; examines elements sequentially (one at a time)
a Binary Search reduces the number of searched items by half
at each comparison (but the search array must be sorted).

6.

Pattern Matching is another search method which is used to search a

string of characters for a particular pattern of characters. Two
variations of a simple pattern matching algorithm were introduced in
this chapter:

446

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

7.

The measure of the performance of various algorithms has been

introduced briefly. The time complexity of an algorithm is usually
indicated by the big-O notation. Some common complexities and
examples are shown below, beginning with the higher complexities
(slower algorithms).
Order

Order Type

Example algorithms

O(2 n )

Exponential

Traveling salesman problem1

O(n2)

Quadratic

Select Sort

O(n log n)

N log N (Entropic)

Merge Sort

O(n)

Linear

Sum, Reverse, Linear search

O(log n)

Logarithmic

Binary search

O(1)

Constant

Factorial

8.

Another way of measuring algorithms is by considering space

efficiency: the amount of memory required when executing an
algorithm.

9.

The implementation of abstract data types has been illustrated first

based on arrays, and then on dynamic variables for Stacks and Queues.

10.

The implementation of tree data structures is best done with dynamic

variables.

The problem is to find the shortest route by which a salesman

can visit a particular set of cities (in any order) given the
distance between all pairs of cities.

Section 9.7

9.7

Glossary
Execution time: The time that it
takes an algorithm to execute.
In situ: In place, applied to array
manipulations that place the results
in the original array, without the
need for duplicating the array..
Order of complexity: A measure of
the performance of an algorithm,
which shows how the number of
operations required to execute the
algorithm is related to the size of the
problem being solved by the
algorithm.
Rank: In an array, the rank of an
element is the number of array
elements that are of a greater than or
equal to it.
Space efficiency: A measure of the
amount of space required by an
algorithm during execution.
Time complexity: An expression that
gives an estimate of the execution
time of an algorithm

Glossary

447

448

Chapter 9

9.8

Problems

Algorithms To Run With

1.

Speedy Sort of Binary Values

Given an array B of N binary values (0s and 1s only), create an
algorithm to sort this array using the least number of passes.
Do this four different ways corresponding to the four methods of sorting.

2.

Median: MidArray
The middle or median value of an array of an odd number of values, N,
is that value which has as many values less than it as are greater than
it. Create an algorithm to find this Mid value.
Do it in a least two other ways.

More Problems: Manipulations of Linear Lists

3.

Slow-Sort
Given an array A of N integers (not necessarily different) ranging from 0
to 1000, create an algorithm to sort the values by checking (in increased
order) if each of the 1000 integers is in the array and if so, by outputting
the value. Compute the number of comparisons required for this sort,
and compare it to some of the other sorts.

4.

Quick Queue
Create a queue and its operations EnterQ and ExitQ, using the already
created Stack and its operations.

5.

Double Stacks
Two stacks can be implemented by a single array, with the stacks
growing toward each other as shown below. Create a general
algorithm for pushing (Push1 and Push2) and popping (Pop1 and Pop2)
the appropriate stacks.

Section 9.8

Problems

449

Problem 5
Stack 1
Bottom 1

1
2
3
4

Top 1

Top 2

Bottom 2
Stack 2

6.

More Queues
The given diagrams show two more implementations of a queue, using
arrays. The first queue Q1 always has its Head at position one of the
array, and on ExitQ all values are moved up. The second queue Q2
moves snake wise down the queue (like the circular queue), but when
the Rear hits the bottom of the array, then all entries are shifted up so
that the Front is at the top again. Create programs to Enter and Exit
these queues. Compare the two queue implementations briefly.
Problem 6
Queue 2

Queue 1
Front

Front
Rear
Rear

7.

Insert Sort
Create a sorting algorithm which enters new values into an array by
moving existing values to make space for the new value.

8.

Merge
Create an algorithm to merge two already sorted arrays into one larger
sorted array. Do this in two ways.

450

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

9.

Recursive Searches
Given an array of N items, create a recursive algorithm to search the
array. Do this as a linear search and also as a binary search.

10.

Other Tree Traversals

Using the following recursive algorithms, traverse the tree of Figure
9.17.
Problem 10
Tree Traversal 1(Tree)
If Tree is not empty
Tree Traversal 1(Tree Right)
Tree Traversal 1(Tree Left)
Output Node information
End Tree Traversal 1
Tree Traversal 2(Tree)
If Tree is not empty
Tree Traversal 2(Tree Right)
Output Node information
Tree Traversal 2(Tree Left)
End Tree Traversal 2
Tree Traversal 3(Tree)
If Tree is not empty
Output Node information
Tree Traversal 3(Tree Left)
Tree Traversal 3(Tree Right)
End Tree Traversal 3

Section 9.8

Problems

451

452

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Section 9.8

Problems

453

454

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Section 9.8

Problems

455

456

Chapter 9

Algorithms To Run With

Chapter Outline

457

Chapter 10 The Seven-Step Method

This chapter returns to the seven step problem solving method and reviews it,
using the concepts that you learned in the previous nine chapters. The chapter
then develops a complete case study, a program to create a text index, which
inregrates all the concepts covered previously.

Chapter Outline
10.1 Preview....................................................................458
10.2 The Seven-Step Method and Applications.................458
Step 1 Problem Definition........................................458
Problem Definition Application.........................460
Step 2 Solution Design..............................................461
Solution Design Application..............................461
Step 3 Solution Refinement.......................................464
Solution Refinement Application.......................464
Step 4 Testing Strategy Development.......................466
Development of Testing Strategy Application....468
Step 5 Program Coding and Testing...........................471
Step 6 Documentation Completion............................471
Documentation Completion Application.............472
Step 7 Program Maintenance.....................................474
Program Maintenance Application.....................474
10.3 An Advanced Case Study Building a Text Index........476
Step 1 Problem Definition........................................476
Step 2 Solution Design..............................................476
Step 3 Solution Refinement.......................................478
Binary Search Tree Unit....................................483
Queues Unit.......................................................486
Step 4 Development of Testing Strategy....................486
Step 5 Program Coding and Testing...........................488
Step 6 Documentation Completion............................488
Step 7 Program Maintenance.....................................489
10.4 Review Top Ten Things to Remember........................490
10.5 Glossary...................................................................491
10.6 Problems...................................................................492
Level 1 Getting Started.........................................492
Level 2 Getting Organized with Subprograms.........495
Level 3 Getting Fancier with Parameters...............498
Level 4 Getting Your Wings with Units..................501

458

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

10.1 Preview
Up until now, we have shown you that programming involves the following:
A problem-solving method that can be described by the seven steps
introduced in Chapter 2. These steps are:
1.

Problem Definition

2.

Solution Design

3.

Solution Refinement

4.

Testing Strategy Development

5.

Program Coding and Testing

6.

Documentation Completion

7.

Program Maintenance

Steps 1 to 4 are usually part of the design stage, and steps 5 to 7 are part
of the implementation stage. This problem-solving method is closely
related to the software life cycle(the various stages in the life of a
software package.)
Algorithms that can be represented in many forms. They all consist of a
precise set of instructions to follow to solve a problem.
Data structures that are the means of representing the data used in the
algorithms. They must be developed at the same time as the
algorithm.
In this chapter, we will explain in greater detail what each of these seven
steps involves. At the same time, we will present a complete case study of a
payroll system, to show you how to use each of these steps to develop
algorithms and data structures.

10.2 The Seven-Step Method and Applications

Step 1

Problem Definition

Programs are written so that computers can solve problems posed by humans.
When faced with having to write a program, you have one thing: a description
of the problem to solve. This description may be very precise or vague, but
nevertheless is present.
The first thing to do, is to make sure that you understand the problem. As
Albert Einstein once said, If you cant explain something to a six-year-old, you
really dont understand it yourself. If you are in this state, you must examine
more closely the imprecise parts of the problem that you do not understand.
For instance, if your teacher asks you to write a program to Find the average of
five grades for each of my students, it might at first sound simple. But, you
should ask yourself:
What does average mean, exactly?
Are the grades in percentages or letters?
Do some grades count more than others so that we have to do a
weighted average?
Asking yourself such questions forces you to define the problem very precisely.

Section 10.2

The Seven-Step Method and Applications

459

Once you are sure of what the problem entails, you must jot down a list of
specifications. Specificationsare precise definitions of what the program must
do. At a minimum, they must include the following:
Input: what data must be input and in what form
Output: what data must the program produce and in what form (in
order to solve the problem)
Virtually all computerized solutions have the structure shown in Figure 10.1.
Figure 10.1 A typical computerized process
Input

Process

Output

Lets take the problem of averaging student grades described above. We could
generate this list of specifications:
Input: student number, followed by student name, followed on the
second line by five Real Numbers representing the grades in percentages
Sample: 666
Lucifer El Diablo
20.5 66.6 75.0
70.9 100.0
Output: student number, followed on the next line by one Real Number
for the average and one Character for the corresponding letter grade
Sample: 666
66.6 %
C
Process: for each student, the grades will be summed and averaged, and
this average converted to a letter according to a predetermined scale.
Note:

At the end of the Problem Definition step, you should have a list of
specifications.

Problem Definition Application

To better understand this seven-step method, we will show how each step
applies to the following real-life problem.
We have already
seen some simple
pay algorithms in
chapters 2, 3, 4, 6
and 7.

Computerize the payroll of the ACME Company.

This is understandably too vague and our first task is to be more precise.
Up until now, the ACME Company had an archaic system using index cards and
hand calculators for handling the payroll. We gather information on the
existing system, after consulting with the payroll department, and we
establish the following:
We must compute the pay of a sequence of hourly paid employees based
on a line of input data for each employee.
The input data will be kept in a separate file.
Each line of data will consist of three integers followed by a character
string. These data correspond respectively to the number of hours
worked (stored in 1/100ths of an hour), the hourly rate (in cents), the
number of dependents (for tax purposes), and the employee name, and
will have the format:
3050 1025 8 Gabrotil Michael
The end of the data will be indicated by the end-of-file marker
provided by the system.

460

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

The computation of the gross pay is done by multiplying the hours

worked by the hourly rate.
Hours above 40 are to be paid one and a half times the normal hourly
rate.
For each dependent, the employee gets an exemption of $20 for tax
withholding computation.
Federal and state withholdings are computed by applying rates of 18%
and 3%, respectively, to the taxable amount.
Social security withholdings are computed by applying a 5% rate to
the gross pay.
Net pay is computed by subtracting the various withholdings from the
gross pay.
Results must be displayed on one line per employee: name, followed by
gross pay, federal withholdings, state withholdings, social security
withholdings, and net pay in dollars and cents, using the format:
Gabrotil Michael 312.63 27.47 4.58 15.63 264.95
After processing all of the employees, a summary line with the totals
of the various withholdings and pay categories should be displayed,
using a similar format, so that the results are aligned with the
preceding individual columns.
Input data must be validated before they are used. The following
validity ranges should be used:
The number of hours worked cannot be negative or greater than 55.
The hourly rate cannot be less than $3.50 or more than $16.50.
The number of dependents cannot be negative or greater than 12.

Step 2

Solution Design

In this step, we break our problem down into a number of smaller, more
manageable parts. We must analyze the original problem, and divide it into a
number of sub-problems. Because these sub-problems are necessarily smaller
than the original problem, they are easier to solve and their solutions will be
the components of our final program. Each sub-problem is itself divided into
smaller sub-problems, and this decomposition is carried on until we have subproblems whose solutions are simple.
If we use a solution structure like the one in Figure 10.1, we can readily
decompose the problem into three sub-problems: input, process, and output. We
can represent this decomposition by a structure chart. As we have seen in
Chapter 4, such a method is called top-down design, and leads to an outline of
the solution, as in Figure 10.2. Note that you can use break-out diagrams
instead, if you are more comfortable with them.
Figure 10.2 Structure chart
Problem

Input

Process

Output

subproblem

Section 10.2

The Seven-Step Method and Applications

461

This outline will help us write the algorithm since each of the boxes in the
structure chart will typically be implemented as a sub-algorithm.
Note:

At the end of the Solution Design step, you should have a structure
chart describing the hierarchy of your algorithm.

Solution Design Application

To illustrate this design process a little more, lets continue to develop the
payroll system for the ACME Company. We must define all the tasks that
have to be done in order to produce the payroll. This first level of
decomposition is simple. The system must be able to do the following:
Read in and validate pay data for all the employees,
Process the data for each employee, and
Display a summary of the payroll operation.
This leads us to the structure chart of Figure 10.3.
Figure 10.3 Structure chart for payroll system
Calculate
Payroll

Input Data
& Validate

Process an
Employee

lines of communication

Display
Summary

In this structure chart, the left-to-right order indicates a probable order of

execution, but this is not always true because of unseen repetitions and condition
testing. There will be some communication between the components along the
lines in the structure chart, so we must also develop interfaces for the data that
will be transmitted between these components, as we have done in Chapter 7.
The design of Figure 10.3 can still be refined by subdividing each of the lowerlevel components into their major components, if this is possible. For instance,
Process an Employee might be subdivided further into two tasks, as shown in
Figure 10.4:
Compute Withholdings calculates the federal and state taxes and
the social security tax.
Accumulate and Display adds the various withholdings to the
running totals for all employees, and then displays the results for the
current employee.
You might recall that this way of doing things is sometimes called stepwise
refinement.

462

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Figure 10.4 Three-level structure chart for payroll system

Calculate
Payroll

Input Data
& Validate

Process an
Employee

Compute
Withholdings

Display
Summary

Accumulate
and Display
refinement added

See Chapter 7
for more
information on
developing
interfaces via
parameter use.

A structure chart is actually a skeleton of the structure of the final program.

Each box in the structure chart will be implemented as a procedureor a function.
For example, the box Input Data & Validate will be implemented as a
procedure later on. This should not be surprising, because the structure chart is
the result of breaking down the solution function by function.
In addition to decomposing the problem into its functional components, you
should also try to identify groups of related operations that could be used
throughout the program to make implementation easier. For instance, if a
group of operations all dealt with a certain kind of data structure, then it
might be desirable to include them in a separate unitalso referred to as an
external unit.
For example, a program that deals with complex numbers could use a separate
unit that defines a complex abstract data type. Such separate units are called
external because they are physically external to the main application.
When the main program needs to use part of the external unit, this must be
specified in the main program. Units are sometimes called Libraries, Modules,
or Packages.
Our payroll problem has been greatly simplified and we do not anticipate the
need for external units. If the payroll application were more realistic and were
to process thousands of employees, then we could envision a need for separate
units to process taxes and to deal with all the company benefits (health
insurance, pension plan, etc.).
These units could then be documented by a modular design chart like the one in
Figure 10.5. This chart shows the various interconnections of the units we
intend to use for this solution. The arrows show what elements are imported
from one unit for use in another unit. In Figure 10.5, Payroll System imports
elements from units Tax and Benefits. The figure should be completed by
indicating which procedures from the Tax unit or the Benefits unit will be
used by the Payroll System. If we were designing a complete payroll system,
we would be able to complete the chart once the solution has been refined in the
next step.

Section 10.2

The Seven-Step Method and Applications

463

Figure 10.5 Modular design chart for a more realistic payroll system
external units
Tax Unit

Benefits Unit

main program

Missing: the names of the

procedures to be imported
by Payroll System.

Payroll
System

In this structural design step, various alternatives for doing the decomposition
must be considered, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each
alternative must be weighed. Initially, if you are a beginner, you might find it
hard to judge the advantages and disadvantages of a given solution, but this
will become easier with experience.

Step 3

Solution Refinement

Now that we have the skeleton of our solution, we can start putting some meat
on its bones. As previously stated, each box in the structure chart corresponds to
a sub-problem. We are now ready to develop one algorithm to solve each subproblem as well as the main problem.
As you have seen so far, algorithms can be represented in many different ways:
by flowblocks, flowcharts, data-flow diagrams, etc. Pseudocode is the most
common type of algorithm representation developed. The advantage of using
pseudocode is that it is programming language independent. It can easily be
translated into most programming languages, particularly imperative
languages such as Pascal, Modula-2 or C.
Since we are now faced with the task of designing the actual algorithms, we
must at the same time decide which types of data structures to use. It is
important to realize that data structure selection and algorithm design are
directly related. If you change your type of data structure, you must accordingly
change your algorithm. This is why both must be developed concurrently.
Note:

At the end of the Solution Refinement step, you should have

developed pseudocode for each box of the structure chart. As well,
all of the data structures and variables used must be defined.

Solution Refinement Application

At this stage of design we need only define data types for the variables used for
(i) input, (ii) major processing, and (iii) output. Temporary variables and
counters need not be specified at this time.
For our payroll program, we will define a record variable, Employee Data,
with fields Name, of type String, and Hours, Rate and Dependents of type
Integer. We will also specify simple variables like Gross Pay, State Tax,
Federal Tax, Soc Sec Tax, Net Pay, Gross Total, Soc Sec Total, Federal
Total, State Total, and Net Total. All these simple variables are Integers,
because computations involving money must be exact, and only integer

464

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

arithmetic gives exact results. We will also need a Boolean variable Valid
Data to indicate the result of the data validation.
Using these simple variables, we can begin to refine the high-level solution
defined by the structure chart of Figure 10.4. Using pseudocode, we develop the
algorithms for each functional part of the solution, starting with the main
program: Calculate Payroll.
Pseudocode 10.1

The Calculate Payroll algorithm

Calculate Payroll
Display title and column headings
Set all totals to zero
While there are data to read
Input Employee Data.Hours
Input Employee Data.Rate
Input Employee Data.Dependents
Input Employee Data.Name
Input Data And Validate(Employee Data, Valid Data)
If Valid Data
Process Employee(Employee Data, Totals)
Display Summary(Totals)
End Calculate Payroll

In order to simplify the pseudocode, we will use collective names to represent

groups of variables, like Totals to represent the following five variables:
Gross Total, Soc Sec Total, Federal Total, State Total, and Net Total. This
makes it possible to have shorter argument lists in our invocations. The
subprograms Input Data & Validate and Process Employee are shown in
Pseudocode 10.2 and 10.3.
Pseudocode 10.2

The Input Data & Validate sub-algorithm

Input Data And Validate(Employee Data, Valid Data)

Set Valid Data to True
If (Employee Data.Hours < 0) OR (Emloyee Data.Hours > 55)
Set Valid Data to False
Output "Invalid hours", Employee Data.Name
If (Employee Data.Rate < 3.50) OR Employee Data.Rate > 16.50)
Set Valid Data to False
Output "Invalid rate", Employee Data.Name
If (Employee Data.Dependents < 0) OR
(Employee Data.Dependents > 12)
Set Valid Data to False
Output "Invalid dependents", Employee Data.Name
End Input Data And Validate

Pseudocode 10.3

The Process Employee sub-algorithm

Process Employee(Employee Data, Totals)

Set Gross Pay to Hours Rate
If Hours > 40
Add Overtime Bonus to Gross Pay
Compute Withholdings(Gross Pay, Employee Data, Withholdings)
Set Net Pay to Gross Pay Withholdings
Accumulate and Display(Employee Data, Pay Data, Totals)
End Process Employee

Here, the collective name Withholdings has been used to represent the three
variables Federal Tax, State Tax, Soc Sec Tax.

Section 10.2

Pseudocode 10.4

The Seven-Step Method and Applications

465

The Compute Withholdings sub-algorithm

Compute Withholdings(Gross Pay, Employee Data, Withholdings)

Set Taxable to Gross Pay Employee Data.Dependents
Exemption
If Taxable > 0
Compute Federal Tax and State Tax
Else
Set Federal Tax and State Tax to 0
Compute Soc Sec Tax
End Compute Withholdings

Here we have used the collective name Pay Data to represent the four variables
Net Pay, Federal Tax, State Tax, Soc Sec Tax.
Pseudocode 10.5

The Accumulate and Display sub-algorithm

Accumulate and Display(Employee Data, Pay Data, Totals)

Update all payroll totals
Output Employee Data.Name, Gross Pay, Federal Tax, State Tax,
Soc Sec Tax, Net Pay
End Accumulate and Display
Display Summary(Totals)
Output "Totals", Gross Total, Federal Total, State Total,
Soc Sec Total, Net Total
End Display Summary

Step 4

Testing Strategy Development

We have now completed the pseudocode for each part of our program. You
might think that the next step consists of translating this pseudocode into code.
Wrong!
At this point, you need to check your design to see if it will produce the
expected results. It is much easier to check the design now, when we can easily
make the necessary corrections, than later, when the entire code is written. To
check your design, you need to think up a testing strategy. This strategy will be
used for two things: (i) to check your design now, and (ii) once you decide upon a
final design and write the code, to check if the final program works correctly.
The advantage of deciding on a testing strategy now, as opposed to after coding
is completed, is that you are still at the design stage where the specifications
are fresh in your mind. The testing can then be planned with those
specifications in mind, from a relatively objective viewpoint. If changes need
to be done, it will not be as painful as if the whole program were already
written. If the entire program were written, you would be more prone to trying
little fixes to solve the problems rather than thinking about changing the
underlying design.
For smaller programs, it is usually enough to define a variety of test
cases, each case including the input data and the corresponding
expected results. These test cases must include extreme cases and
erroneous cases. For instance, test cases for a grades program should
include a negative grade, an erroneous value, to make sure that the
appropriate error message is produced. A procedure involving a number
of data elements should be tested with zero or the maximum allowed
number. Test data should be included to make sure that all the program
statements, without exception, are executed at least once.

466

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

For large programs, the testing and the coding must be planned
together, piece by piece. The approach chosen may be top-down,
bottom-up, or a combination of both.
Top-down testing means to start developing the program component
at the top of the structure chart and working down component by
component, thus the name top-down. In order to be able to do this,
we must use program stubs for the lower level components in the
structure chart during the initial steps of development. A program
stub is a small piece of program that substitutes for a larger piece
that will be written later. It may simply leave a trace of its
execution by printing a message or it may also supply predefined
results.
For example, the structure chart given in Figure 10.4 shows that the
main program component, Calculate Payroll, will have three major
sub-components: Input Data & Validate, Process Employee, and
Display Summary. We could start a top-down development by
writing the main program and one of these three major procedures,
but the other two procedures and the lower level procedures could
merely be stubs.
In pseudocode, a stub for the Display Summary procedure might be
Pseudocode 10.6
algorithm

Preliminary Display Summary sub-

Display Summary(Totals)
Output "Display summary"
End Display Summary

A message indicating that the procedure has been called is

displayed. This stub would later be replaced by a procedure that
actually does the desired processing, but meanwhile the program
can be run to make sure that other procedures are called in the right
order, and that those procedure calls are correct.
Bottom-up testingmeans that the components at the bottom of the
structure chart are coded and tested first, and then the next higher
level is developed and tested, and this is repeated all the way up
the structure chart. Since the bottom-level components usually
cannot operate alone, it is necessary to write special programs
called drivers to test the components.
For instance, lets assume that we have just developed the Compute
Withholdings subprogram. Before incorporating our subprogram
into a larger program, we should write a small driver program to
check it. A testing driver might include the following pseudocode
fragment:
Pseudocode 10.7
driver

Fragment of code for a testing

For Gross Pay = 100 to 1000 by 100

For Dependents = 0 to 12 by 1
Compute Withholdings(Gross Pay, Dependents,
Federal, State, Social)
Output Gross Pay, Dependents, Federal, State, Social

This small driver would allow you to test subprogram Compute

Withholdings with a variety of arguments. You could even write a

Section 10.2

The Seven-Step Method and Applications

467

more sophisticated testing program, which generated random test

arguments. Obviously, some of the results must still be checked
manually.
Often a combination of both bottom-up and top-down approaches is
used. With the bottom-up approach, frequently used utility
procedures might be coded and tested independently. Then
development and testing could switch to a top-down approach with
stubs being used for major program components. When utility
procedures are used as development progresses, there is a good
degree of confidence in them and this allows us to concentrate on the
testing of major components.
Note:

At the end of the Testing Strategy Development step, you should

have your testing strategy developed, including the input and
expected output data for all test cases, as well as the pseudocode for
any necessary stubs or drivers.

Development of Testing Strategy Application

Before we start translating the algorithms we developed earlier into code, we
must plan our program testing. Experience has shown that when testing is not
well planned, it takes an enormous amount of time. Early testing can uncover
forgotten cases or unexpected combinations of data. Modifications to correct
these design defects are much easier to make at this stage, since no actual
programming has been done. Therefore, the testing strategyshould be defined
before coding begins and should lead to the definition of a set of test data that
is both comprehensive and practical.
So, here we will define our testing strategy before we begin to code. We define
some test data to be the following:
Comprehensive
Practical
Certain to execute every part of the program at least once.
Once this is done, some subtle errors will undoubtedly remain. When those
errors pop up later (probably when someone else is using your program), they
should be corrected by the programmer who is responsible for the maintenance
of your program (usually you). This is the basis for one of the most well-known
sayings in the computer science field:
Testing can show the presence of bugs,
but cannot guarantee their absence.
For our payroll program, we need to identify the various cases the test data
must cover as shown in Figure 10.6.
Figure 10.6 Various cases for Test Data
Abnormal Values

Normal Values

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Hours worked negative or greater than 55.

Rate less than $3.50 or greater than $16.50.
Number of dependents negative or greater than 12.
No overtime.
With overtime.
No dependents.
With dependents.
Zero hours.

468

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

We will use these cases and combine them to generate test data as follows:
We will use boundary value data, such as $3.50 for a normal value and
$3.49 for a wage less than $3.50.
For erroneous test data we should have cases 1, 2, and 3 individually,
then cases 1 and 2 together, 2 and 3 together, 1 and 3 together, and 1, 2,
and 3 together.
Cases 4 and 5 can be combined with cases 6 and 7 to produce several
normal cases.
Case 8 should be tried alone once to make sure the results are zero.
Using this approach, we define the test data shown below, where we have used
artificial employee names suggestive of the errors.
Figure 10.7 Test Data Definition

Abnormal
values

Normal
values

Hours Rate Dep.

-10 400
2
5510 400
2
1050 349
2
1050 1651
2
Test 1050
400
-1
data
400
13
to be 1050
input 6000
100
3
6000 400
14
1050 100
14
6000 100
14
4000 400
0
4000 400
2
5500 400
0
5500 600
12
4000 1650
12
0 500
2

Name
hours-negative
hours-too-large
rate-too-low
rate-too-high
dependents-negative
dependents-too-large
hours-and-rate
hours-and-dependents
rate-and-dependents
hours-rate-dependnts
no-overtime-no-dep
no-overtime-with-dep
max-overtime-no-dep
maximum-hrs-and-dep
maximum-rate-and-dep
zero-hour-and-dep

Bogus
employee
name

The expected results for these test data have to be computed manually by
following the pseudocode and given here. These computations should give us
some insight into the way our algorithms operate. Here are the expected
results for the test data given above:

Section 10.2

The Seven-Step Method and Applications

469

Figure 10.8 Expected Results for Test Data

Step 5

Program Coding and Testing

Starting with our pseudocode algorithms, this step consists of coding the actual
computer program. Then, using our testing strategy, we test the program and
compare our test results with the expected ones. For large programs, the coding
will be done progressively, the various components being coded with the
necessary stubs and drivers, so that they can be tested systematically.
Errors in design or peculiarities of the programming languages used may cause
difficulties in coding, and prevent the implementation of some parts of the
design characteristics. In this case, we must go back to the design step and
modify our design. The programming and coding step is finished when all the
coding has been done and when all the test data have been correctly processed.

Step 6

Documentation Completion

Whether or not a program is to be used by others, it must be documented. Both

experienced and naive users must be given instructions for running the program.
Furthermore, someone wishing to modify the program must be given information
about what design decisions were made, and what implementation and testing
problems were encountered. Even the original programmer needs
documentation, to be able to modify the program long after it has been
developed. It is always extremely surprising to realize how quickly one forgets
design decisions along with the reasons why they were made.
Documentation does not begin in this sixth step of our problemsolving method.
It begins with the first step of program development and continues throughout
the lifetime of the program. The program itself, with its comments, is called
internal documentation, whereas the testing information is part of the external
documentation(all documentation other than the program listing). At each
step of the program development process, some documentation is produced, as
shown in Figure 10.9.

470

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Figure 10.9 Documentation during the Seven Steps

Steps

Documentation produced

1.

Problem definition

The problem specifications, including a

precise description of the input/output

2.

Solution design

A description of the design, with structure

charts and modular design charts

3.

Solution refinement

Data specifications, pseudocode, and unit

interfaces

4.

Testing strategy
development

An outline of the testing strategy, test data,

and expected results, as well as pseudocode
for drivers and stubs

5.

Program coding and testing

The program code (internal documentation),

test data, and results

7.

Program maintenance

Change log and, if the changes are

important, all the documentation normally
produced for a complete program (as in the
preceding steps)

All of this documentation must be collected, and must be kept current (with
perhaps the exception of the pseudocode) throughout the lifetime of the
software. In addition to the above documentation produced at each step, some
additional user documentation may be needed. This documentation must
provide the user with enough information to be able to use the program and its
functions fully, without providing the mental burden of implementation
details. This type of documentation is often referred to as a users manual.
It is usually helpful to develop a preliminary version of the user documentation
during the problem definition step and then to refine it once coding and testing
are done. This preliminary version of the user documentation can be given to
the users, to verify that you have correctly understood the problem and are
producing a program that will satisfy the users.

Documentation Completion Application

The documentation will include the problem definition, the design documents, a
description of the testing performed, a history of the program development and
its different versions, and a users manual. Such a manual is designed for a
naive user and illustrates how to prepare input data, how to run the program,
and how to obtain and interpret results. The following is a sample ACME
Payroll Users Manual:

ACME Payroll User's Manual

Payroll is a program to compute and display the weekly pay
of hourly paid employees. For each employee, it will read a
series of four data items separated by at least one blank:
number of hours worked during the week (055), hourly rate
of pay ($3.50$16.50), number of dependents (012), and name
of employee (20 characters). If the data are valid, the
program will compute and display federal (18% of taxable
income), state (3% of taxable income), and social security

Section 10.2

The Seven-Step Method and Applications

471

(5% of gross pay) withholdings, as well as gross and net pay

for the employee.
The program will read data for each employee from the
file Payroll.data until it reaches the end of the
file. It will produce results on the screen. Input
data format is such that three integer values precede
a character string, as in
4500 600 3 Allan Mackenzie
for 45.00 hours worked, $6.00 per hour, and 3
dependents.
Output data will be written one line at a time, each
line corresponding to an employee. A normal output
line will consist of a 20-character string followed by
five values. The last line will contain the word
"Totals" followed by five values and will be separated
from the previous output line by a blank line. The
output will be preceded by the title lines:
Computation of Weekly Pay
Gross
Fed
State Soc.
Net
A normal output line will look like
Allan Mackenzie
285.00
40.50 6.75

14.25

223.50

Erroneous data will produce error messages of the form

Invalid hours for Robert A. Verner
Invalid rate for Simon J. C. W. Surry
Invalid dependents for T. Guy Rimmer
These messages will appear if the values read are not
within the given limits. A single employee data line
with erroneous data can generate from one to three
error messages. The erroneous data have to be
corrected and resubmitted.
To run the program, enter the payroll data in file
Payroll.data and execute Payroll.

Step 7

Program Maintenance

Program maintenance is not directly part of the original implementation

process, but needs special emphasis. All activities that occur after a program
first becomes operational are part of the program maintenance. Many large
programs have long lifetimes that often exceed the lifetime of the hardware
they run on. Usually, the cost of program maintenance over the lifetime of a
program will be greater than the total program development costs.
Program maintenance includes the following:
Finding and eliminating previously undetected program errors;
Modifying the current program, often to improve its performance, or to
adapt it to new laws or government regulations, or to adapt it to new
hardware, or to a new operating system;
Adding new features or a better user interface, or new capabilities to
the program; and
Updating the documentation.
Maintenance is an important part of the life cycle of a program. It is also
important from a documentation point of view, since changes to a program will
require updating the existing internal as well as external documentation.

472

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Maintenance documentation will include many of the results of the program

development steps: design documents, program code, and information about
testing.
The discovery and elimination of previously undetected errors inevitably
involves new test data for showing that the bugs have indeed been fixed.
Similarly, modifications to the program will entail new test data to prove the
correctness of the modifications. In both cases, once the modifications are
completed, all the old test dataperhaps changed because of the
modificationsmust still be run correctly to demonstrate that the
modifications have not introduced new bugs.
Note:

The new test data must be added to the old test data to build a
bigger test suite to be used in future maintenance.

Since most program maintenance is done by someone not involved in the original
design, it is imperative that the programs be well designed and well structured,
as well as readable, and that the documentation be complete and accurate.

Program Maintenance Application

Improvements to the payroll program are numerous. Here are a few possible
ones:
Having the program actually produce the paychecks for the
employees;
Adding a unit to compute tax withholdings in a more flexible way;
Adding an interactive way of fixing the erroneous data.

Section 10.3

A More Advanced Case Study: Building a Text Index

473

10.3 An Advanced Case Study Building a Text Index

This section presents a larger and more complex case study, one that exercises
everything that we have learned in the previous chapters. It will also show
some of the advantages that can be obtained from a modular construction,
which is a concept introduced in Chapter 7.

Step 1

Problem Definition

We want a program capable of the following:

1.

Reading in some text stored in a given file;

2.

Collecting all the significant words of that text together with the page
numbers where the words occur; and

3.

Displaying an alphabetical index of the words with their page

numbers.

A word will be defined as a sequence of letter or digit characters, starting with

a letter. To find whether or not a word might be significant, we will use a
dictionary of trivial words that must be ignored (words like the, a, at,
etc.) To simplify, we will use the backslash character (\) to indicate the end
of a page.
The program will prompt the user for the name of the dictionary of trivial
words, for the name of the text file, and the name of the new index file, using
the following format for the output messages.
Give name of trivial words file:
Give name of text file:
Give name of output file:
Index complete
The format of the index will be the following:
June
1 8
Karine
1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9
Kludge
5 9

Step 2

10

Solution Design

The program will use functions for the following purposes:

Getting a word from the input file,
Inserting a word in the index if it is deemed to be significant,
Comparing two words to alphabetize,
Displaying a word from the index, and
Displaying an item from the index (a word and its associated page
numbers).
The program will keep the index in a binary search tree (introduced in Chapter
9), a data structure most suitable and efficient for cases where operations like
searches and insertions are numerous. This structure also has the property of
keeping its elements ordered, which makes it possible to display its contents
easily in order. We will define an ADT binary search tree, and will keep it in a
separate module or external unit consisting of the binary search tree definitions
and operations.

474

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Like a binary tree, a binary search tree is made of nodes, and each node has a
left and a right descendant (either or both of which can be absent). As we have
seen in the last section of Chapter 9, the main property of a binary search tree
is that all the left descendants of a node have a value that is less than the
node value, and all the right descendants have a value greater than the node
value.
Likewise, the page numbers associated with a word will be kept in a queue,
where each page number is unique and will be output in the order of insertion,
that is from lowest number to highest number. Here again we will define a
separate unit for the ADT queue, to include the definitions and operations of
queues. Remember that queues are first-in-first-out structures: the elements in a
queue are output in the order in which they entered the queue.
Our solution will be illustrated by the modular design chart of Figure 10.10.
This chart illustrates the relationships between the various units of our
solution: Build Index will use types and operations from ADT Binary Search
Trees and ADT Queues.
Figure 10.10
used to store trivial
words and significant
words from text input

Modular design chart for building a text index

Binary Search
Trees

Queues

used to store page

numbers for each
significant word

Build Index

We will use two Binary Search Trees for two purposes:

Storing all the trivial words, and
Storing all the significant words from the text.
Our solution will include the functions we have mentioned earlier as well as
functions from the binary search trees unit and the queues unit. We will use the
following binary search tree operations:
Initialization of a tree,
Searching for a word in a tree,
Inserting an element in a tree, and
Traversing a tree to display its contents (elements and words).
We will use a queue structure to store all the page numbers associated with a
word. We will use the following queue operations:
Initializing a queue,
Inserting an element in a queue,
Eliminating an element from a queue, and
Counting the elements in a queue.
We can now proceed to draw the structure chart for our solution as shown in
Figure 10.11.

Section 10.3

Figure 10.11

A More Advanced Case Study: Building a Text Index

475

Structure chart for building a text index

Build
Index

Traverse
Tree

Create
Tree

Display
Element

Display
Word

Step 3

Count
Queue

Search
Key

Get
Word

Insert
Word

Create
Queue

Enqueue

Insert
Node

Dequeue

Solution Refinement

To refine our solution we will need to define the functional elements of Build
Index, as well as the functional elements of units Binary Search Trees and
Queues. If we are lucky, someone might already have developed such useful
units, and all we will have to do will be to use them, or, more likely, adapt
them before using them. We can also give you a hint. If you have access to
computer science books, you will find such units already defined; use them!
We will also need to define the data structures that will be used in our program.
Obviously, the elements of our index will be kept in a binary search tree. Each
element record will be comprised of (i) the corresponding word and (ii) its list of
page numbers. If we keep the words in the tree nodes, we will have to reserve
enough space for the longest word, and this is not necessarily the most efficient
way to use memory space, as much of this space will be empty.
Instead, well use a well-known technique of storing the words in a long
buffer(storage area), to keep only nontrivial words, and no duplicates. The
buffer will be a big array of characters, and each word in it will be identified
by the index of its first character, as shown in Figure 10.12. Note that every
character has a corresponding index number.
Figure 10.12

Word buffer organization

Buffer
First

Second

Word 1 Word 2

Third

Fourth

New

Word 3 Word 4
Old Index
New Index

With the buffer, we will keep two special indices, Old Index and New Index.
Old Index always points to the next free space in the buffer. New Index is used
to enter a new word in the buffer, before deciding whether to keep it or not. To
keep a new word in the buffer, Old Index is updated to the value of New Index.

476

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Figure 10.13

Binary search tree organization

In this case, we are referring to word 3.
Key

12

Last Page

Pages
Pointer

Index to word buffer

Page numbers

Left

Right

Word 8

Word 6

Pointer

The elements kept in the binary search tree will have the structure illustrated
by Figure 10.13. Each element will have five parts:
an Index to the word buffer, called Key,
a Last Page number (to avoid keeping duplicate page numbers),
a Pages queue,
a Left pointer for the tree structure, and
a Right pointer for the tree structure.
With these data structures established, we can develop the pseudocode for
Build Index as follows.
1.

First we initialize various variables.

2.

Then, we read in the trivial words file and build the trivial words tree.

3.

Next, we read the text and insert the nontrivial words in the word
index tree.

4.

Finally, we traverse the word index tree, displaying the elements as

we encounter them.

Section 10.3

Pseudocode 10.8

A More Advanced Case Study: Building a Text Index

477

The Build Index algorithm

Build Index
Initialize word Index tree
Initialize Trivial words tree
Set Page number to 1
Set Line number to 1
Set Old Index to 1

initializing both search trees and variables (1)

Prompt user for Trivial words file name

Input Character from Trivial words file
While there are words in Trivial words file
Select Character
Letter:
Get Word(Trivial File, Character, Old Index, New Index)
Insert Word(Trivial, 0, New Index, Old Index)
Otherwise
no page number
Display Character
for trivial words
Input Character from Trivial words file
Prompt user for Text input file name
Input Character
While text not finished
Select Character
End of line:
Terminate current line
Increment and display line number
Letter:
Get Word(Text File, Character, Old Index, New Index)
Search Word in trivial words tree
If NOT trivial
Insert Word(Index, Page number, New Index, Old Index)
End of page:
Increment Page number
Input Character
Traverse word Index tree and display elements
End Build Index

building
Trivial
words
tree (2)

reading in
text and
inserting
non-trivial
words into
the Index
tree (3)

traversing word Index tree

and displaying elements (4)

Besides some output subprograms, this program uses two important subprograms,
Get Word, to read a word, and Insert Word, to insert a word in a binary search
tree. These two subprograms are repeatedly invoked in the two loops that
build the Trivial and Index trees. The two loops read the text between words
character by character until a letter, denoting the start of a word, is detected.
The loop that builds the Trivial tree ignores all inter-word characters. When
a letter is encountered, the Get Word subprogram is invoked to read the word.
Since all words read from the Trivial File are, by definition, to be inserted into
the Trivial words tree, Insert Word is invoked for every word.
The action of the loop that builds the Index tree is somewhat different. In that
loop, two of the inter-word characters are detected and lead to special actions:
The end-of-line character causes the Line number to be incremented,
and
The end-of-page character causes the Page number to be incremented.
As in the first loop, when a letter is encountered, the second loop invokes the
Get Word sub-algorithm to read the word. However, in the second loop, the
word is not inserted into the Index tree until a search of the Trivial words tree
has shown that the word is not trivial.
Get Word reads in a word, character by character, and stores it in the character
buffer. This storage will only be temporary if it is discovered that the word is
trivial or has already been encountered. Get Word also leaves a special interword marker in the buffer to separate the words. This marker could either be
the size of the word or a special end of word marker. Get Word only modifies
New Index, it does not modify Old Index. Thus, several successive calls to Get
Word will simply overwrite the last word in the buffer and leave no permanent
record of the words that were read.

478

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Pseudocode 10.9

The Get Word sub-algorithm

Get Word(File, Character, Old, New)

Set New to Old
Repeat
Copy Character into word buffer
Increment New
Input Character
Until(Character NOT(letter or digit)) OR end of file
Set inter-word marker in buffer
End Get Word

reading in one word and

putting it in buffer

In Insert Word, we first check to see whether or not the word is already in the
binary search tree. If it is, we only need to update its element in the tree by
adding a new page number to its associated queue (if that page number is
already there, we do nothing, since we do not want duplicate page numbers). If
the word is already in the tree, we do not want to keep a duplicate in the buffer
and, for this reason, we do not update Old Index.
If this is a new word, Insert Word creates a new element for the tree and
initializes its associated queue. Since we will also use Insert Word to build
the Trivial tree and since trivial words do not need a page queue, we will use a
zero page number for trivial words. Once the element is ready, we insert it into
the tree and we update the Old Index so that, this time, the word is kept in the
buffer. The pseudocode for the Insert Word sub-algorithm is shown below.
Pseudocode 10.10

The Insert Word sub-algorithm

Insert Word(Tree, Page, Old Index, New Index)

Search for Word in tree
If Word already in tree
If Page Word.Last page
Enqueue(Word.Pages, Page)
Set Word.Last page to Page
Else
Create Word element
Set Word.key to Old Index
If Page 0
Create Queue(Word.Pages)
Enqueue(Word.Pages, Page)
Set Word.Last page to Page
Insert Node(Tree, Word)
Set Old Index to New Index
to keep the new
word in the buffer
End Insert Word

To display an element, we first display the associated word followed by a

number of spaces to align all index entries. Then we output the page numbers
after removing them one by one from the Pages queue. As we output them, we
count them and, if they take more than one line, we continue on the next line
after skipping the space underneath the word.

Section 10.3

Pseudocode 10.11

A More Advanced Case Study: Building a Text Index

479

The Display Element sub-algorithm

Display Element(Element)
Display Word(Element.Key)
Set Counter to 0
While Count Queue(Element.Pages) 0
If Counter = Maximum
Terminate line
Set Counter to 0
Display Word length blanks
Dequeue(Element.Pages, Item)
Display Item
Increment Counter
Terminate line
End Display Element

To display a word we only have to display all its characters from the buffer,
and then to pad the rest of the word space with blanks.
Pseudocode 10.12

The Display Word sub-algorithm

Display Word(Index)
For all characters in Word
Display character from buffer
For remaining length
Display blank
End Display Word

Binary Search Tree Unit

Although this unit is not directly part of our problem, we need it to implement
our solution. A tree will be defined as a pointer to a tree node, and a tree node
will include an element and two pointers (left and right), as shown in Figure
10.9. To illustrate once more a binary search tree (see Figure 9.17 in Chapter 9),
we can show the tree structure corresponding to the following list of trivial
words.
for On on Had a is this At If To as her much the when
up was we Am Did He Its That With an by do did be but
has his like nor ours there will you with whom A An
But For Do Has His I In My Much She The We You all and
at from have hers if it me my of or so their these
those to us whose All As By From Have No Our So This
Will Your am are etc had he him in its mine no not off
our she that them they who your yours
Note that the root of the tree is the first word of the list, for, its left
descendant is the second word of the list, On (upper case letters have a
smaller code than lower case letters), its right descendant is the third word of
the list, on and so on. We have been careful to set the trivial words above in
an order that gives the best tree structure (most nodes actually have two
descendants). The top part of the corresponding tree is shown in Figure 10.14.

480

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Figure 10.14

Trivial words tree

for

On

on

Had

At

If

To

is

as

her

this

much

the

when

In Figure 10.15, we give a partial tree of trivial words, as printed by utility

subprogram Display Tree, which shows the tree structure. See if you can
redraw this figure with its connecting lines to get a complete picture of the tree,
as in Figure 10.14.
Figure 10.15
Tree

Partial tree of trivial words output by Display

your
you
with

will
whose
whom
who
when
we
was
us
up
to
those
this
they
these
there
them
their
the
that
so
she
ours
our
or
from
The Binary Search Tree external unit implements the ADT binary search tree.
It includes the following operations.
Initialize Tree(Tree)
This is the first operation to call, in order to initialize Tree.
Delete Tree(Tree)
This operation deletes all information about the Tree and its data.

Section 10.3

A More Advanced Case Study: Building a Text Index

481

Insert Node(Tree, Element)

This operation inserts Element at the proper position into the Tree,
according to the key for the Element. If a node already existed with
the same key, it is updated with the value of Element. The tree
insertion operation is defined simply as a recursive subprogram (it calls
itself on the left and right sub-trees).
Pseudocode 10.13
algorithm

Insert Node recursive sub-

Insert Node(Tree, Element)

If Tree is NIL
Attach new node with NIL left and right pointers
Else
If Element.Key < Tree key
Insert Node(Tree Left, Element)
Else
If Element.Key > Tree key
Insert Node(Tree Right, Element)
Else
Update Tree element
End Insert Node

Delete Node(Tree, Key)

This operation finds the element with this Key and deletes it from the
Tree. If no node has this Key, Tree is unchanged.
Traverse Tree(Tree, Process)
This operation applies Process to each node of Tree in order. Note
that Tree is underlined, which makes it an in-out parameter (called by
reference), as Process might modify the Tree contents. This tree
traversal operation is a variation of the traversal algorithm we saw at
the end of Chapter 9; it is recursive and very simple.
Pseudocode 10.14
algorithm

Variation of Traverse Tree

Traverse Tree(Tree, Process)

If Tree NIL
Traverse Tree(Tree Left, Process)
Apply Process to element
Traverse Tree(Tree Right, Process)
End Traverse Tree

Search Key(Tree, Key, Element, Success)

This operation searches for an element identified by Key in the Tree. If
it finds it, it returns the complete Element, and Success is set to True,
otherwise Success is set to False. The tree search operation is also
recursive and very simple.
Display Tree(Tree, Indentation, Display Key)
This operation displays Tree keys with indentations to show the Tree
structure (we showed it above).
Display Key(Element)
This operation displays a key value.

482

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Pseudocode 10.15

The Search Key algorithm

Search Key(Tree, Key, Element, Success)

If Tree = NIL
Return False
Else
If Tree Key = Key
Set Element to Tree element
Set Success to True
Else
If Tree Key < Key
Search Key(Tree Left, Key, Element, Success)
Else
Search Key(Tree Right, Key, Element, Success)
End Search Key

Queues Unit
The external unit Queues implements the ADT Queues whose operations are
described below. A queue will be defined as a record with two indices, a
counter, and an array of elements, as shown in Figure 9.15 in Chapter 9.
Initialize Queue(Queue)
Creates an empty Queue.
Enqueue(Queue, Item)
Inserts element Item at the end of Queue.
Dequeue(Queue, Item)
Deletes first element of Queue, returned in Item.
Count Queue(Queue) function
Counts current number of elements in Queue.
Queue Head(Queue, Item)
Returns value of first element of Queue in Item.
These operations have already been described in pseudocode in Chapter 9.

Step 4

Development of Testing Strategy

To test our program we need a trivial words file and a text file. These are
various cases we can envision:
1.

Empty trivial words file: the index will include a l l the words in the
text.

2.

Only one trivial word: the only trivial word will not appear in the
index.

3.

One-page text file: the page numbers are all the same, and appear only
once for each word.

4.

Text file with several pages: general case.

5.

Text file with only trivial words: the index will be empty.

6.

Text file with no trivial words: the index will include all the words in
the text.

7.

Word found on more pages than fit on a single line: necessary to test the
splitting of the page numbers over several lines.

Section 10.3

A More Advanced Case Study: Building a Text Index

483

To test all cases, we will need at least three trivial words files:
Trivial 1: an empty file for case 1
Trivial 2: a file with the single word kernel for case 2
Trivial 3: a general file including the list we have given earlier.
We will also need at least three special text files:
Text 1: a one-page text file with words in alphabetical order
Sample:

albatross beauty cartography demon earl

fugitive gross helicopter indeed joy
kernel lullaby mammoth nerd opera possible
quintessence refrigeration subtlety ton
utilitarian vampire wapiti xylophone yak
zero

Text 2: the same file as Text 1 but with an end-of-page mark between
every word
Sample:

albatross\beauty\ cartography\ demon\

earl\ fugitive\ gross\ helicopter\ indeed\
joy\ kernel\ lullaby\ mammoth\ nerd\
opera\ possible\ quintessence\
refrigeration\ subtlety\ ton\ utilitarian\
vampire\ wapiti\ xylophone\ yak\ zero

Text 3: a file with only two words repeated thirty times with an endof-page after each occurrence.
Sample:

albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross

beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\

albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross
albatross

beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty\
beauty

For the various cases we will use the following combinations:

Cases 1 and 3: Text 1 and Trivial 1. The index contains all the words in
the same order with only a page 1 reference.
Cases 2 and 3: Text 1 and Trivial 2. The index contains all the words
except kernel in the same order with only a page 1 reference.
Cases 4 and 6: Text 2 and Trivial 3. The index contains all the words in
the same order each with a different page reference.
Case 5: Trivial 3 and Trivial 3 (same text). The index is empty.
Case 7: Text 3 and Trivial 2. The index contains two words each with
thirty page references.
You should also add words that are longer than the word length to make sure
they are treated correctly, and of course a long and realistic text.

484

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Step 5

Program Coding and Testing

The main program follows from our pseudocode. The details of this stage are
covered in the Practice book.

Step 6

Documentation Completion

All the results of our previous steps should be part of our documentation:
problem specifications, solution design and refinement, testing strategy,
program code, and testing results. We must also add a users manual, as shown
below:

User's Manual for the Build Index Program

The Build Index program builds the index of a text. The
program prompts you for a file of trivial words (words of
the text that must not be part of the index). The program
then prompts you for the name of the text file, and the name
of the output index file. To run it, select Execute in the
menu and double-click on Build Index. The program will
start executing and will start prompting you. When the
execution is over, the program will display the message:
Index complete
You can examine the index and print it if need be. The
index file has the input text with added line numbers, and
an alphabetical list of all the words in the text (except
for the trivial words) followed by a list of page numbers as
in the following:
June
1
8
Karine
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Kludge
5
9

Step 7

Program Maintenance

A non-negligible part of the software life cycle, program maintenance, starts as

soon as the program is released to its user. The user might find some bugs: this
program is not simple enough to be able to feel sure that there are no bugs left.
Maintenance includes bug removal, but it also includes making improvements to
a program or a system. In the case of Build Index, we can suggest three areas of
improvement:
We can improve the program by giving the user the option to list the
trivial words used as part of a better documentation of the index.
We can also make the program recognize true end-of-pages instead of an
arbitrary sign.
We can also modify the program so that it displays page and line
numbers as part of the index.

Section 10.4

10.4 Review

Review: Top Ten Things to Remember

485

Top Ten Things to Remember

1.

In this chapter, we have reviewed the seven-step problem-solving

method that was introduced in Chapter 2, and illustrated in various
other chapters. This has made it possible to link a number of the
concepts that were introduced in the previous chapters.

2.

We have illustrated here mostly the steps related to design, as the

implementation stage is programming-language dependent, and cannot
be discussed in total abstraction from the actual programming context.

3.

At the end of Problem Definition step, you should have a list of

specifications. These are precise definitions of what the program must
do. At a minimum, they must include input (what data must be input
and in what form) and output (what data must the program produce and
in what form in order to solve the problem).

4.

At the end of the Solution Design step, you should have a structure
chart describing the hierarchy of your algorithm. Developing a
structure chart, using top-down design, will help us write the algorithm
to solve our problem since each of the boxes in the structure chart will
typically be implemented as a sub-algorithm.

5.

At the end of the Solution Refinement step, you should have developed
pseudocode for each box of the structure chart. As well, all of the data
structures and variables used must be defined.

6.

At the end of the Testing Strategy Development step, you should have
your testing strategy developed, including the input and expected
output data for all test cases, as well as the pseudocode for any
necessary stubs or drivers.

7.

The implementation stage, steps 5 through 7, are thoroughly

illustrated in the Practice book. It is important for you to remember
that a lack of method will be disastrous for you when you start
developing larger, more complex programs.

8.

The complexity of a given application grows quickly, as the number of

interactions between the various parts of a system increases. This was
illustrated by the examples presented in this chapter.

9.

The complete example to build a text index is relatively small, but still
big enough to show that a larger system is harder to understand, even
under good conditions.

10.

Using what you have learned in this book and in the Practice book, you
will have to write and run real programs using a given programming
language. This is where you will notice that a lack of method is
extremely costly in time.

486

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

10.5 Glossary
Buffer: A holding area in memory for
data.
Driver: A program that is used to test
a subprogram by simulating the
context from which the subprogram
will be invoked when the full
program is completed.
External documentation: A program
description that is designed to serve
the needs of the users of the program.
It thus describes the program in terms
of the way in which it is used and its
observable actions.
External unit: A collection of
subroutines that are compiled
separately from the main program
and are concerned with the
manipulation of a particular type of
data, for example, an abstract data
type is frequently implemented as an
external unit.
Internal documentation: The internal
structure and workings of a program
described in a form to assist
programmers who will have to make
corrections or other modifications to
the program in the future.
Software life cycle: The sequence of
stages that a program passes through
during its useful life, these stages
essentially correspond to the seven
steps of software development
described in this book.
Stub: A temporary version of a
subprogram that provides a very
simplified simulation of the action of
the subprogram until the subprogram
itself is written. Stubs allow early
testing of the routines that will call
the subprogram. A typical action of a
stub program is to output a message
that it has been entered so that the
logic of the calling program can be
checked.

Testing strategy: A plan for the

orderly verification of the execution
of a program during development.

Section 10.6

Problems

487

10.6 Problems
The following is a series of problems and projects to be solved using the sevenstep method presented in this chapter. As we have done in the case studies, all
of the steps, except for the actual implementation, have to be followed. These
problems are presented in order of increasing difficulty and complexity.

Level 1 Getting Started

The first-level problems require the development of your first programs.

1.

A Guessing Game
You are on vacation at home and planning to enjoy your free time. Alas!
your parents ask you to take care of your little sister, and she is a real
pest. In order not to see your vacation time slowly wasted, you decide to
have the computer entertain your little sister. To do this, you want to
develop a simple game program that will pick randomly an integer
number between 1 and 1,000. The program will ask your little sister to
guess that number in a maximum of ten tries, and will produce an
appropriate message when the end of the game is reached.
Obviously, the program needs to be interactive. It will display a
message at the start of the game and prompt your sister for a guess.
Each time she makes a guess, it will have to indicate whether the
guess was between the limits or was high or low, or detect that the
guess was right. At the end of a game, the program will allow your
little sister to decide to continue to play or to stop.
The input format is simply that of an integer number, or a character for
yes or no. The output formats are mostly messages.
Start-of-game message:
Let's play a guessing game.
I pick a number between 0 and 1,000. You have to
guess it. But you have only 10 tries to guess my
number.
End-of-game messages:
Congratulations! 999 is right.
You lose! My number was 999.
Do you want another game? (Y/N)
Game messages:
Make a guess:
Wait a minute! My number is greater than 0!
You wasted a guess! My number is 1,000 or less.
Well ... your number is too small.
Sorry, but your number is too big.
Remember! We have already seen this example in Chapter 4.

2.

Computing a Customer's Change

Your cousin just opened a small store and does not have the funds to buy
one of those sophisticated cash registers that compute the change to
return to a customer. Since he still possesses his old personal computer,

488

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

he asks you to develop a program that, given an amount due and a

payment, computes the change. This way he will be able to make sure
that whoever he hires will not make a mistake on the change to give
back to the customer. The program will compute the change repeatedly
until a zero value is given to indicate termination.
The change must be computed in dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels,
and pennies, with the smallest number of coins possible. The clerk will
enter the amount due in cents, the payment also in cents, and the
program will return the number of dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and
pennies to give back. The clerk will be prompted to enter the amount
due and the payment by the following messages:
Enter amount due in cents (negative or zero to stop):
Enter payment in cents:
The change will be indicated in the following way:
Dollars 1
Quarters 1
Dimes
1
Nickels 1
Pennies 1
Remember! We have seen examples of change-making in Chapters 3, 4,
5, 7 and 8.

3.

A Bouncing Ball
While waiting for your date to show up, you idly bounced a tennis ball
on the sidewalk. This gave you the idea to develop a program to
compute and display some data on the bounces a ball will make when
dropped from a given height. Forgetting your late date, you went home
to solve this interesting problem.
To simplify the problem, you assume the ball bounces in place; that is,
it remains bouncing on the same spot and does not have any forward
motion. The program will prompt the user for the initial height of the
ball, the number of bounces to consider, and the balls elasticity (which
must lie between 0 and 1). It will compute the height of each bounce
based on the initial height and the elasticity of the ball, and display
it. The program will also compute the total distance traveled, which
is the sum of the up and down bounces, for the given number of bounces,
and display it. The program will repeat this process until the user tells
it to stop.
If the ball is at height h, when it bounces, it reaches new height h,
which is computed by the formula
h = h resilience
where resilience is expressed as the elasticity coefficient raised to the
nth power, if n is the bounce number:
resilience = elasticity n
If the original height is H, then the first bounce height will be
h 1 = H elasticity
With an elasticity in the range between 0 and 1, each bounce will be
smaller than the preceding one, but never become 0. We will therefore
stop the program after a specified number of bounces.

Section 10.6

Problems

489

The ball will travel the distance shown in Figure 10.11 (where the
elasticity is 0.8) which we have drawn to help you. We have
represented a forward motion for the sake of clarity (the ball bounces on
the same spot).
Problem 3

Distance traveled by ball as it bounces

Height
(inches)
1

0.8
0.64
0.512
0.4

Bounces

Each time the ball bounces, it travels twice the height of the bounce, so
the total distance traveled is
H + 2h 1 + 2h 2 + 2h 3 + 2h 4 + ...
The user will be prompted for the initial height in this way:
Give the height in inches from which the ball is
dropped:
Then the user will be asked the number of bounces:
Give the number of times the ball will bounce:
And finally the user will be asked the elasticity of the ball:
Give the elasticity of the ball (between 0 and 1):
For each bounce the program will display the following:
On bounce 9 the ball rises to a height of 99.9
inches.
After the last bounce the program will display the following:
The total distance traveled by a ball with an
elasticity of 0.999 when dropped from a height of
99.9 inches and after bouncing 9 times is 999
inches.
The user will be asked if the program is to continue:
Another try?

Level 2 Getting Organized with Subprograms

The second level of problems requires the use of subprograms to manage larger
programs.

490

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

4.

General Application: Your Age in Days

Your problem is to write a program that will read in a persons birth
date as well as the current date, compute and display the persons age
in days. The program will have to be interactive, to validate the dates
it reads and to display results in a clear manner. When the dates given
are incorrect, precise messages should be displayed. The program
should be set up in such a way that it can compute repeatedly a number
of ages and let the user decide when to terminate execution.
The various output formats are mostly user prompts and error messages.
Enter birth date in the form DD MM YY:
Enter current date in the form DD MM YY:
Today you are 2059 days old
Want to compute another age?
Incorrect value for month.
Incorrect value for day.
Incorrect value for year.
Incorrect values for day and month.
Incorrect values for month and year.
Incorrect values for day and year.
Incorrect values for day, month and year.
You are not born yet!

5.

Business Application: What's the Cost of My

Mortgage?
The loan department of your bank still uses silly tables to determine
what the monthly payment of a mortgage loan is going to be. The
consumer association wants you to design a program to compute
interactively monthly mortgage payments as well as the cost of such a
annual loan over the first 5 years of the loan, and the total cost of that
loan. In order to validate the input data, the annual loan amounts must
be between $1,000 and $500,000, the loan interest must be between 3 and
20%, and the loan length must always be between 1 and 35 years.
First, we must compute the monthly payment. To see how this can be
done, lets start with a simple example and build up to the general case.
Suppose a loan of $1000 made at an interest rate of 10%. If there is to be
a single payment P at the end of the load period then
1000 =

P
1.1

or P = 1000 1.1 = $1100

If the repayment were to be made in two equal payments of P spaced at

equal intervals and the interest rate for each of the periods were 5%,
then P must be such that
1000 =

1.05

P
1.05

1
1
1.05 + 1.05 2 = 1.86P

=P

whence
P = $537.63
More generally, if we make a loan of L to be repaid in n payments of P
and an interest rate of r per repayment period, then the n payments P
must be such that
L=

P
1+r

P
2

(1 + r )

P
3

(1 + r )

+... +

P
n

(1 + r )

Section 10.6

Problems

491

If we multiply both sides of this identity by 1 + r, we obtain

L(1+ r) = P +

P
1+r

P
2

(1 + r )

P
(1 + r )

+... +

P
n 1

(1 + r )

If we subtract the first identity from the second, many terms cancel out
and we are left with
L(1+ r) L = P

P
n

(1 + r )

whence

(1 + r )n
P = rL
(1 + r )n 1
In the case of our mortgage, where the payments are made every month
over a period of y years, we can express this as
(1 + MonthlyRate)12y

MonthlyPayment = MonthlyRate Loan

12y

(1 + MonthlyRate)

Now, our problem calls for the interest rate to be expressed as an annual
rate and the monthly rate must be derived from this. Although banks
are a little secretive about the formulas they use to compute mortgages,
we know that to take account of the effects of compounding, they use a
monthly rate that, if compounded twice per year, will yield the stated
annual rate of interest. Loan rate tables show you that
12y

(1 + MonthlyRate)

AnnualRate
= 1+

2y

which leads to
6

(1 + MonthlyRate) = 1 +

AnnualRate

or

6 log(1 + MonthlyRate) = log 1 +

AnnualRate
2

and finally
MonthlyRate) = e

log(1+AnnualRate/2)/6

The program will use these formulas to compute and display the
monthly payment of a given mortgage loan and to produce a detailed
report of the payments over the first 5 years if needed.
The output format used will be the following:
Amount of mortgage loan:
Annual interest rate:
Length of mortgage loan (in years):
Monthly payment: 999.99
Do you want a detailed report?
Interest paid in 5 years: 12345.67
5 year balance:
23456.78
Total cost of mortgage loan:
34567.89
The detailed report format will be the following:

492

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Payment#

6.

Interest

Capital

Acc. Int.

Balance

97.59

44.21

97.59

9955.79

97.16

44.65

194.75

9911.14

Scientific Application: Solving the Quadratic

Equation
The problem you have to solve now is the well-known quadratic
equation. Remember its form?
ax 2 + bx + c = 0
Your program will accept the values of the three coefficients a , b, and c
and then compute the roots of the equation. The program will prompt
the user for the three coefficients repeatedly, and stop when the user
enters three zeroes for the coefficients. The program will distinguish
between the various solutions and display the results with an
appropriate message: one root, double root, real roots, complex roots, as
well as an error message if coefficients a and b are zero while c is not.
The output formats for prompts and results will be the following:
Give values of three coefficients:
Contradiction: 2.0 = 0
One root = -25.0
Double root = 120.0
Root 1
= -2.0
Root 2
= -1.0
Complex roots =
-18.0 +/12.4i

Level 3 Getting Fancier with Parameters

The third level of problems again requires the use of subprograms to manage
larger programs. It provides practice in how to parameterize those programs.

7.

General Application: Count the Word Occurrences

in a Text
We want a program to read a text, to extract the various words from the
text, and to count the number of occurrences of each word. The program
will output a list of all the words in the text in alphabetical order
(ascending or descending) with their number of occurrences. A word is
defined to be a sequence of characters between two separators, and the
separators will include all punctuation signs, as well as all available
special characters. In fact, a separator will be any character other
than a letter (upper case or lower case) or a digit.
The program will prompt the user for the name of a text file to use as
input file. It will read the entire file, separate the words and count
their occurrences, and finally display the words in alphabetical order,
one per line, with their corresponding number of occurrences.
The input and output formats can be summed up by the following
messages and examples of output.
Give the name of your text file:
In what order do you want the word list? (A/D):
Number of occurrences for the 96 words found
in fffff.ttt

Section 10.6

Problems

493

Word: Occurrences
A
18
At
1
Words table is full, no room for xxxxxx
Hint: Although this problem can easily be solved with arrays, if you
are smart and have understood the Build Index case study, it might be
easier for you to re-use and adapt that case study!

8.

Business Application: Processing Personnel Data

Your chum Arnie, from the personnel department of the good old
municipal services, has just given you a frantic call. He needs, right
now, all sorts of employee lists, and his information systems
department just told him it would take three to six months for them to
produce a feasibility study for a needed program to read, sort, and
display data on municipal employees. Obviously, he will get nowhere
with his own services, and has the OK to contract out to you the writing
of this program.
Further prodding on your part elicits a little more information on the
program. It must be interactive; it must run on a personal computer; it
will be used by his boss in the personnel department; it should be able to
read various employee files; and it should be able to sort employee
records extremely quickly by name, by age, or by seniority, and to
display these records in four different simple formats. The employee
files all have the same format: one line per employee with family
name, followed by first name, employee number, hiring date, birth
year, and various information including the social security number.
The program will display a short menu to the user, and read and
validate the users choice. The menu format will be the following:
1. Read data from file
2. Sort by age
3. Sort by name
4. Sort by seniority
5. Display name and birth year
6. Display name and first name
7. Display name and hired date
8. Display all information
9. Exit program
Please enter your selection and press return:
The program will have to make sure that operations 2 to 8 are not
usable until operation 1 has been used at least once. The program will
display the following error message:
No data has been read yet
After each sort, one of these message will be displayed:
Employees sorted by age
Employees sorted by name
Employees sorted by seniority
The output formats for operations 5, 6, 7, and 8 are quite simple. The
employee name will be followed by a single value, or all the values:
Berger
1956
Berger
Antonia
Berger
710221
Berger
Antonia BERA0 710221 1956 198-39-9739
Middle-management

494

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

The personnel department foresees a new format for employee records

that would double or even triple their size. The sorting of employee
records must be designed so that the change in size of the employee
records does not unduly affect the sorting time (Hint: Use the sort and
rank method introduced in Chapter 9).
In order to read in the employee data, the program will prompt the user
in the following manner:
Please give name of employees file:
Once the data have been read, a message indicating the number of
records read will be displayed:
Number of employee records read: 99
In the case of a large file, the program will check that the data can be
stored in the employees table. If not, it will display the following
message and skip the rest of the file.
File too large, input truncated

9.

Scientific Application: Plotting a Function

In this graphic era, we want to be able to plot a given function y = f(x)
between two values of x. The plot of such a function will be graphical
and will appear in the usual manner, that is, assuming a vertical y axis
and a horizontal x axis. We want the plot to show parallels to the x
and y axes for the minimum values of x and y, with some indication of
the x and y values. We also want the user to be able to plot any function
of one variable, and to define the range of x values for the plot, as well
as the size of the plot.
A typical output would look as shown below.
Problem 9

Plot for y = x

|
#
|
#
|
#
|
#
1.50 |
#
|
#
|
#
|
#
|
#
1.00 |
#
|
#
|
#
|
#
|
#
0.50 |
#
|
#
| #
| #
|#
0.00 -------------------|
|
|
0.00
1.00
2.00

Level 4 Getting Your Wings with Units

The fourth level of problems requires the creation and use of separately
compilable units to construct a complete program.

Section 10.6

10.

Problems

495

General Application: The KWIC Index

Suppose we were interested in programming languages and looking for
books or papers on the subject. It will be easy to find promising titles in
a listing provided that the authors have been considerate enough to put
the words Programming Language at the beginning of the title. Thus
the book Programming Language Concepts would be where we expect to
find it in the alphabetical ordering. However, the paper A
Comparative Study of Programming Languages will be in another part
of the listing and, unless we think of looking under Comparative, we
would be unlikely to find it without a sequential scan through the
catalogue. This scan would rapidly exceed our attention span, making
us very likely to miss items.
The Key Word in Context (KWIC) index tries to solve this problem by
listing each title several times, once for each of its keywords (noise
words such as a, the, and, of, and so on, are not counted as keywords).
We might define a KWIC index as being produced by taking each title,
generating circularly shifted copies, each with a different keyword at
the beginning and then sorting the newly generated list
alphabetically. A circularly shifted copy is formed by moving one or
more words from the beginning of the title to the end. The title A
Comparative Study of Programming Languages would appear four times
as:
Comparative Study of Programming Languages. A
Study of Programming Languages. A Comparative
Programming Languages. A Comparative Study of
Languages. A Comparative Study of Programming
This is not very easy to read and so in the final form of the index, part
of the listing might be rearranged as:
A Comparative Study of Programming
Programming
Programming
Programming
A Comparison of Programming
Programming
Principles of Programming
...ion to the Study of Programming
Concepts of Programming
Concurrency and Programming
Fundamentals of Programming
...cture and Design of Programming

Languages
Language Concepts
Language Landscape:...
Language Structures
Languages for Softw...
Languages: Design a...
Languages: Design, ...
Languages
Languages
Languages
Languages
Languages

where the titles have been aligned on the word that is being used for
the alphabetical ordering and sufficient other words are provided to
give some context. Also appearing would be a citation to allow the
reader to find the work.
The KWIC program accepts an ordered set of lines, each line being an
ordered set of words, and each word being an ordered set of characters.
Each line consists of two parts: a Title Part and a Reference Part. The
Reference Part is enclosed in brackets. It is assumed that brackets never
occur in either the Title Part or the Reference Part other than as
identification of the Reference Part. An example of input data is:
Software Engineering with Ada [Booch 1983]
The Mythical Man Month [Brooks 1975]
An Overview of JSD [Cameron 1986]
Nesting in Ada is for the Birds [Clark et al.1980]
Object Oriented Programming [Cox 1986]

496

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Social Processes and Proofs of Theorems and

Programs [DeMillo et al. 1979]
Programming Considered as a Human Activity
[Dijkstra 1965]
A Title Part may be circularly shifted by removing the first word and
appending it at the end of the line to form a new Title Part. From each
line in the input data, new lines are constructed by appending a copy of
the Reference Part from the original line to all distinct circularly
shifted Title Parts. The first word of each such line is the keyword.
Those Title Parts that begin with the keywords: a, an, and, as, be, by,
for, from, in, is, not, of, on, or, that, the, to, with, and without
are ignored.
The output of the KWIC program is a listing of all the titles constructed
in this way and presented so that the title is shown with its original
word ordering and all keywords lined up vertically in the center of the
page. Where a line must be truncated at the beginning or end in order to
fit on the printed line with the keyword aligned, the truncation is
shown with an ellipsis, (), as shown above.

11.

Business Application: Information Retrieval

The board of directors of the Piranha Club, of which you are a member,
has commissioned you to implement a small database system for the
members of the club. Members will give information that will be stored
in the system and will be retrieved for the benefit of other members.
The data for the members will be kept in a permanent file and the
system will allow the addition of new members, as well as the deletion
of departing members, and also the updating of member information.
Some security checks will be implemented in the system by keeping a
password with each members data, and requiring that password for
certain operations. The password will be kept in the system in a
ciphered form in order to improve system security.
The system will display a menu of the possible operations to the user,
who will then choose the desired operation. On program exit, the
members table will be automatically stored in a new file.
After discussions with the board of directors, the following formats are
agreed upon. The format of the menu will be the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Add a new member

Check membership
Get a member's name
Get a member's address
Get a member's phone number
Get information on a member
Change member's password
Remove member
Show member list
Exit program
Please enter your selection and press return:

The various messages of the query system will be the following:

Initialization from a data file
Initializing members table.
Addition of a new member
Give ID of member to add:

Give file name:

Section 10.6

Problems

497

Give member name:

Give member address:
Give member phone number:
Give member password:
Member added
Checking a membership
Give ID of member to look for:
XXXXXXX is a member.
XXXXXXX is not a member.
Information query on a member
Give ID of member:
The member's name is:
The member's address is:
The member's phone number is:
Sorry but this ID does not belong to a member.
Changing a members password
Give ID whose password must be changed:
Give new password:
Give your old password:
Give new password again:
Password has been changed.
Wrong password.
You don't seem to be sure.
Password has not been changed.
Removal of a member
Give ID of member to eliminate:
Give Password of member you want to eliminate:
Wrong password, member could not be removed.
Member removed.
Display of the member table
Give administrative password:
Sorry but you do not have access to the list.
Copy of members table into a data file at end of execution
Saving members table. Give file name:

12.

Scientific Application: Complex Algebra

Several methods are known to find the roots of an equation. One of the
most efficient of these methods is the Newton-Raphson method,
developed by Isaac Newton around 1685, and refined by Joseph Raphson
in 1690. We can design a program to apply the method without much
difficulty. However, now that we have reached level 4, we can be a
little more ambitious. We will design and implement a program to
apply the Newton-Raphson method to find the root of a polynomial
equation in x of a given degree whose coefficients are complex numbers
(Hint: Create a Complex numbers unit).
The program will read in the degree of the equation, the corresponding
coefficients, the requested accuracy, and the starting point for the
Newton-Raphson method. It will apply the method and return a result
for the root or an explicative message when the root cannot be
computed. The program will repeatedly prompt the user for data, and
stop when the user wants to stop.
The following is the format of the dialogue messages that will be used
by the program.

498

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Give the degree of the polynomial:

Give the polynomial coefficients defining the
function:
Coefficient of degree 9; real part:
Coefficient of degree 9; imaginary part:
Indicate the precision you wish to achieve:
Indicate the maximum number of iterations:
Now give the starting value for x(real part):
Now give the starting value for x(imaginary part):
The root is 9.9999999999 + 9.9999999999i
Newton-Raphson took 9 iterations.
For a precision of 9.999999E-09
More?
Lets review briefly the Newton-Raphson method, considering first
only polynomial functions with real variables and real coefficients.
Given a function of variable x, F(x), we want to find the value of the
root in the neighborhood of a. Figure 10.13 illustrates a function and its
tangent at x = a.
Problem12

Newton-Raphson method

F(x)

The linear tangent to F(x) at point (a, F(a)) intersects the x axis at point
b, which may be closer to the root than a. Point b is then used as a new
approximation of the root value, and the same process is repeated. It is
possible to compute the value of b if we know F(x), the first derivative
of F(x).
Slope = F(a)/(a - b) = F(a)
gives:

b = a - F(a)/F(a)

The method will fail if the slope is zero, as the tangent is parallel to
the x axis: in that case there is no root in the vicinity of the point. We
must protect ourselves against failure by not allowing a division by
zero, and by limiting the number of iterations. This can be directly
transposed to complex numbers.

Section 10.6

Problems

499

500

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Section 10.6

Problems

501

502

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Section 10.6

Problems

503

504

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Section 10.6

Problems

505

506

Chapter 10

The Seven-Step Method

Appendix

Solutions

Appendix Solutions
This appendix contains the solutions to the first few problems at the end of
each chapter. Oftentimes, there may be many correct answer for the same
question; however, only one answer to each problem is provided.

Appendix Overview
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions
Solutions

1-3......................................................508
1-3......................................................508
1-7......................................................510
1-3......................................................511
1-3......................................................512
1-3......................................................514
1-3......................................................515
1-3......................................................516
1-3......................................................517

507

508

Appendix

Solutions

Chapter 1 Solutions 1-3

Solution to Problem 1
a.

Keyboard human environment.

b.

Analogy-Digital Converter physical environment.

c.

Scanner human environment.

d.

Mouse human environment.

e.

Clock physical environment.

Solution to Problem 2
a.

Display human environment.

b.

Sensor physical environment.

c.

Digital-Analog Converter physical environment

d.

Scanner human environment

e.

Clock physical environment

Solution to Problem 3
a.

Alan Turing developed a machine used to define the limits on what is

computable.

b.

Al-Khwarizimi studied sets of rules which are now called algorithms.

c.

It is not clear who designed and built the first electronic digital
computer. The contributor is not in the list.

d.

George Boole discovered that symbolism of mathematics could be

applied to logic.

e.

Charles Babbage designed the first general-purpose analytical

engine.

f.

John Von Neumann introduced the concept of a stored program where

instructions and data are both stored in memory.

g.

Blaise Pascal designed the first mechanical adding machine.

Chapter 2 Solutions 1-3

Solutions to problems 1 through 3 (next page)

Appendix

Table of
Values

begin
Input Q
Original
True

False

Q3

12

12

Solutions

509

Total Cost

24
20
16
12

Price P
is $3

Price P
is $4

T = P Q

15

18

Output T

4
2

P
24

21

24

20

end

16
12
8
4
Replace

Original by:

Extended
True

Original
False

Q>5

T
24

Price P
is $2

Original

20
16
12
8
4

Replace

Replace

Extended

Original by:

Failsafe

Extended

True

Error
Message

Q<0

False

Extended
Original

Failsafe-Extended by:

True

Failsafe
Extended
Original

Q=0

False

510 Appendix Solutions

Chapter 3 Solutions 1-7
Solutions to problems 1 through 7
1. Binary Number Drill
a. 10 = 2 in decimal
b. 1010 = 8 + 2 = 10 decimal
c. 101010 = 32 + 8 + 2 = 42 decimal
d. 7 = 111 binary
e. 17 = 16 + 1 = 10001 binary
f. 170 = 128 + 32 + 8 + 2 = 10101010 binary
4. Decimal to Binary: Another way

2. Small Binary Numbers

Dec

Bin

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Note: Changes from Figure 3.35

13

0000
0001
0010
0011
0100
0101
0110
0111
1000
1001
1010
1011
1100
1101
1110
1111

2
N

Divide

Division by 2 every time

Q and R are exchanged
Order of outputs reversed

R
1

2
N

Divide

D
R
0

2
N
Q

Divide

D
R
1

3. TimeBase
1

Time
100

1430
N

Divide

Q
60

5. Octal: Base 8
a. 11 = 8 + 1 = 9 decimal
b. 23 = 2 8 + 3 = 19
c. 132 = 1 64 + 3 8 + 2 = 90

14

30

6. Hex: Base 16
a. 11 = 16 + 1 = 17
b. CC = 12 16 + 12 = 204
c. F00 = 15 16 16 = 3840

Multiply
840
Add

7. Other Bases
5, 10, 20 are from anatomy
12, 20, 60 have many divisors
(used for time and arc measure)

870
Mins

Chapter 4 Solutions 1-3

Solution to problem 1
Input Cost C, Tendered T
T

(C < 0) OR (T < C)

Output
Message

Give
Change

Input Cost C, Tendered T

F

(C < 0) OR (T < C)
Output Message
Input Cost C
Give Change

Appendix

Solutions

511

Solution to problem 2
Input H, M

True

Output H " o'Clock"

M=0

False

True

Output "Half past " H

M = 30

True

Output M " minutes after " H

False

0 < M < 30

True

Output (60 - M) " minutes before " 1

Output (60 - M) " minutes before " H + 1

Solution to problem 3
Input C
Set Sum to C

Input C
C=5

F
Sum < 15

Input C

Input C
Input C

C=5

F T

C=5

Add C to Sum

Input C
etc
T

Output Item

etc

C=5

F Output
Item
etc

etc

etc
etc

Sum > 15

T
Output
Change

False

H = 12

False

512 Appendix Solutions

Chapter 5 Solutions 1-3
Solution to problem 1
A

min
D

min
E

Conditions

min

2
2

Max

2
2

M1

Input

Values

AB C

D E F

A<B<C

1 2 3

1 2 1

A<C<B

1 3 2

1 2 1

B<A<C

2 1 3

1 1 2

B<C<A

2 3 1

2 1 2

C<A<B

3 1 2

1 1 2

C<B<A

3 2 1

2 1 1

Output
M1

Solution to problem 2
False

A<B

True

B<A

False

C<B

True

False

(B < A) and (B < C)

(A < B) and (A < C)

(C < A) and (A < B)

(C < B) and (B < A)

False

C<A

True

(B < A) and (A < C)

Set M to A

True

C <A

Set M to C

False

C<B

True

(A < B) and (B < C)

(A < C) and (C < B)
Set M to B

Set M to B

Set M to C

Set M to A

Solution to problem 3
More Mid

If (B < A) AND (A < C) OR

(C < A) AND (A < B)
Set Mid to A
Else
If (A < B) AND (B < C) OR
(C < B) AND (B < A)
Set Mid to B
Else
Set Mid to C

Another Mid with data flow

A B C

A B C

A B C

Sum3

Max3

Min3

Sum2

Diff2

Mid

Appendix

Solutions

513

Chapter 6 Solutions 1-3

Solution to problem 1

Monthly
Calendar

Set MonthDay to 1
For Week = 1 to 6 by 1
DoWeek
For Day = 1 to 7 by 1
DoDay
Output NewLine
If ((Week = 1) AND (Day F)) OR (MonthDay > N)
Output Blanks
Else
Output MonthDay
Set MonthDay to MonthDay + 1

Solution to problem 2
Plot
Up

For Y = MaxY to 0 by -1
DoLine
For X = 0 to MaxX by 1
DoMark
Output NewLine
Set F to f(x)
Set Fint to F
If Fint = Y
Output Mark
Else
Output Blank

Solution to Problem 3

X3
3!

X5
5!

X7
7!

+...

Xp
p!

Sine S =

Term T =

Power P =

Vertical View: Loop invariant is P = 2T 1 = T + T - 1.

Horizontal View: Even terms are subtracted from the sum S.

514

Appendix

Solutions

Sine X

Set SineVal to 0
Set Term to 1
Set TermVal to X
Set NumTerms to N
While Term < NumTerms
Compute Sine
Set Term to Term + 1
Compute Sine

Compute TermVal
If Mod(Term, 2) = 1
Set SineVal to SineVal
+ TermVal
Else
Set SineVal to SineVal
TermVal

Compute TermVal

Set Power to Term + Term 1

Set Incr to (X X) /
((Power + 1) (Power + 2))
Set TermVal to TermVal Incr

Chapter 7 Solutions 1-3

Solution to Problem 1
Here is a definition of divide that involves multiplication: Num = Den Quot
+ Rem. Try values of Quot until Remainder is less than the Denominator, where
Rem = Num - Den Quot.
Divide(Num, Denom, Quot, Rem)
Set Quot to 0
Set Prod to 0
While (Num - Prod) Denom
Set Quot to Quot + 1
Set Prod to Denom Quot
Set Rem to Num Prod
End Divide

Solution to Problem 2
Note:
Tree of Calls:
Values above each line are input to the right.
Values below each line are output to the left.

B
0

A
1

N
C

1
N

1
P
E

D
P
1

F
Q
1

0
0

can
break
out
more

G
Note:
If variables A, B are binary then N
is a NOT, P is an AND, Q is an OR
and M is an eXclusive-OR.

0
1
11
1
1
0
10
0

N
P
N
P
Q

10
1

N
N
P
N

Call Order is N P N P Q N N P N.
For A=0, B=1, the output G is 1.

Appendix

Solutions

515

Solution to Problem 3
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Block A can call B and D.

Block B can call B recursively, D and C.
Block C can call C.
Block D can call D, B, E and H.
Block E can call E, H, F and G.
Block F can call F and G.
Block G can call G and F.
Block H can call H and E.
X in E can be used in E, F and G.
If Y is defined in B, D, F then
Y of B is seen in B and C.
Y of D is seen in D, E, G and H.
Y of F is seen in F.
A does not see any Y.

Chapter 8 Solutions 1-3

Solution to Problem 1
This algorithm does nothing, but it does it the hard way. First it swaps A[0]
with A[N], then A[1] with A[N-1], etc., so it seems to reverse the array. But
after reaching the midpoint (when all entries are reversed), it continues to
reverse the reversed values (ultimately swapping A[N] with A[0] again). To
get a true reverse, the loop should end at N/2.
Solution to Problem 2
Side Bar Plot
Input Array(A, N)
Input Array(T, S)
For Bars = 1 to N by 1
Set Length to A[Bars]
For Thickness = 1 to T by 1
For Star = 1 to Length by 1
Output Star
For Spaces = 1 to S by 1
Output New Line
End Side Bar Plot

Solution to Problem 3
Up Bar
Input A, M, N
For Row = N to zero by -1
For Bar = 1 to M by 1
If A[Bar] > Row
Output Mark
Else
Output Space
Output New Line
End Up Bar

Chapter 9 Solutions 1-3

Solution to Problem 1
There are four ways to do this Simple Sort, in about one pass! Such efficiency
is not possible in general but here the binary values make it possible. We could
use a second array B for the result or do it in place.
a.

Count: Loop through A counting the zeros, then loop again putting in
that many zeros and then filling the rest with ones.

516

Appendix

Solutions

b.

Select: Loop through A, for each zero in A, put a zero into array B, when
done finish B with ones.

c.

Swap: (in place): Position pointers at each end of A, advancing them

inward and while they do not meet, compare values at these points,
swapping when necessary.

d.

Insert: Position insertion points in array B at the ends. Loop through

A, inserting each value at the appropriate point in B.

Solution to Problem 2
a.

The easy way: Sort the values first and then select the one at the
middle index.

b.

Like Count Sort: Loop through values of the array stopping when half
the values are less than the given value.

c.

Keep selecting the Max and Min values and delete them until only one
value remains.

Appendix

Solutions

517

518

Appendix

Solutions

Index

Index
A
abstract data type 358, 397, 409
abstract data types
array queues 446
array stacks 441
implementing 441
pointer queues 448
pointer stacks 444
Abstraction 134, 164, 166, 234
Abstraction Form 130
Action 65, 119, 128, 165, 166, 176
in programs 180
on data 180
actions
groups of 302
Al-Khwarizmi 23
algorithm 30, 65, 74, 75, 118, 119, 458
algebraic 74, 82, 118
alternate 52, 164
alternative 137
analyze 421
assertions 146
communicating 56
comparing 54
Complete 76, 119
Data-flow diagram 47, 74, 118
decomposing 111
Deterministic 76, 119
dynamic behavior 234
dynamic view 176
Ease of Use 77
Efficiency 77, 198, 232
Elegance 77, 119
Embedding 51
equivalence 53, 135, 164, 187
execute 30, 49
Execution time 453
Extending 48, 131, 186, 257
Finite 76
flowblock 74, 118
Flowchart 45, 74, 118
Foolproofing 50
Generality 77, 119
Generalizing 47
Good Structure 77

Graphs 46
hierarchical 74, 119
high-level 31
low-level 31
modifying 47
notations 78
Order of complexity 453
pseudocode 47, 75, 118
refinement 256
representations 74, 78, 118
reuse 51
Robustness 120
selecting 79
Space efficiency 453
static structure 234
static view 176
tabular 74, 86, 87, 118
test 421
trace 49, 66, 162, 182, 266
Unambiguous 76, 120
Verbal 45, 74, 80, 118
well-structured 120
Alias 350
analysis
Count Sort 421
Select Sort 427
Swap Sort 424
analytical engine 23
argument 307, 350
array 86, 119, 166
Binary search 436, 437
Bubble Sort 422
Count Sort 419
deck of cards 158
homogeneous items 358
indices 358
Linear search 436
Rank 453
Recursive Sort 432
searching 435
Select Sort 425
Sort and copy 417
Sort and rank 417
Sort in place 418
sorting 416
Swap Sort 422
Arrays 358
homogeneous 360

519

520

Index

artificial intelligence 59, 65

Assertion 166
assertions 119, 157, 215
Data-flow diagram 157
pseudocode 157
assignment 180
equivalence 231

B
Babbage, Charles 23, 59
Backus, John 57
balloon payment 210
Base case 350
Bell Laboratories 58
Bigger algorithms 290
Bigger Blocks 251, 290
bigger data 290
bigger mixtures of forms 290
Binary
Search 166
binary conversion 159
Binary Counter 268
binary search 437, 477
Binary to Decimal 106, 160
binding 335, 350
operands 92
birds eye view 89, 141, 305
Bisection 281, 282, 283
Search 132, 166
Bisection algorithm 290
black box 75, 89, 119, 305
passed in 91
passed out 91
block structure 300, 348, 350
BOD 41, 65
Boole, George 23, 98
Boolean 179
Bottom-up design 65
Bottom-up testing 468
break-out diagram 39, 65
alternate forms 44
Cohesive 43
complete 143
Consistent 41
important questions 143
Orderly 41
Refined 42
Bubble Sort 422
improving 428
buffer 479, 491

C
Case form 259, 262, 290, 291
Character 178, 235
assignment 196
comparison 276
Character data type 275, 290
coding 65
cohesion 339, 350
compiler 25
compound conjunction 198
computer 14, 65
a look at 18
A to D converter 25
ALU, arithmetic and logic unit 19, 25
analog value 25
basic capabilities 18
bits 153
bus 20, 25
compiler 25
CPU, central processing unit 20, 25
D to A converter 25
execute 14, 25
four units 18
hardware 19, 21, 24, 25
history 21
I/O devices 20
inaccuracy 93
input unit 19, 24
Input/Output 25
instruction register 25
instruction register 19
Memory 24, 25
memory bus 21
memory unit 18, 24
modem 25
operations 14
output unit 19, 24
problem solving 30
processing unit 19, 24
program register 19
register 25
software 19, 21, 24, 66
system 20
concurrency 105
Conjunction 198
Contour diagram 333
essentials 340
control variable 269, 291
conversational mode 271

Index

Count Sort 418, 419

Coupling 338, 350

D
data 128, 165, 166, 176
actions 234
break-out diagram 40, 41
external 252
global 301
heterogeneous 358
hiding and sharing 332
homogeneous 358
structured 153
Data space diagram 309, 322, 324, 348
conventions 310
memory locations inside 310
memory locations outside 310
passed-in parameter 310
passed-out parameter 310
Data Structure 166, 458
array 158
data transfers
program and subprogram 300
data type 91, 119, 177
Boolean 179
character 178
integer 94, 119
logical 179, 279
Real Number 91, 120
string 179
data validation 35, 65
Data-flow diagram 65, 89, 103, 119
bigger blocks 105
black box 47, 101
concurrency 106
Data-flow diagrams 165
Decimal to Binary 107, 159
decision tables 88, 119
Deep Nesting 133
DeMorgans laws
first law 100
second law 101
DeMorgans Rules 199
Data-flow diagram 199
first rule 199
second rule 199
Descartes, Ren 152
design 65
bottom-up 65, 141
modular 464

top-down 66, 128, 140

Dimension 409
Discourse on Method 152
Disjunction 199
divide and conquer 33, 39, 65, 164, 166,
281, 343
documentation 65
design decisions 37
method 37
program listing 37, 66
seven steps 471
testing problems 37
users manual 37, 472, 488
driver 468, 491
dynamic variable 358, 392, 409
dynamic view 176

E
embedding
algorithm 65
end-of-file marker 255
environments
human 20
physical 21
EOF 255, 291
error
in algorithm 36
in coding 36
in design 36
in test results 36
execute 65
execution time 416, 421
expression
arithmetic 91
logical 99, 119, 280
polynomial 93
Time complexity 453
External Data 252, 254, 290, 332
external documentation 471, 491
external unit 463, 491

F
field 359, 409
file 254, 291
EOF 255
flow of control 64, 65, 74, 89, 119, 303
pseudocode 115
flowblock 113, 119
vs. flowchart 135

521

522

Index

flowchart 65, 107, 119

Actions 107
Assertion 108
Decisions 107
diamond 45
flow of control 46
oval box 45
square box 45
vs. flowblock 135
foolproofing 65
For Form 262
limitations 264
nesting 265
For loop 252, 262, 290
creating plots 273
limitations 264
vs. While loop 263
Four Fundamental Forms 108, 128, 166,
176
deep nesting 133
function 300, 350, 463
logical 99
function s 345
functions
conventions 346
vs. subprograms 346

in situ 418, 453

infinite loop 207, 235
input parameter 306, 312
Insert Sort 418, 428
Instruction 235
instruction register 19
integer 94, 177
interconnecting forms
Nesting 131, 164
selections 131
Serial 131, 164
interface specification 306
internal documentation 471, 491
International Standard Book Number 278
Invocation 166
Invocation Form 109, 130, 164, 176
flowblock 114
flowchart 114
group of actions 130
invoked 306
iteration 110, 213, 235

J
Jacquard, Joseph 23
Julian date 342, 350
Julius Caesar 87

G
glass box 75, 119, 305
global data 301, 350
Global variable 336

H
hardware 19
heterogeneous 377, 408
hiding and sharing of data 348
Hierarchical programming 166
Hollerith, Herman 23
homogeneous 377, 408
Horizontal views 213

I
I/O devices
transducers 21
identifier 177, 235
if-then-else 129
implementation 36, 66

K
Kemeny, John 56
kludge 208, 235

L
leaf node 407, 409
least significant digit 106
Libraries, Modules 463
linear search 436
linked list 393, 409
Local variables 310
Logical conditions 198
Logical data type 279, 290
logical expression 100, 119
equivalency 203
logical operation
Conjunction (AND) 198
Disjunction (OR) 199, 279
Negation (NOT) 199, 280
Logical type 179

Index

loop
initialization of values 259
loop control variable 264, 267, 291
loop invariant 176, 214, 234, 235
complete body of the loop 231
using 229
Loop-and-Count form 262
Loosely coupled 350
loosely-coupled 338, 339, 349
Lord Byron 59
Lovelace, Ada 59

M
N
n-dimensional list 358, 409
n-tuple 360, 409
Nassi-Shneiderman diagrams 113
Negation 199
nested selections 257
Nesting 166
Nesting Selections
in Fors 269
nests of loops 290
node 407, 409

O
one-dimensional arrays 360
operand 119
operating programs 21
operation
assignment 180
comparing values 181
incrementing 181
modulus 205
operations
on Characters 276
operator 91, 119
precedence 92
operators
AND 99
logical 100
NOT 100
OR 100
Order of complexity 453
output parameter 306, 312

523

P
Packages 463
paradigm 186, 235
parameter 307, 350
Parameter crossing 336
Parameter passing 323, 348
by reference 312, 315
by value 312, 315
parameterized block structure 304
parameters 305
Pascal,Blaise 23
Pass by reference 350
Pass by value 350
Pattern Matching 438
Search and Count 438
Pattern MatchingFind First Match 438
pointer 392, 409
Polya,George 31
precedence 119
precision 283, 291
predicate 99, 119
problem solving 30
coding 35
detailed design 38
development of testing strategy 486
development of testing strategy
application 469
divide and conquer 33, 39
documentation completion 37, 471,
488
documentation completion
application 472
general algorithms 281
Polyas four steps 31
problem definition 32, 458, 476
problem definition application 460
program coding and testing 35, 471,
488
program maintenance 37, 474, 489
program maintenance application 474
seven step method 32, 63, 458
solution design 33, 140, 461, 476
solution design application 461
solution refinement 74, 464, 478
solution refinement application 464
systematic method 32
task 66
test 66
testing algorithms 197

524

Index

testing strategy development 35, 466

using, adapting 38
procedure 463
program 35, 66, 177
stored program 18
editor 25
errors 36
execution 61
external data files 254
improving 224
large 467
large programs 62
listing 66
loop invariant 214
medium-sized programs 61
modifications 273
register 19, 25
reuseability 256
run 61
small 467
small programs 60
test 66
testing 36
utility 26
variable 66
program maintenance
adding features 38, 474
cost 38
documentation 38, 474
implementation 37
large programs 62
program errors 38, 474
program modification 38, 474
program register 19
program structure 318, 348
programming 30
hierarchical 141
personalities 61
structured 128
programming language 56, 66
Ada 59
Algol 60 60
APL 60
BASIC 56
C 58
COBOL 60
Fortran 57
GPSS 60
high-level 31, 65
Lisp 59
Logo 60
low-level 31, 66

machine language 21, 25

Modula-2 58, 156
Pascal 36, 57, 156
PL/I 60
Prolog 60
Simscript 60
Simula 67 60
Smalltalk 60
Snobol 4 60
variable 36
programming languages
Algol 60 333
C 333
Modula-2 333
Pascal 333
proposition 99, 119
Pseudo-random number 291
pseudocode 34, 47, 66, 115, 120
assertions 136
Extending 257
set verb 34

Q
queue 399, 405, 406, 409, 445, 446
Queues Unit 486

R
random value 287, 291
rank 417
Real Number 178
inaccuracy 93
operations on 91
Records 166, 358
heterogeneous elements 358
indices 358
Recursion 300, 343, 349, 350, 432
recursive definition 217
Recursive Sort 432
register
instruction 25
program 25
Repeat-Until
condition 204
loop 204
Repetition 166
Repetition Form 109, 120, 130, 164, 176,
234
body 130
flowblock 115

Index

flowchart 115
For Form 262
infinite loop 207
initialization 212
initialization of values 259
initializing loop 110
iteration 110, 205
loop 109
loop body 109, 205
nested 132
nesting 265
Repeat-Until 203
side effect 208
terminating value 258
termination condition 109
trace 205, 266
While loop 205
repetitions 264, 290
Roman numerals 78
Root node 409

S
scientific notation 91, 178, 235
Scope 350
Select Form 259, 260, 261, 290, 291
Select Sort 418, 425
Selection 120, 166
Selection Form 108, 120, 129, 164, 176, 185,
234, 280
flowblock 114
flowchart 114
larger 189
nested 131, 189, 192, 194
proof of equivalence 187, 192
selections 257, 290
sentinel value 255, 291
Sequence 166
Sequence Form 108, 120, 129, 164, 176,
182, 234
flowblock 114
flowchart 114
set 409
difference 385
intersection 385
membership 385
union 385
Sets 358
homogeneous 358
side effect 208, 235, 350
software 19

525

software life cycle 32, 60, 66, 458, 489, 491

solution design
task 34
solution refinement
algorithm 34
sorting
pass 428
sorting strategies 416
Space efficiency 421
specification 194
specifications 32, 66, 459
speed of operation 198
stacks 399, 401, 409
State trace 211, 235
statement
logical 99
static view 176
stepwise refinement 34, 66
strategies 416
Strength 350
String 179, 361, 399, 409
pattern matching 438
structure chart 33, 66
structured data 166
break-out diagrams 153
linear form 154
structured programming 128, 164, 166
stub 467, 491
stucture of actions 165
sub-algorithm 86, 109, 120, 219, 234
subproblem 33
subprogram 300, 350
parameterless 316
arguments 315
binding 335
errors 326
groups of actions 302
input parameter 306
interface specification 306
invocation 311
invoked 219
no local variables 316
no parameters 316
one-way communication 315
ouput parameter 306
parameter 300
parameter crossing 336
parameters only 319
recursion 343
rules for variable use 318, 334, 348
simply large programs 300
structure charts 329

526

Index

transmitting values 306

two-way communication 315
using 110
variable scope 335
vs. functions 346
subprogram invocation 303, 307, 309, 348
subscripted variable 358, 360, 409
Swap Sort 418, 422
Symbolic logic 99, 120

T
table 86, 120
indice 88
subscript 88
two-dimensional 88
temporary variable 184
terminal node 407, 409
terminating sandwich 256, 290
terminating value 255, 258, 290, 291, 363
test case 35, 66
test data 469
testing strategy 466, 469, 491
test cases 55
testing strategy development
test case 35
tightly-coupled 339, 349
time complexity 421, 453
Top-down 166
design 128, 164
development 152
refinement 252
testing 467
Trace 66, 235
assertions 214
Four Fundamental Forms 224
state 212
two-dimensional 176, 205, 218
Trace tables 206
tree 399, 407, 409
Trees 449, 477
truth tables 88, 99, 187
Turing, Alan 23
Two-dimensional arrays 367, 408
Two-dimensional plots 273
Two-dimensional tracing 213

U
utility programs 21

V
value
analog 21, 25
binary 106
continuous 21, 65
counting 178
decimal 106
digital 21, 65
discrete 21, 65
Integer 119
measuring 178
Real Number 120
variable 36, 66, 234
actions 234
assigning values 180
components 177
data type 177
global 336
identifier 177
incrementing 181
initialization 212
logical 279
scope 335
temporary 184
using in subprograms 318, 334, 348
variable access rules 318, 334, 348
vector 360, 362, 409
Vertical views 214
von Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm 23
Von Neumann, John 23

W
well-structured algorithm 77
While loop 205, 209
Wirth, Niklaus 57, 58
worms eye view 89, 141