Problem Solving

(CS 1002)

Dr. Muhammad Aleem,

Department of Computer Science,

National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences,
Islamabad Campus
 What is a Computer?
• A computer is a electro-mechanical device that
works semi-automatically to process input data
according to the stored set of instructions and
produces output or resultant data.

Instructions
A Computer Results
System
Data
 Components of a Computer System
Peripheral Devices / Connected devices
Keyboard Mouse Display CD Rom Hard Disk

Computer

Main Memory

A Typical CPU
Von-Nueman Machine
Arithmetic and Logic Unit

Control Unit
 Computer Instructions and Programs
• Instruction: A computer instruction is a command
or directive given to a computer to perform
specific task.
Examples: Add 2 and 5, Print “Hello World”

• Program: A program is sequence of instructions

written in programming language that directs a
computer to solve a problem
Examples: Draw a square, etc.
 Computer Instructions and Programs
• Program: “Draw a square”

1 – Draw a vertical line of length n inches

2 – Draw a horizontal line of n inches
3– Draw a vertical line of length n inches
4 – Draw a horizontal line of n inches
Computer Software System

Application Programs
(.cpp, .c, .java,)
Compilers / Libraries
(C++, C, Java)
Operating Systems
(Windows, Linux, MAC, Solaris)

Computer Hardware
 Programming Languages
Classification of programming languages:
1. Machine language
2. Low-level languages
3. High-level languages
 1. Machine level languages
• A computer understands only sequence of bits or 1’s
and 0’s (the smallest piece of information)

• A computer program can be written using machine

languages (01001101010010010….)
• Very fast execution
• Very difficult to write and debug programs
• Machine specific (different codes on different
machines)
 2. Low level languages
• English encrypted words instead of codes
• More understandable (for humans)
• Example: Assembly language
• Requires: “Translation” from Assembly code to
machine code

Assembly Code Machine Code

compare: 1001010101001101
cmpl #oxa,n 1110010110010100
cgt end_of_loop Assembler 0101010111010010
acddl #0x1,n 0110100110111011
end_of_loop: 1101100101010101
 3. High level languages
• Mostly machine independent
• Close to natural language (English like keywords)
• Easy to write and understand programs
• Easy to debug and maintain code
• Requires compilers to translate to machine code
• Slower than low-level languages
 3. High level languages
• Many popular High-Level languages

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 Problem Solving Steps
1. Understand the problem
2. Plan the logic
3. Code the program
4. Test the program
5. Deploy the program into production
 1. Understanding the Problem
• Problems are often described in natural language
like English.

• Identify the requirements

1. Inputs or given data-items
2. Required output(s) or desired results
3. Indirect inputs (may not be given directly, you
have to calculate or assume)
 1. Understanding the Problem
– Example: Calculate the area of a circle having
the radius of 3 cm
• Inputs:
Radius=3
• Output:
Area
• Indirect Inputs:
Pi=3.14

Area = 3.14 * (3*3) = 28.27

 2. Plan the Logic
• Identify/Outline small steps in sequence, to
achieve the goal (or desired results)

• Tools such as flowcharts and pseudocode can be

used:
1. Flowchart: a pictorial representation of the
logic steps
2. Pseudocode: English-like representation of
the logic

Advice: Walk through the logic before coding

 3. Code the Program
• Code the program:
– Select the programming language
– Write the program instructions in the selected
programming language
– Use the compiler software to translate the
program into machine understandable code
– Syntax errors (Error in program instructions) are
identified by the compiler during compilation and
can be corrected.
 4. Test the Program
• Testing the program
– Execute using sample data and check the results

– Identify logic errors if any (undesired results or

output) and correct them
 5. Deploy the Program
• Putting the program into production
– Do this after testing is complete and all known
errors have been corrected
 Program Logic: Flowcharts
• “A graphic representation of a sequence of operations
to represent a computer program”
– Shows steps of the solution
– Shows individual steps and their interconnections

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 Basic Flowchart Symbols
Name Symbol Description

Oval Beginning or End of the Program

Parallelogram Input / Output Operations

Rectangle Processing for example, Addition,

Multiplication, Division, etc.

Denotes a Decision (or branching)

Diamond
for example IF-Then-Else

Denotes the Direction of logic

Arrow
flow
 Example 1
START
Step 1: Input M1,M2,M3,M4
Input Step 2: GRADE = (M1+M2+M3+M4)/4
M1,M2,M3,M4 Step 3: if (GRADE < 50) then
Print “FAIL”
else
GRADE(M1+M2+M3+M4)/4
Print “PASS”
endif
No IS Yes
GRADE<50

Print Print
“PASS” “FAIL”

STOP
 Example 2
• Write an algorithm and draw a flowchart to convert
the length in feet to centimeter.
 Example 2
Algorithm Flowchart

• Step 1: Read Lft START

• Step 2: Lcm = Lft x 30 Read Lft
• Step 3: Print Lcm
Lcm = Lft x 30

Print LCM

STOP
 Example 3
• Write an algorithm and draw a flowchart that will read
the Length and Width of a rectangle and calculate its
area.
 Example 3

START

Algorithm
Read
• Step 1: Read W,L W, L

• Step 2: Area = L x W
Area  L x W
• Step 3: Print A
Print
Area

STOP
 Decision Structures
• The expression A > B is a logical expression

• It describes a condition, we want to test

• if A>B is true (if A is greater than B) we take a action on

left

• Print the value of A

• if A>B is false (if A is not greater than B) we take a action

on right

• Print the value of B

 IF–THEN–ELSE STRUCTURE
• The algorithm for the flowchart is as follows:
If A>B then
print A
else
print B
Yes is No
endif
A>B

Print A Print B
 CASE Structure
• Multiple branching based on a single data item

Data Item

Do Step A Do Step B Do Step C Do Step D

 Relational / Logical Operators
Relational Operators
Operator Symbol Description
(Pseudocode)
> Greater than
< Less than
= Equal to
 Greater than or equal to
 Less than or equal to
 Not equal to
 Example 4
• Write an algorithm that reads two values, finds largest
value and then prints the largest value.

ALGORITHM
Step 1: Read VALUE1, VALUE2
Step 2: if (VALUE1 > VALUE2) then
MAX  VALUE1
else
MAX  VALUE2
endif

Step 3: Print “The largest value is”, MAX

-- DRAW the Flow Chart for the Program

 Selection Structure
• A Selection structure can be based on
1. Dual-Alternative (two code paths)
2. Single Alternative (one code path)
Dual Alternative Example:

Yes No
is
A>B

Print A Print B
 Selection Structure
Single Alternative Example
Pseudocode: IF GPA is greater than 2.0 Then
Print “Promoted ”
End IF

No GPA Yes
> 2.0

Print
“Promoted”
 Loop Structure
• Repetition (WHILE structure)
– Repeats a set of actions based on the answer to a
question/condition
pseudocode: DoWHILE <Some-True-Condition>
Do Something
ENDDO
 Loop Structure
• REPEAT-UNTIL structure
– Repeats a set of actions until a condition remains True

– pseudocode: REPEAT
Do-Something
UNTIL <Some True Condition>
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