Structured Programming Concepts

Introduction to Structured Programming Concepts

Structured programming has been credited with everything from preventing  tooth decay to curing athlete foot. When structured programming was  first put  forward, it  was seen  as the panacea for all ills. Although  structured programming has not  fulfilled every aspect of its early promise it has certainly led to improved code quality.

Structured  programming is now  part and parcel of most  approaches to programming. It  is widely accepted that it is not only  the best but the  only way to carry out programming. One view  of structured programming is that  it holds that programs should only be  built from three components sequences ( normally  written  in the  order in which  the  statements are to be executed ) selections ( normally written as if ..then ........else) and repetitions ( written as while ...do) the  go to  statement  is by implication  banned. In  addition to this  some  significant principle  of structured programming are also required.

Is this structured programming or something  else ? it is merely programming  without  go to  statements  or is there  something more ? to help  answer  these questions  we will  now discuss the following  aspects one by one.

1. History  of  structured  programming

2. Why the go to statement  is considered harmful?

3. Some  principles of structured  programming

4. What is  structured  programming?

1. Histroy  of Structured Programming

The development  of structured  programming  took between 1966 and 1974. Three  major events can be highlighted  during  this period: 

  • The mathematical theory of 1966
  • Dijkstra 1968 letter
  • Knuth landmark article 1974

1. The mathematical theory of 1966. In 1966 Boehm and  Jacobin published an  article  that essentially  showed that any  software product that  can be represented by  a flowchart can be  rewritten only three types  of control structures which are sequence, selection and iteration. These control structures are shown in fig 6.21.

742_Structured Programming Homework Help.jpg

But  the reaction of computer science committee to this result was so what ? The  fact that  a product could  be put together using only  a followed by ( sequence), it c then a else b ( selection ) and while  co a (iteration ) was of interest to hardly anybody  at the time. In1966 the popular and important language were COBOL IT. RORTRAN IV  an dissembler and in all three of those  language the go to statement  was the  major control structure.  The fact  that in principle  was possible to program  without  the go to  was just  not relevant.

(b) Dijkstra 1968 Letter  :In  1968 Dijkstra published a letter  in the  communication  of the ACM entitled go to statement considered harmful. The letter  caused a major furore. Many disagreed that the go to is harmful in any way letters of this types still  appear form  time to time. Other s said so what ? even if the  go to should  in fact  be a avoided nothings could  be done  about  it. In the popular  languages or 1968 it was  impossible  to program  without  the  go to.

After all there  was no  alternative  to using  the go to  in assembler. Because structured programming  had not yet been  invented, structured FORTRAN and  structured COBOL had not yet been  developed: there was  thus  no alternative to the go to  statement in either of those languages as well. And  because few  people  had  read Boehm and Jacobin article  and fewer still had appreciated in full significance there was a third  School of thought that it was impossible  to program without  the go to  statement .

(c) Knuth Landmark Article of 1974:The  arguments  raged back and forth . it is surprising  that no duels were fought over the issue  such  were the passions that  structured programming  evoked. Finally in 1974, Knuth published a 40 page articles entitled structured programming with go to statement . the  little appears to be a contradiction in  terms. But the point of the article is  that  structured  programming  is not go to  less programming. Instead it is a way of making  products more readable. In some cases  module that contains a go to  is easier t understand  than its  go to less counterpart.

This article ended the major  controversy but the embers  are still glowing and flare occasionally. Nevertheless the overwhelming preponderance of the  software world is united in the  view that go to  statement  are almost always  harmful and should be avoided.

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