Program Design and Development

Video 1:

Computer programs are developed with a systematic approach to meet design elements.
- starts with an idea
- follow specific steps and stick to a plan
Dev Process can be ordered and intentional or exploratory. Phases of the dev process include:
- investigating/reflecting
- designing
- prototyping
- testing
Developers must determine the program requirements and constraints
revisiting earlier phases of the process allows refinement and revision based on feedback and testing
Break down your problem/coding process into numerous pieces and make sure each piece works before combining the program as a whole.
investigation is useful to identify the program constraints and concerns for the user.
- Collecting data with survey
- user testing
- interviews
- Direct Observations
Program requirements describe user interactions and program functions
- include user interactions and create an outline of them
Design phase of development outlines how they will accomplish a given program goal/specification
- brainstorming
- planning and creating a storyboard
- organizing the program into modules and functional components
- creation of diagrams that represent the layouts of the user interface
- dev of a testing strategy for the program.

Programs are developed by groups of people and are expanded upon by individuals.
- Rarely developed solely by a single individual. (teams are more common)
- Individuals work on a specific component of the program or code segment.
  - Each member of a team should receive credit in the documentation of the program
Always acknowledge when you are using a code segment from an outside source.
- Do this by writing the original authors name in the program documentation.
- Some languages have the ability to leave a comment within the code, to give credit.
  - comments make it easy to find out who is responsible to fix a specific problem
  - After the program is completed, you can find additional bugs.
Sometimes developers use code segments, procedures, algorithms that were written by others.
- Even if they are not part of the project, they deserve credit, because it is considered intellectual property.
- Documentation of contributors resembles a works cited list.

Programs use comments and documentation to explain the purpose of their programs to themselves and others
Program documentation is a written description of a function of a code segment, event, procedure, or program and how it was developed.
- Describe the overall program specifications, its development, how other programs interact with yours, and the contributors.
You Should document your program throughout the development
- At the beginning, list specifications
- During, keep track of your progress
- After, explain the overall process
Documentation helps maintain correct programs, so you can easily review what you or collaborators did.
- Improves efficiency, and ability to test and refine your program.
If there is no comment feature in the language, you have to get creative
- Comments allow programmers to write text within the program, does not affect the program.
- Python: # is a comment
- Java: // is a single line comment, /* is multiple line, /** documentation comments
- Javascript, C++, Swift use the same as java
- HTML and XML use <!””!>