Programming and Data Structures

5. Characteristics of a Good Program

Characteristics of a Good Program

1.     Portability/Transferability: Must be able to work on any computer machine.

2.     Reliability: It can be relied upon to do what it is expected to do.

3.     Efficiency/cost saving: It must not cost more than its benefits and enables problem to be solved appropriately, quickly and efficiently.

4.     Clarity and Simplicity: It should be as simple as possible to understand.

5.     Understandability/Readability: It must be readable and understandable by other programmers and end users.

6.     Flexibility: A good program must be flexible adaptable in order to suit user’s need. The program can be easily adapted or extended for future requirements. Flexible programs can evolve with changing needs without major rewrites.

7.      Modularity: Code is organized into modular units or functions. Modular code is easier to understand, test, and maintain. It also supports code reuse.

8.     Maintainability: Code is designed and documented to simplify maintenance. Programs that are easy to maintain reduce the cost of updates, bug fixes, and enhancements.

Phases/Stages of Program Development (Programming)

The process of producing a computer program (software) may be divided into eight phases or stages:

1) Problem definition/Analysis

2) Selection or development of an algorithm

3) Designing the program

4) Coding the programming statements

5) Compiling/Compilation stage

6) Testing/Running and debugging the program

7) Documentation.

8) Maintenance