Unit 12 Software Development

Characteristics and uses of software

programs

Owen Hill.
2A.P1) Explain the purpose of two simple
programs and their characteristics,
including tools and techniques used.
Purpose – Maze game
• To allow somebody to play a maze game for their entertainment.
Screenshots – Maze game program
• Provide a screenshot of program functionality
Characteristics – Maze game program
• Provide an explanation of the following characteristics:
- Programming language used (Visual Basic)

- Module and sub-routines (What are they?) Subroutines consist of modules of code that perform different
tasks. If these tasks are repeated through the program, they can be written as subroutines. Each subroutine
is given a unique name so that it can be called and executed and quickly throughout the program without
having to write the code again.

- Variables and Data Types (What variables were used? What data types were they? Why were they used?)
As PictureBox / As Integer

- Mathematical Operators (What are they? The basic arithmetic operatings are Add, Subtract, multiplication
and Division What operators were used and why?)

- Commenting (Why was the code commented?) Its an explanation for what the code is actually doing.
Code and commenting – Maze game program
• Provide a screenshot of code (with commenting)
Purpose - Languages program
• Explain one purpose of the Languages program- One purpose of the
languages program is to tell you what is happening and how its being
displayed and how it works.
Screenshots - Languages program
• Provide a screenshot of program functionality
Characteristics - Languages program
• Provide an explanation of the following characteristics:
- Programming language used (Visual Basic) – To extend the capabilities of BASIC by adding objects and “event-
driven” programming: buttons, menus, and other elements of graphical user interfaces.

- Module and sub-routines (What are they?) Modules are containers to define custom fuinctions, procedures or
variables to group code in Visual basic. Subroutines can be thought of as miniature programs. A subroutine has a
name attributed with it, much like a variable does.

- Variables and Data Types (What variables were used? What data types were they? Why were they used?) In the
maze program there are 2 variables “picturerray” and “x”. X is an Integer data type.

- Mathematical Operators (What are they? What operators were used and why?) plus and minus were used to move
the picture boxes.

- Commenting (Why was the code commented?) Programmers put commenting there, just to give a brief of what’s
actually going on.
Code and commenting – Languages program
• Provide a screenshot of code (with commenting)
 2A.M1) Comment on the quality of one of the
given simple programs, suggesting any
improvements and provide a flow chart to show
the processing
You could see the path to the exit quite clearly, and it was very easy to see where you had to go and evade
the monsters easily. Things to improve is the difficulty oand most likely
Quality Review - ??? program
• Comment on the quality of one program: One quality of the program
is that its clear and the code is solid.
Improvements - ??? program
• Suggest at least three improvements
Flow Chart - ??? program
• Provide screenshot evidence of flow chart
 2A.D1) Discuss the strengths and
weaknesses of the software program
Strengths - ??? program
• Discuss at least three strengths of the program (in relation to usability,
functionality, efficiency and/or readability).
Weaknesses - ??? program
• Discuss at least three weaknesses of the program (in relation to
usability, functionality, efficiency and/or readability).