Introducing program design (abstract only)
Dean Sanders · 1985
Software design and documentation techniques should be introduced in the first computer science course. The traditional top-down and functional decomposition techniques produce inconsistent results. More powerful tools such as structured/composite design are too cumbersome for an introductory course. Data Structured Systems Design1 offers several advantages: 1. the technique can be learned incrementally; 2. the technique offers specific criteria for decomposing a problem; 3. the method is self documenting; 4. the technique can be used throughout a student's career; 5. the technique can be used with automatic code generators in later courses. This paper presents a model for using DSSD in an introductory course, even in cases where tools such as Karel the Robot are used to introduce the concepts of program structure and control flow.