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Summary

The source of a student’s difficulty with learning a programming language lies not with the language itself, but with the many other skills that must be mastered almost simultaneously along the way. Students will find it helpful to know the development roles they play and to have a project approach strategy.

The three development roles played by a student are those of analyst, architect, and programmer. As analyst students should strive to understand the project’s requirements and what must be done to satisfy those requirements. As architect students are responsible for the design of their project. As programmer, students will implement their project’s design in the C++ language.

The project approach strategy helps novice and experienced students systematically formulate solutions to programming projects. The project approach strategy deals with the following areas of concern: requirements, problem domain, language features, and design. By approaching projects in a systematic way, students put themselves in control and can maintain a sense of forward momentum during the execution of their projects. The project approach strategy can be tailored to suit individual needs.

Programming is an art. Formulating solutions to complex projects requires lots of creativity. There are certain steps students can take to stimulate their creative energy. Sketch the project design before sitting at the computer. Reserve quiet space in which to work and, if possible, have a computer dedicated to school and programming projects.

There are five steps to the programming cycle: plan, code, test, integrate, and factor. Use stubbing to test sections of source code without having to code the entire function.

There are two types of complexity: conceptual and physical. Object-oriented programming and design techniques help manage conceptual complexity. Physical complexity is managed with smart project file management techniques and by splitting projects into multiple files.

Use the # ifndef , #define, and #endif preprocessor directives to create header files. Use the #include preprocessor directive to include header files in implementation files.

Self-commenting source code is easy to read and debug. Adopt smart variable, constant, and function naming conventions and stick with them.

Minimize coupling, maximize cohesion!

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