Professional Programming Skills

Objectives
On successful completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• produce logically sound, clearly written programs, which are more easily tested and maintained
• define the requirements of testing and create rigorous test plans
• find and correct software errors more quickly
• understand the importance of standards.

Who Should Attend
Relatively inexperienced programmers who need to improve their productivity and overall approach to software development.
Prerequisites
The ability to program in COBOL.
Duration
3 days

Course Code
PPPB
Contents
Introduction
The need for design, The need for a professional approach


Orientation
Understanding the Program Specification, Identifying all inputs, outputs and processing rules, Decision tables


Identifying data structures
General concepts of data structure analysis, The basis of good design, Basic constructs: sequence, selection, iteration


Top Down design
Structured logic, Top down design, Program Design Language and Pseudo Code


Program Testing
The need for a rigorous approach, Black and white box testing, Test data selection, Test Aids, Creating test plans, Predicting and checking results


Program maintenance
Maintenance categories, Improved maintenance techniques, Finding errors, Organisational aspects of improved maintenance, Documentation


Standards
Need for standards, Layout and style, Using them effectively.


Building an enhanced future
Hallmarks of the Professional, How to gain a good reputation, How to keep it.