Program Development Life Cycle

(PDLC) 
Program Development Life Cycle (PDLC) 

It is a systematic way of developing quality

software. It provides an organized plan for
breaking down the task of program
development into manageable chunks, each of
which must be successfully completed before
moving on to the next phase.
The program development process is divided into the steps discussed below:

1.Defining the Problem –

The first step is to define the problem. In major
software projects, this is a job for system
analyst, who provides the results of their work
to programmers in the form of a program
specification. The program specification defines
the data used in program, the processing that
should take place while finding a solution, the
format of the output and the user interface.
2. Designing the Program

Program design starts by focusing on the main goal that the

program is trying to achieve and then breaking the program
into manageable components, each of which contributes to
this goal. This approach of program design is called top-bottom
program design or modular programming. The first step
involve identifying main routine, which is the one of program’s
major activity. From that point, programmers try to divide the
various components of the main routine into smaller parts
called modules. For each module, programmer draws a
conceptual plan using an appropriate program design tool to
visualize how the module will do its assign job.
Program Design Tools:
The various program design tools are described
below:

• Structure Charts – A structure chart, also

called Hierarchy chart, show top-down design of
program. Each box in the structure chart indicates a
task that program must accomplish. The Top module,
called the Main module or Control module. For
example:
Algorithms –
An algorithm is a step-by-step description of
how to arrive at a solution in the most easiest
way. Algorithms are not restricted to computer
world only. In fact, we use them in everyday
life.
Flowcharts –
A flowchart is a diagram that shows the logic
of the program. For example:
• Decision tables –
A Decision table is a special kind of table,
which is divided into four parts by a pair of
horizontal and vertical lines.
• Pseudocode –
A pseudocode is another tool to describe the
way to arrive at a solution. They are different
from algorithm by the fact that they are
expressed in program language like constructs.
4. Coding the Program

Coding the program means translating an

algorithm into specific programming language.
The technique of programming using only well
defined control structures is known
as Structured programming. Programmer
must follow the language rules, violation of
any rule causes error. These errors must be
eliminated before going to the next step
5.Testing and Debugging the Program

After removal of syntax errors, the program will execute.

However, the output of the program may not be correct.
This is because of logical error in the program. A logical
error is a mistake that the programmer made while
designing the solution to a problem. So the programmer
must find and correct logical errors by carefully
examining the program output using Test data. Syntax
error and Logical error are collectively known as Bugs.
The process of identifying errors and eliminating them is
known as Debugging.
6. Documenting the Program
•
After testing, the software project is almost complete.
The structure charts, pseudocodes, flowcharts and decision
tables developed during the design phase become
documentation for others who are associated with the
software project. This phase ends by writing a manual that
provides an overview of the program’s functionality,
tutorials for the beginner, in-depth explanations of major
program features, reference documentation of all program
commands and a thorough description of the error
messages generated by the program.
6.Deploying and Maintaining the Program

In the final phase, the program is deployed

(installed) at the user’s site. Here also, the
program is kept under watch till the user gives
a green signal to it.
Even after the software is completed, it needs
to be maintained and evaluated regularly. In
software maintenance, the programming team
fixes program errors and updates the software.
Programming Concept
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written
using a Computer Programming Language to perform a
specified task by the computer.
A computer program is also called a computer software,
which can range from two lines to number of lines of
instructions.
Computer program instructions are also called program
source code and computer programming is also called
program coding.
A computer without a computer program is just a dump box;
it is programs that make computers active.
There are hundreds of programming languages, which can
be used to write computer programs and following are a
few of them:
Java
C
C++
Python
PHP
C#
• Listed below are a few applications of computer
programs:
• MS Word, MS Excel, Adobe Photoshop, Internet Explorer,
Chrome, etc., are examples of computer programs.
• Computer programs are being used to develop graphics
and special effects in movie making.
• Computer programs are being used to perform
Ultrasounds, X-Rays, and other medical examinations.
Computer programs are being used in our mobile phones
for SMS, Chat, and voice communication.
Computer Programmer
• Someone who can write computer programs or in other words,
someone who can do computer programming is called a Computer
Programmer. Based on computer programming language
expertise, we can name a computer programmers as follows:
• C Programmer
• C++ Programmer
• Java Programmer
• Python Programmer
• PHP Programmer
• Perl Programmer
• Ruby Programmer
Algorithm From programming point of view,
An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure to resolve any problem. An algorithm is an effective
method expressed as a finite set of well-defined instructions. Thus, a computer programmer
lists down all the steps required to resolve a problem before writing the actual code.
Following is a simple example of an algorithm to find out the largest number from a given list
of three numbers:
1. Get the numbers L1, L2,L3
2. check if L1 greater then L2 and L1 greater then L3
Largest = L1
3. check if L2 greater then L1 and L2 greater then L3
Largest = L2
4. check if L3 greater then L2 and L3 greater then L1
Largest = L3
5. Print value stored in Largest and come out
The above algorithm has been written in a simple way to help beginners understand the
concept.
Computer Programming Languages are also made of several elements. These basic elements
include:
Programming Environment
Basic Syntax
Data Types
Variables
Keywords
Basic Operators
Decision Making
Loops
Numbers
Characters
Arrays
Strings
Functions
File I/O
Input, Process, Output
Input
The role of an input in a computer system is to provide data for further processing.
An input consists of data or commands that are entered into the computer system usually via an input
device such as a keyboard, mouse, OMR, barcode reader, scanner etc.
• The input data is converted into digital data that can be dealt with by the computer. Sometimes the input
is already in digital format, for example when it has been transmitted from another computer but most
of the time it needs to be converted into a digital format before processing can take place.
Input device and How It Works
• Keyboard
• User presses a physical key. An electronic chip senses the key press and produces a digital code to
represent the meaning of the key.
• Mouse
• User slides the mouse around. This movement is picked up by a sensor inside the mouse and digital data
is sent as a result
• Touch screen
• User makes gestures on the surface of the screen or slides their finger along it. Sensors behind the screen
picks up the action and converts it into digital data
• Microphone
• The microphone system picks up sound and converts it into digital data
Process

• The central part of a computer system is 'processing'. Processing is the

stage where the input data is manipulated in order to produce
meaningful information. Processing can include a number of stages
such as sorting, searching, calculations, graphing. The results obtained
from processing the data can then be used in the next stage, called
"output".
• Some examples of processing could include:
• searching sales data to find which products in a supermarket have sold
the most
• sorting a list of customer data into alphabetical order
• after a barcode has been scanned (input), retrieving the price of the
item from the supermarket database and using this data to calculate
the customer's bill
Output

•Output is the stage where the information obtained via processing is presented to the user in a
suitable format.
•Most outputs involve converting digital data into some physical effect that the person senses
with eyes or ears. This means that one can able to see the output, a print out or displayed on
the computer screen. Maybe we can hear the output via music, voice instructions or a
computer generated alarm.
•Examples of output could include:
•a printout of student examination results displayed in order from highest to lowest
•a digital display at the petrol pump showing how much fuel has been delivered and the cost of
that fuel
•an alarm from a fire alarm system which has detected smoke in the room
•Output device and How It Works
•Video screen :- Digital data is loaded into video memory. The screen hardware reads this data
and turns on the correct colored pixels on the screen. It does so many times per second
•Printer :- Digital data is sent to the printer. This device then places ink dots on paper to
represent the data. The ink can be black or color.
•Speakers :-Digital data is sent to a sound card. The card converts it into an analogue sound
signal. This is sent to the speakers that then move air to cause sound.
•Stored file :-The digital data is stored on some medium using a physical effect. Such as: Hard
disk -> magnetic particles DVD disk -> Light and dark pits