Reading Challenge Week 4 Class 1 I Before you Read You will read a forum entry by a programmer. Before you read, think about the following: What do you think are the main problems faced by programmers? Write down 3 key problems. 1. 2. 3. II While you Read Now read the text. Did the programmer who wrote it agree with you? Let’s check! What are the main problems faced by programmers? I will divide this answer in three cases: Case 1: Writing a code from scratch Now if you are supposed to write a new program then you must know the clear the understanding of the problem statement. Once you have got the problem statement, you should be able to identify what should be the output of the program given input. Then comes the most tricky part that is to code. Now I won’t tell you steps to follow while coding because there is no one standard way that each programmer follows. Most hard core programmers tend to write code in the direction to get the desired output, which at the end makes the code more complex and not readable. After you are done with coding, you will have then have to refine the code by dividing your program into small modules, following some coding standards, nomenclature and then documenting the code explaining what each part of the code is doing. Basically making the code readable for anyone else is one the challenging part. Case 2: Editing Someone else’s code Each programmer has different way or style to code. And if the original coder of the program has not documented the code properly and have not followed coding standards, then it would get you into serious problem. In this case, you will have to understand the code by performing various runs and checks to know what each module is doing and how it is doing. A poor written code by one programmer is a disaster for another programmer to deal with. Case 3: On top of case 1/ case 2, lack of understanding problem statement. Suppose you’re senior assigned you the job but didn’t clarify the problem statement. There is no way you would be saved from making serious mistakes. You should always spend time understanding what is the task clearly ! III After you Read Vocabulary 1. Which word is closest in meaning to “tricky” in Case 1? a. Fun b. Hard c. Unstable 2. Which word is closest in meaning to “poor” in Case 2? A poor written code by one programmer is a disaster for another programmer to deal with. a. Low-quality b. Simple c. complex Checking understanding True This programmer says that there is one standard way to code. Editing someone’s code is an extremely difficult task. One part of creating a code is making it readable for anyone. Many programmers focus too much on the output and forget to make the code readable. Before writing your code, make sure you understand the problem. False Answer Key Vocabulary 3. Which word is closest in meaning to “tricky” in Case 1? d. Fun e. Hard f. Unstable 4. Which word is closest in meaning to “poor” in Case 2? A poor written code by one programmer is a disaster for another programmer to deal with. d. Low-quality e. Simple f. complex Checking understanding 1. 2. 3. 4. This programmer says that there is one standard way to code. True False Editing someone’s code is an extremely difficult task. True False One part of creating a code is making it readable for anyone. True False Many programmers focus too much on the output and forget to make the code readable. True False 5. Before writing your code, make sure you understand the problem. True False
