Programming Tools




There are many aids available to programmers. Here are a few that you may find useful...






Structured Programming Concepts: Methods to approaching a project




Warnier-Orr Structured Programming approach
Here is a nice clean approach to planning your projects before you start coding. This methodology is recommended for all projects, simple as well as complex. Study this information for more details.

    Ken Orr's website

    BYTE Article: Structured Program Design, October 1977, by David A. Higgins.

    BYTE Article: Structured Programming with Warnier-Orr Diagrams Part 1, December 1977, by David A. Higgins.

    BYTE Article: Structured Programming with Warnier-Orr Diagrams Part 2, January 1978, by David A. Higgins.

    Tools.com
      (also gives an example of a structure chart)


Flow-Charts for structuring programs
   The book Commodore 128 BASIC Training Guide (ABACUS - Book 6) has a detailed explanation of this approach. See pages 5-12. This method can be applied to any programming language.


   Another source can be found in the book titled Science & Engineering For the Commodore 64.
See pages 24-30.

Structogram
"In the beginning of the seventies, structured programming became more and more popular. Naturally, this was not as popular in the early home or hobby area than in the mini and mainframe computer areas. The limitations of the flow chart for the representation of such techniques were quickly recognized. There are no possibilities for the closed representation of loop and selection structures in the symbol set for flow charts. In order to get around this disadvantage, the notation initiated by Nassi and Shneidermann using structograms was introduced. (Science and Engineering for the Commodore 64, p31)."


Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is a technique used to generate ideas. While it is not specific to creating computer programs, it has its qualities which make it a useful tool for ideas. This is a nice tool for generating ideas for what a programmer would like to incorporate in a program. This could best be used at the beginning of the program idea generation concept. For example, if a programmer wanted to create an inventory program for a small business, this tool could be used to brainstorm ideas of what to include. Click HERE for a graphic example and more details. Note: you do not need a software tool to use this idea -- all you need is a pencil and paper (chalk and chalkboard works too).



Articles, Charts, & Text files


Here are some articles and such, which may be useful:



Software: Commodore based Software: Non-Commodore based