Structured Programming Versus Object-Oriented Programming

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Structured Programming versus Object-Oriented Programming Software engineering is a discipline that is concerned with the construction of robust and reliable computer programs. Just as civil engineers will use tried and tested methods for the construction of buildings, software engineers will use accepted methods for analysing a problem to be solved, a blueprint or plan for the design of the solution and a construction method that minimises the risk of error. The discipline has evolved as the use of computers has spread. In particular, it has tackled issues that have arisen as a result of some catastrophic failures of software projects involving teams of programmers writing thousands of lines of program code. Just as civil engineers have learned from their failures so have software engineers. A particular method or family of methods that a software engineer might use to solve a problem is known as a methodology. During the 1970s and into the 80s, the primary software engineering methodology was structured programming. The structured programming approach to program design was based on the following method:  To solve a large problem, break the problem into several pieces and work on each piece separately;  to solve each piece, treat it as a new problem that can itself be broken down into smaller problems;  repeat the process with each new piece until each can be solved directly, without further decomposition. This approach is also called top-down program design. The following is a simple example of the structured programming approach to problem solving. Write a program for a computer to execute to display the average of two numbers entered through a keyboard connected to the computer. The average is to be displayed on a VDU that is also connected to this computer. The top-down solution is arrived at as follows: Top level: 0. Display average

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