Structured Programming Summary

• The cost of human labor tends to rise; the cost of machinery tends to decline.
• Consequently, the best programs are those that are the simplest and clearest to humans.
• Java uses only 7 control structures:
  • Sequential
  • if
  • if/else
  • switch
  • while
  • for
  • do/while
• These control structures are combined in only 2 ways:

  • Stacked
  • Nested

• The rules for well-structured programs are:
  1. Begin with the "simplest flow chart" (corresponding to a 1-line pseudocode).
  2. Any rectangle (action) can be replaced by 2 rectangles in sequence.
  3. Any rectangle can be replaced by any control structure.
  4. Rules 2 and 3 may be applied any number of times, in any order.