Help with software questions.... (1 Viewer)

[psychiclobster]

Does anyone know the answers to the workbook??? im lazy, so here is a few of the questions...

What details might a file specification contain?

What is meant by self documenting code? give an example

What factors relating to documentation of the program code will make the task of maintaining software easier?

Noone knows what the answer is in my class, so any help here?? thx. if this is in the wrong place, move it around a bit mods.... thx.

 

[AntiHyper]

I just have a vibe about "self-documenting code" as when the program is run.. it would "echo" back to state what the program is doing.

 

[acmilan]

self documenting of code can include things such as adding comments after major lines in the code to show others who read it what that section of code does.

Obviously, having things such as these will make maintenance easier as less time has to be spent trying to figure out what the code does, especially if the code has to be changed and the original programmer isnt there anymore

 

[SamD]

There are two types of internal documentation commonly used - comments and intrinsic documentation. Intrinsic documentation means 'self documenting code'.

Examples of self documenting code include:
* the use of meaningful variable names (e.g. 'dblAverage' rather than 'a' - the name of the variable in this example tells you both its data type and also that it holds the average of something)
* indenting within control structures - just like in psuedocode, it makes the logic within the source code much more readable.
* leaving blank lines between logical sections of the code also improves readability.

HTH
Sam

 

[Protector]

What details might a file specification contain?

A file specification explains to the computer what the file does or is for. In the Macintosh Operating system a seperate file is saved as .FILENAME in the same directory as FILENAME. The file specification explains what program should open the file.

Example:
Executable (.exe) files are run through the EXPLORER.EXE application which is run as the SHELL or one of the CORE processes of windows.

What is meant by self documenting code? give an example

Self documenting code is the act of documenting the code yourself.

EG - Some very basic VB6:

print "I have a monkey" ' print string onto form
msgbox "You are ugly!" ' display messagebox
end ' quit program

What factors relating to documentation of the program code will make the task of maintaining software easier?

Internal documentation including, but not limited to, internal documentation, commenting and log books make the maintainence easier for other developers to take on the task of the original developer. Indentation and organisation of code, as well as clear, consistent and precise commenting is also important. The clearer and more coherant the documentation is the easier the new developer can understand and begin work on the program(s).