Problem Solving In Software Engineering

LECTURE 4
Algorithm, Pseudocode & Flowchart

Assist. Prof. Dr. Gülüzar ÇİT

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Outline
➢Algorithm
➢Definition
➢What should be in a good algorithm?
➢Can Algorithms be Expressed in Different Ways?
➢Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms
➢Identifier, variable, constant, counter, query, loop
➢Arithmetic, logical and comparison operations
➢Flowcharts
➢Symbols in Flowcharts
➢Flowchart Examples
➢References

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Algorithm
➢can be thought as the equivalent of the word "plan" in real life
➢expressing the solution steps of a problem in order and finite
➢a set of instructions that is used to perform a certain task
➢in software engineering: "the logical and symbolic description of
the predicted operations for the solution of a problem"
➢Abdullah Muhammad bin Musa al-Khwarizmi, a Turkish-Islam
mathematician and astronomer who lived in 9th century, did a
study explaining some mathematical operations such as addition,
subtraction, division by two, find twice an number. This work is
called as "algorismus" in Latin from Westerners. So, todays
"algorithm" was used firstly.
➢free from any programming language, but should be adaptive to
any of them.

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Algorithm…
➢What Should be in a Good Algorithm?
➢Efficient
➢should not include unnecessary repetitions and should be used in other
algorithms.
➢Finite
➢Each algorithm must consist of a start, contain a specific action step, and have
an end point. It should not go into a vicious circle.
➢Certain
➢The action result must be precise, producing the same result with each new
run.
➢Input/Output
➢The algorithm must have input (values to be processed) and output (result
values produced as a result of the operations performed) values.
➢Performance
➢The aim should be to write high-performance programs, taking into account
performance criteria such as hardware requirement (memory usage, etc.),
runtime, etc.

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Algorithm…
➢Can Algorithms be Expressed in Different Ways?
➢writing the algorithm as text
➢the problem to be solved is written in text step by step.
➢Pseudo Code
➢the algorithm can also be written in pseudo-codes.
➢between the spoken language and the programming language
➢also called as half code and half text
➢the solution steps of the problem are expressed in understandable text like
commands.
➢not compiled and processed as programs
➢shold be clear and understandable by others.
➢Flowcharts
➢The solution steps of the problem are expressed with specific geometric shapes.
➢UML
➢Design Patterns

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Algorithm…
➢EXAMPLE – 1
➢Problem: A program which calculates the square of a number entered from
the keyboard and prints the result on the screen.

➢Write down the algorithm of the problem

➢Write down the pseudocode of the problem
➢Draw the flowchart of the problem

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Algorithm…
➢EXAMPLE – 1…
➢Algorithm:

 START
 Input a number ⇒ a
 Calculate the square of the number ⇒ square = a*a
 Print result ⇒ square
 END

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Algorithm…
➢EXAMPLE – 1…
➢Pseudo Code:

 /* Square Program */
 START
 cin >> a
 square = a*a
 cout << square
 END

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Algorithm…
➢EXAMPLE – 1…
➢Flowchart:

START

number Read from keyboard

square=number*number Operation

square Print screen

END

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms
➢Operator
➢Symbols that indicate transactions, namely, have the ability to
operate on data.

➢EXAMPLE:
➢ + , = , > , >= , !=

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Identifier
➢Special words defined by the coder/programmer used to name
variables, constants, classes, objects, special information types,
subprograms, etc.
➢The identifier should associate the statement it will replace.

➢Rules to be followed when creating descriptive words:

➢26 letters of A-Z or a-z in the English alphabet can be used
➢numbers between 0-9 can be used
➢from symbols only underscores (_) can be used
➢can start with letters or underscores
➢cannot start with numbers or consist only of numbers
➢cannot be from the command or hidden words of the programming
language used.

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Variable
➢symbolic names given to the memory areas where data are stored.
➢information/memory areas that can receive/transfer different values during
each program execution.
➢at any particular time, a variable will stand for one particular data, called the
value of a variable
➢the value of a variable will change many times in time during a computing
process.
➢naming variables is done by the programmer/coder.
➢it is important for the clarity of the program that the variable name evokes the
expression it replaces.

➢Example:
➢name to hold a person's name
➢tel to hold a person's phone

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Constant
➢identifiers required to keep their values throughout the program
➢descriptive naming rules are also valid for constants
➢maybe a specific value or character string used explicitly in an
➢operation.

➢Example:
➢pi = 3.14
➢g = 9.8 m/s
➢first_letter_of_alphabet=‘A’
➢second_day_of_week = "Tuesday"

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Assignment Operation
➢used to write data to an information field
➢used whenever you need to keep track of a value that will be needed later
during the program execution
Example:
assignment
➢ as a numeric expressions
❑ A= 2, B= 3
variable = expression ❑ C=A+B C=5
➢ as an alphanumeric expression
variable
Assignment
numeric ❑ A = “Sak” , B = “arya”
or or
constant
operator
alphanumeric ❑ C=A+B C="Sakarya"

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Assignment Operation…
➢Some example uses:
➢initializing a variable ⇒ count = 0
➢increment/decrement a counter variable ⇒ count = count + 1
➢accumulate values ⇒ sum = sum + item
➢capture the result of a computation ⇒ y = 3*x + 4

➢the assignment operation is not same of its reverse

➢i.e. a = b is not the same as b = a.

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Counter Variable
➢to follow a certain number of requested operations
➢used when the processed/produced values need to be counted.
➢Example:
➢in determining the odd numbers in a randomly generated array, a
counter is used to determine the number of odd numbers.
assignment Example:
➢ count = count + 1
➢ i=i -2
counter_variable= counter_variable ± step

new value current value increment or

of counter of counter decrement amount

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Arithmetic Operations
Operation Mathematics Computer

Addition a+b a+b

Subtraction a-b a-b

Multiplication a.b a*b

Division a÷b a/b

Exponentiation ab a^b

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Arithmetic Operations…
Mathematical Writing Coding into Computer

a+b-c+2abc-7 a+b-c+2*a*b*c-7

a+b2-c3 a+b^2-c^3
𝑏 2
𝑎− + 2𝑎𝑐 − a-b/c+2*a*c-2/(a+b)
𝑐 𝑎+𝑏
2
𝑎+𝑏− 2 (a+b)^(1/2)-2/(b^2-4*a*c)
𝑏 − 4𝑎𝑐
𝑎2 + 𝑏 2
(a^2+b^2)/(2*a*b)
2𝑎𝑏

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Arithmetic Operations…
Order Operation Programming
1 Negativity of Numbers -…
2 Paranthesis ( ….. )
3 Arithmetic Functions cos, sin, log, …
4 Exponentiation a ^ b, pow, …
5 Multiplication and Division a * b ve a/b
6 Addition and Subtraction a + b ve a - b

➢ Example:
❑ Artihmetic Expression
𝒙 = 𝒂. 𝒃 /𝒄 + 𝒅. 𝒆𝒇 − 𝒈
❑ Computer Language Expression
𝒙 = 𝒂 ∗ 𝒃 /𝒄 + 𝒅 ∗ 𝒆^𝒇 − 𝒈
7 2 3 5 4 1 6

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Comparison Operations
➢checks which of the two data items (value, variable, etc.) is bigger or smaller
➢checks whether two data item (value, variable, etc.) are equal or not
➢Computer Language Equivalents of Comparison Operations
Symbol Description
= or == equals
<> or != not equals
> Bigger
< Smaller
>= or => bigger or equals to
<= or =< smaller or equals to

➢ Example:
IF A > B THEN write “A is bigger than B”

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Comparison Operations…
➢values are compared directly while making numerical
comparisons
➢Example: 25 > 5 ⇒ "25 is bigger than 5"
➢in alphanumeric comparisons, the comparison process is
compared by starting from the first characters.
➢Example: ′𝑎′ > ′𝑐′ ⇒ "first character a is more ahead"

➢NOTE:
➢In character comparison operations, the comparison is made between the
ASCII code counterparts of the characters, not between characters
themselves.
➢For example, the ASCII equivalent of A is 65, but the ASCII equivalent of a
is 97. The ASCII code difference between uppercase and lowercase letters
is 32.

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Logical Operations
➢Basic Logical Operation Equivalents
Arithmetic
Operation Description
Symbol
AND & The result is TRUE, if all of the conditions are TRUE
OR | The result is TRUE, if at least one of the conditions are TRUE
NOT ! The result is reverse of the condition (TRUE if FALSE)

➢Priority in Logical Operations

Order Operation Command
1 Operations in paranthesis ( ….. )
2 NOT !
3 AND &
4 OR |

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Logical Operations…
➢EXAMPLE:
➢Only those who are over the age of 23 and earn the minimum salary
are asked among the workers
➢There are two conditions here, and both conditions must be true.

IF age > 23 AND salary = basepay THEN PRINT…

[Link] [Link]

➢PRINT … command is processed if both conditions are met.

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Logical Operations…
➢EXAMPLE:
➢The names of the students in a class who get more than 65 points
from the COMPUTER course and who get a score above 65 in any of
the TURKISH LANGUAGE or ENGLISH courses are requested.
➢There are two requirements and three conditions here:
➢The first requirement is to get a grade above 65 from the computer
course is a basic requirement.
➢The second requirement is to get a grade from any of the other two
courses must be above 65.

IF computer_grade>65 AND
(turkish_grade>65 OR english_grade>65)
THEN PRINT…

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Decision/Comparison Structure
➢In algorithms, operations usually consist of sequential steps.
➢In some conditions, it may be necessary to change the order of
operations and to select another operation order or to continue
the program from a new operation sequence.
➢The IF query statement is used to change transaction sequences
or query some conditions whether true or not.

➢Example:
IF average > 50 THEN GO…

CONDITION PROCESS NUMBER

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Decision/Comparison Structure…
➢Example:
➢Write down the algorithm of the program that compares two
numbers entered from keyboard.
START
READ x,y
IF x>y THEN PRINT "x is bigger than y", GO STEP 6
IF x<y THEN PRINT "y is bigger than x", GO STEP 6
PRINT "x equals to y"
END

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Decision/Comparison Structure…
➢Example:
➢Write down the algorithm of the program that continues until a
number greater than 10 and less than 20 is entered.
START
READ x
IF (x>10)&(x<20) THEN GO STEP 6
PRINT "number is not between 10 and 20"
GO STEP 2
PRINT "number is between 10 and 20"
END

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Loop Structure
➢repeating some operations a certain number of times,
➢used to deal with consecutive values within a certain range.
➢transaction flow cycles that perform certain transaction blocks in
the program for a given number of times

➢Example:
➢Sum of numbers from 1 to 5
➢Printing SAKARYA 4 times on the screen consecutively
➢Sum of even numbers or odd numbers between 1 and 100

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Basic Terms & Symbols in Algorithms…
➢Loop Structure…
➢Rules for creating a loop
➢the loop variable is assigned an initial value
➢the increase or decrease of the loop is determined.
➢the end value of the loop is determined
➢if the loop is created with decision statements; the loop variable must be increased /
decreased by the amount of steps in the loop.
START
➢Example: T=0
➢Write down the algorithm of the J=1
program that calculates the sum IF J>10 THEN GO STEP 8
of odd numbers between 1-10. T=T+J
J=J+2
GO STEP 4
PRINT T
END

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Flowchart Symbols
➢Start
➢indicates where the program will start. START
➢each algorithm has one.

➢End
END
➢indicates where the program will end.
➢can be more than one.
➢If possible, only one stop symbol should be used.

➢Input
a,b,c
➢represents the variables assigned from external
input of information into the program.

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Flowchart Symbols…
➢Output Screen
➢represents sending information to the screen or
printer Printer

➢Operation
➢used to express the actions to be taken during the Operation
processing of the program.

➢Decision/Comparison
➢used to express that different action will be taken
according to the result of the given condition. Comparison

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Flowchart Symbols…
➢Loop
➢Used when a specific job or group of jobs Loop
needs to be repeated more than once.
➢The number of cycles in the loop, the loop
counter and the counter increment/decrement
are clearly written.
Calling a
➢Calling a Function Function
➢refers to the use of a previously created
algorithm without putting it into the written
algorithm.
Sequential
Store Access
➢Store into a File
➢represents the storage or reading of the
Direct
information/data into a file. Access Database

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Flowchart Symbols…
➢Flow Direction
➢Determines where the flow will be directed after a
process is over.

➢Connection
same page
➢used to continue the drawing from another place in case
it does not fit on the page while drawing the flowchart. internal

different page

external

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Decision/Comparison Structure in Flowcharts
➢Implementation of DECISION structure in algorithm design

Input

TRUE FALSE
Condition

Operation 1 Operation 2

Output

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Repeat(Loop) Structure in Flowcharts
➢Implementation of LOOP structure in algorithm design
Input
Input

loop_counter=1, N

TRUE FALSE
Operations Condition Output
Operations

Output

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Examples
➢EXAMPLE – 1
➢Problem: Write down the pseudocode and draw the flowchart of the
program which calculates the total of numbers from 1 to N where N is
entered from the keyboard.

➢Solution:
➢N ⇒ count of numbers from 1 to N.
➢We can add numbers in an incremental loop.
➢i ⇒ counter variable that we will control the loop increment.
➢T ⇒ variable to store the the total value
➢the loop variable i will start from 1 and increase by one to reach N.
➢the initial value of T will be 0
➢the current value of i will be added to T in the loop.

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Examples…
➢EXAMPLE – 1…
➢The pseudocode of the program

Step 1: START
Step 2: READ N
Step 3: T=0, i=0
Step 4: T=T+i
LOOP

Step 5: i=i+1
Step 6: IF i<=N THEN GO STEP 4
Step 7: PRINT T
Step 8: END

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Examples…
➢EXAMPLE – 1…
i N Operation T
➢The flowchart of the program
- 10 - -
START - 10 T=0 0
1 10 T=0+1 1
N
2 10 T=1+2 3
3 10 T=3+3 6
T=0
4 10 T=6+4 10
5 10 T=10+5 15
i=1; i≤N; i++ T = T+ i 6 10 T=15+6 21
7 10 T=21+7 28
8 10 T=28+8 36
T
9 10 T=36+9 45
10 10 T=45+10 55
END

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Examples…
➢EXAMPLE – 2
➢Problem: Draw the flowchart of the program which calculates the sum
of two N sized column vectors.

➢Solution:
➢i represents the column indices from 1 to N representing the elements of
the vector
➢each element of the vector A can be expressed mathematically as 𝐴𝑖 or
programming as A [i].
➢let the vectors whose elements are going to be added be A and B
➢let the vector to be formed as a result of the sum be C.
➢in the vector addition operation , the element with index [i] of the first
vector and the element with index [i] of the second vector are added
together to obtain the element with index [i] of the total/result vector.

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Examples…
➢EXAMPLE – 2…
➢The flowchart of the program
START [ A] = 1 4 2

N, [A], [B] [ B] = 2 0 3
for vectors A,B and N=3
C[i] = A[i] + B[i]
i Operation C[i]
i=1; i≤N; i++ 1 C[1]=1+2 3
2 C[2]=4+0 4

[C] 3 C[3]=2+3 5

END [C ] = 3 4 5

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Examples…
➢EXAMPLE – 3
➢Problem: Draw the flowchart of the program which calculates the sum
of two NxM sized matrices.

➢Solution:
➢i and j ⇒ indices representing the elements of the matrices
➢i represents row indices from 1 to M
➢j represents column indices from 1 to N
➢each element of the matrix A can be expressed mathematically as 𝐴𝑖,𝑗 or
programming as A [i] [j].
➢Let the matrices whose elements are going to be added be matrices A and B
➢Let the matrix to be formed as a result of the sum be the matrix C.
➢In the matrix addition operation , the element with index [i][j] of the first
matrix and the element with index [i][j] of the second matrix are added
together to obtain the element with index [i] [j] of the total/result matrix.

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

Examples…
➢EXAMPLE – 3…
➢The flowchart of the program 1 3 2 1
[ A] =   [B] =  
1 2   3 0 
START
for matrices A,B and N=M=2
N, M, [A], [B]
i j İşlem C[i][j]
1 1 C[1][1]=1+2 3
i=1; i≤N; i++
1 2 C[1][2]=3+1 4
j=1; j≤M; j++ 2 1 C[2][1]=1+3 4
2 2 C[2][2]=2+0 2

[C] C[i][j] = A[i][j] + B[i][j]

 3 4
[C ] =  
 4 2
END

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

STUDY QUESTIONS…
➢Draw the flowchart of the program which calculates
the multiplication of two matrices (first matrice is MxN
sized and the second is NxK sized).

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall

References
➢Deitel, C++ How To Program, Prentice Hall
➢Prof. Dr. Cemil ÖZ, Programlamaya Giriş Ders Notları

SWE 101 – Problem Solving in Software Engineering 2025-2026 Fall