Coding

Once the algorithm is finalised, it must be converted into a form the computer can act upon — that conversion is coding. The algorithm, written for human readers in natural language, is translated into a program whose format the computer understands, so that it can generate the desired solution.

Key points about this step:

• Choice of language. Many different high level programming languages can be used to write the program; the algorithm does not dictate a particular one.
• Documentation matters. It is just as important to record the details of the coding procedures followed and to document the solution. Programs are rarely written once and forgotten — when the program is revisited at a later stage (to fix, extend or simply understand it), that documentation is what makes the code intelligible. …