Reference no: EM132448856

Unit 01: Programming - Higher National Diploma in Computing

Assignment - Design and Implement a GUI based system using a suitable Integrated Development Environment

Learning Outcomes:

LO1. Define basic algorithms to carry out an operation and outline the process of programming an application.

LO2. Explain the characteristics of procedural, object-orientated and event-driven programming, conduct an analysis of a suitable Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

LO3. Implement basic algorithms in code using an IDE.

LO4. Determine the debugging process and explain the importance of a coding standard

Assignment Brief

Part 1

Searching on an array/list is to find a given element on the array and return whether it is found or not and return its position if found. Linear search and binary search are two popular searching algorithms on arrays.

1.1 Define what an algorithm is and outline the characteristics of a good algorithm. Develop algorithms for linear search and binary search using Pseudo code.

1.2 Describe the steps involved in the process of writing and executing a program. Take an array of 10 or more elements and dry run the above two algorithms. Show the outputs at the end of each iteration and the final output.

1.3 Define what Big-O notation is and explain its role in evaluating efficiencies of algorithms. Write the Python program code for the above two algorithms and critically evaluate their efficiencies using Big-O notation.

Part 2

2.1 Define what is meant by a Programming Paradigm. Explain the main characteristics of Procedural, Object oriented and Event-driven paradigms and the relationships among them.

2.2 Write small snippets of code as example for the above three programming paradigms using a suitable programming language(s).

2.3 Critically evaluate the code samples that you have above in relation to their structure and the unique characteristics.

Part 3 and Part 4 are based on the following Scenario.

Ayubo Drive is the transport arm of Ayubo Leisure (Pvt) Ltd, an emerging travel & tour company in Sri Lanka. It owns a fleet of vehicles ranging from cars, SUVs to vans.

The vehicles that it owns are hired or rented with or without a driver. The tariffs are based on the vehicle type. Some of the vehicle types that it operates are, small car, sedan car, SVUs, Jeep (WD), 7-seater van and Commuter van. New vehicle types are to be added in the future.

Vehicle rent and hire options are described below.

1. Rent (With or without driver) - For each type of vehicle rates are given per day, per week and per month. Rate for a driver also given per day. Depending on the rent period the total rent amount needs to be calculated. For example: if a vehicle is rented for 10 days with a driver, total amount to be calculated as follows:

Total rent = weeklyRent x 1 + dailyRent x 3 + dailyDriverCost x 10

2. Hire (with driver only) - These are based on packages such as airport drop, airport pickup, 100km per day package, 200km per day package etc. Standard rates are defined for a package type of a vehicle type if that is applicable for that type of vehicle. For each package maximum km limit and maximum number of hours are also defined. Extra km rate is also defined which is applicable if they run beyond the allocated km limit for the tour. For day tours if they exceed max hour limit, a waiting charge is applicable for extra hours. Driver overnight rate and vehicle night park rate also defined which is applicable for each night when the vehicle is hired for 2 or more days.

Part 3

3.1 Design suable algorithms for vehicle tariff calculation for rents and hires.
Ideally 3 functions should be developed for this purpose as follows:
Function 1: Rent calculation.
Return the total rent_value when vehicle_no, rented_date, return_date, with_driver parameters are sent in. with_driver parameter is set to true or false depending whether the vehicle is rented with or without driver.

Function 2: Day tour - hire calculation.
Calculate total hire_value when vehicle_no, package_type, start_time, end_time, start_km_reading, end_km_reading parameters are sent in. Should return base_hire_charge, waiting_charge and extra_km_charge as output parameters.

Function 3: Long tour - hire calculation.
Calculate total hire_value when vehicle_no, package_type, start_date, end_date, start_km_reading, end_km_reading parameters are sent in. Should return base_hire_charge, overnight_stay_charge and extra_km_charge as output parameters.

3.2 Implement the above algorithms using visual studio IDE (using C#.net) and design the suitable database structure for keeping the tariffs for vehicle types and different packages which must be used for implementing the above functions.

3.3 Analyze the features of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and explain how those features help in application development. Evaluate the use of the Visual Studio IDE for your application development contrasted with not using an IDE.

Part 4

4.1 Design and build a small system to calculate vehicle hire amounts and record them in a database for customer billing and management reporting for Ayubo drive. This includes the completing the database design started in 3.2 and implementing one or more GUIs for vehicle, vehicle type, and package add/edit/delete functions. It essentially requires an interface for hire calculation and recording function described above. Generating customer reports and customer invoices are not required for this course work.

4.2 What is debugging an application? Explain the features available in Visual studio IDE for debugging your code more easily. Evaluate how you used the debugging process to develop more secure, robust application with examples.

4.3 Explain the coding standards you have used in your application development. Critically evaluate why a coding standard is necessary for the team as well as for the individual.

Attachment:- Programming.rar