The steps of problem-solving
Programmers solve problems in fixed steps, and the first is always to define the problem: what goes in, what must happen and what must come out. Big problems are broken into smaller ones (divide and conquer). Paper 1 asks what a programmer should do FIRST: define the problem.
By the end of this page you can
- Break a large problem into smaller tasks
- Split a problem into input, process and output
- Put the five problem-solving steps in order
- Draw an IPO chart
Goals tick themselves off as you try the activities below.
Photo: Nathan Kit Kennedy, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped, resized, JPEG q72.
Agree what the problem is on paper before anyone writes code.
How often it shows up in past papers
All papers7 of 14 papers
Last 51 of 5 · 2019–2025
Paper 1 counts come from our past-paper bank of CSEC Information Technology Paper 1s. The last-5 row shows how often it came up in the five most recent papers.
Inside this topic
- Break it downLocked
- Five steps in ordergameLocked
- Key termsLocked
- Test yourselfmarkedLocked
- Practise for real · 2 past questionsLocked