Question

Account Balance Write high-level and detailed psuedocode for a program that calculates the current balance in a bank account. The program must ask the user for • The starting balance • The total dollar amount of deposits made • The total dollar amount of withdrawals made Once the program calculates the current balance, it should be displayed on the screen.

Short answer

Question: Create pseudocode for a program that calculates the current balance in a bank account using the user's input for the starting balance, total dollar amount of deposits made, and total dollar amount of withdrawals made. Answer: ``` BEGIN DISPLAY "Welcome to the Bank Account Balance Calculator" PROMPT "Please enter your starting balance:" INPUT starting_balance PROMPT "Please enter the total dollar amount of deposits made:" INPUT total_deposits PROMPT "Please enter the total dollar amount of withdrawals made:" INPUT total_withdrawals IF starting_balance < 0 OR total_deposits < 0 OR total_withdrawals < 0 THEN DISPLAY "Error: Invalid values provided. Values must be positive." ELSE SET current_balance = starting_balance + total_deposits - total_withdrawals DISPLAY "Your current bank account balance is: ", current_balance ENDIF END ```

Step-by-step solution

1. Display welcome message

Display a welcome message to inform the user that the program is designed to calculate the current balance of their bank account.

2. Gather user input

Prompt the user for the three required inputs: - The starting balance - The total dollar amount of deposits made - The total dollar amount of withdrawals made

3. Validate user inputs

Make sure that the inputs provided by the user are indeed valid. For example, the starting balance, total dollar amount of deposits, and total dollar amount of withdrawals should all be positive values.

4. Calculate the current balance

Compute the current balance using the formula: current balance = starting balance + total dollar amount of deposits - total dollar amount of withdrawals.

5. Display the current balance

Show the computed current balance on the screen, ideally by presenting it in a clear and reader-friendly format. The detailed pseudocode is as follows: ``` BEGIN DISPLAY "Welcome to the Bank Account Balance Calculator" PROMPT "Please enter your starting balance:" INPUT starting_balance PROMPT "Please enter the total dollar amount of deposits made:" INPUT total_deposits PROMPT "Please enter the total dollar amount of withdrawals made:" INPUT total_withdrawals IF starting_balance < 0 OR total_deposits < 0 OR total_withdrawals < 0 THEN DISPLAY "Error: Invalid values provided. Values must be positive." ELSE SET current_balance = starting_balance + total_deposits - total_withdrawals DISPLAY "Your current bank account balance is: ", current_balance ENDIF END ```

Key concepts

Pseudocode Writing

Pseudocode is a crucial first step in organizing your programming logic before coding. It helps in breaking down the problem into manageable steps, using plain English rather than strict syntax of programming languages. In essence, pseudocode serves as a blueprint for the actual code.

When crafting pseudocode for a program that calculates a bank account balance, ensure that it is structured, simple, and sequential. Start with an initial welcome message to guide the user, followed by prompts for specific inputs like starting balance, deposits, and withdrawals. Clearly outline conditional statements, such as checking for positive values, which play a vital role in input validation.

To improve the already provided pseudocode, consider adding comments or explanations for each step. This aids others—and potentially your future self—in understanding the program's flow without guesswork. Remember, the goal is to describe the logic in a way that it can be understood even by those without a programming background.

Programming Logic

Programming logic involves the strategies used to solve problems and reflect real-world scenarios in code. It's the core of any computational task, ensuring that the program operates correctly and efficiently. When working with a bank account balance calculation, the logic must follow the actual way balances are managed; that is, starting with an initial amount, adding deposits, and subtracting withdrawals.

The logical sequence of these operations is critical; a deposit must be added before subtracting the withdrawal. Mistakes in this order could lead to incorrect results. Thus, when teaching programming logic through exercises such as this, emphasize the importance of sequence and the effects of actions within this context. Explain that the logic shapes the decision-making within the program—such as only proceeding with calculations if the inputs are valid, which leads to reliable and accurate programs.

Input Validation

Input validation is a defensive programming technique used to ensure the integrity of user input before it is utilized by the program. This process guards against inaccurate, inappropriate, or harmful data that could otherwise lead to errors or security issues. In the context of a bank account balance calculator, inputs must be numbers, specifically non-negative, as negative balances, deposits, or withdrawals would not be typical in real-life banking scenarios.

Enhancing the exercise, illustrate the significance of checking each input rigorously, possibly introducing additional checks for realistic banking constraints, like maximum deposit and withdrawal limits. Offer examples of different types of validation: range checks, type checks, and format checks, explaining that these validations are crucial to prevent computational errors and maintain the application's integrity.

Numerical Computation

Numerical computation lies at the heart of programming tasks that require mathematical operations. It involves the ability to accurately perform calculations using numbers. In our bank account example, the computation is relatively straightforward: adding the deposits to the starting balance and then subtracting the withdrawals.

However, it's essential to address precision and rounding issues which can arise in more complex computations. For instance, floating-point arithmetic can introduce small errors if not handled correctly. In educational materials, illustrate the importance of using appropriate data types and handling decimal numbers with the necessary precision. This will assure students that the program's output reflects accurate and reliable financial information, which is particularly pertinent in banking and financial applications.