Y7 Lesson 7.6

​Project plan & test plan

• a structured approach to testing whether your solution works as expected

• lays out a software-development project from start to finish

• a document that describes the areas of a program to be tested

• includes details of the tests to be applied to each area of the program - test data and expected results

• program is broken down into smaller problems to solve

​What areas included in a project plan?

These individual problems can be explored using a flowchart.

The use of sub-routines makes the flowchart easier to follow and understand.

It also splits the flowchart into smaller sections to test.

A test plan can be used to check the flowchart against what you expect to happen.

Here is an example test plan for the flowchart.

Once an algorithm on a flowchart works as expected, it can be used to write the program.

Then, the same test plan can be used to check that the program runs correctly.

Objectives

1.​Understand how errors can be introduced into programs.

2. Know how to systematically identify and debug errors in text-based programs.
3. Follow, understand, edit and correct algorithms that are presented as flowcharts.

​Key notes

• test plan = help to find and fix errors in the flowchart and the program code

• debugging = finding any errors in the code and fixing them

• sequence = a set order of instructions or events

• sequence determines the output

• if the sequence is wrong, it can cause an error or an incorrect output

​Can you spot the error in the sequence above?

To solve the error,

​Can you spot the error in the sequence above?

• look for the pattern in the sequence of colours

• the sequence = red, blue, yellow repeated

• using pattern recognition, you can see that the error is two blues next to each other

You can also apply pattern recognition to debugging program code.
For example, patterns can be used to check the sequence in a flowchart by following the flow from top to bottom and looking at the flowchart shapes.

In the flowchart shown on the right, the pattern is an output followed by a process. The sequence is:

• display a large square

• wait 0.5 second

• display a small square

• wait 0.5 second

• display a chessboard

• wait 0.5 second

Here is the MicroPython code for the flowchart.

The pattern and sequence are visible but there is an error in the code.

Can you spot it?

Comparing the flowchart to the MicroPython can reveal where a pattern or sequence has been added incorrectly.

To do this, line up the flowchart with the lines of code.











The highlighted sections show where the errors in the sequence are. These lines of MicroPython code are not the same as the flowchart.

Once errors have been found, you can rearrange the sequence to fix the program.