Benefits of Top down Design
Computer programming was cumbersome in the early days because it was not possible to break projects into smaller sections. Around 1971, top-down design were introduced in the mainstream and offered a number of perks. Basically, it breaks programming into smaller subsections that are further polished until they are readable. This approach was later replaced by C# and object oriented programming, necessary for handling complex programs.
1. Easy to understand
Modularization is a common term in software design that means breaking a program into smaller distinct pieces, usually on one page. This shows you that software was not only made for computers- they were written for engineers and software developers. Top down design are easy to understand, easy to update and easy to debug. Since updates are an essential part of programming, the software can be updated by other programmers who had no hand in developing the program. In any case, the computer only runs a set of instructions and doesn’t care if the software was written bottom-up, in OOP or top down.
2. Readable
The modules are easy to read since they are written using the tags of undefined components. This process is done repetitively until every module is broken down to smaller piece. An essential part of the strategy is to ensure that programmers can easily understand the block code when fitted on a single page. Moreover, programmers can easily identify bugs that can make the program unreadable. Through top down design, the modules can be updated regularly in line with the programmer’s needs.
3. Code reuse
By using top down design in programming, software developers can reuse code in various program fragments. That way, there is no need of writing new code every now and then. Simply use the written functions in other program fragments.
A top-down design often incorporates the use of ‘’back boxes”, that make them easier to manipulate. Nonetheless, black boxes may not explicate the elementary mechanism clearly.
this is understandable