What is Procedural Programming Approach

What is Procedural Programming Approach

Procedure Oriented Programming (or POP) is a way of programming in which there are different functions made for performing different tasks. This is the basic definition of the procedural programming approach. It is often called procedure-oriented programming.

You know that POP is the way of programming in which different functions are introduced for doing different tasks. In POP, the problems are considered as a sequence of things that need to be done like reading, calculating, and printing. 

What is Procedural Programming

Conventional programming makes use of high-level languages like COBOL, FORTRAN, and C, which is known as Procedure Oriented Programming (POP). It focuses on procedure and the algorithm is something that performs the calculation. It is also termed as structured programming.

It basically consists of writing a list of instructions for the computer to follow and organizing these instructions into groups known as functions. The programs can be divided into what we call functions if they seem to be very large and each and every function has some specific task.

This programming language is not extensible. In procedural programming, programs are divided into smaller parts which are called functions, and data is not given so much importance. It follows a top-down approach.

It does not have access specifiers, the data can be moved from one function to another function. Adding new data and functions is difficult. It has not a proper way of hiding the data and that's why it is considered to be less secure than Object-Oriented Programming.

 
In POP, Function overloading and method overloading are not possible but it allows us to re-use the code inside the program without re-typing the same code again and again which saves our time and effort because we do not have to write the same code time and again. 

It also helps in reducing errors and bugs as we can reuse the working correct code and we do not have to write the same code again and again. In POP, it is clear what the program is going to do and how it is going to do it because each procedure has a name that explains for what purpose the lines of code are written. 

The programmer can reduce the length of the program and hence it is easier and faster to read and debug the program's entire code. Procedure Oriented Programming and Object-Oriented Programming were invented because the length of the programs was getting lengthier and lengthier and it was very difficult to work with the lengthier programs.

So, there was a need for the programmers for more structure to clarify the programs. Let us see a simple C program.

Example:

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
void main()
{
   printf("Welcome to Learning Mania \n");
}

Output:

Welcome to Learning Mania

Here, #include<stdio.h> is a processor directive, used to interact with Input Output units.  main() is a function that indicates the starting point of the program.  { } Curly braces define the starting and the ending of the main function.

printf("Welcome to Learning Mania \n"); printf function prints whatever comes under double quotes on the screen. In this case, it prints "Welcome to Learning Mania" on the screen as output.

\n is used to take the cursor to the next line after printing the text that is written inside the printf function. ; the semicolon is used to terminate the executable statement. It is the executable statement in the program. Now it's time to know about the main characteristics of POP.

Characteristics of Procedural Programming

1. It focuses on the algorithm.

2. It makes use of a top-down programming approach.

3. Data can be freely moved from one function to another function.

4. Programs are divided into smaller programs which are often called functions.

5. Functions may communicate with the global variable declared by the programmer while making a program.

6. Data should be given more importance.

7. It is easier to read and debug the program's entire code.

Advantages of Procedural Programming

1. The program is divided into functions that have some specific tasks.

2. Almost all functions share global declared data.

3. The data can easily move from function to function.

4. Simplicity of use.

Disadvantages of Procedural Programming

There are several problems in the procedure-oriented approach. Some of them are given below:

1. It is sometimes difficult to design a program because the data structure does not relate to the real world.

2. Every function has access to the global variables. It is a big disadvantage because anyone can manipulate and corrupt the data.

3. New data type cannot be created easily i.e., it has no extensibility.

4. Adding new data and functions takes a lot of work.

5. It does not have a proper way of hiding data. So, it is less secure.

6. Function overloading and method overloading are not possible.

These are the various problems created in Procedure Oriented Programming. It becomes a need for an easier way of designing a program in a very short period. That's why there is a need for Object-Oriented Programming.