structured programming

A style of programming usually associated with languages such as C, Fortran, Pascal and so on. Using structured programming techniques, a problem is often solved using a divide and conquer approach such as stepwise refinement. An initially large problem is broken into several smaller sub-problems. Each of these is then progressively broken into even smaller sub-problems, until the level of difficulty is considered to be manageable. At the lowest level, a solution is implemented in terms of data structures and procedures. This approach is often used with imperative programming languages that are not object-oriented languages, i.e. the data structures and procedures are not implemented as classes.

A technique for organizing and coding computer programs in which a hierarchy of modules is used, each having a single entry and a single exit point, and in which control is passed downward through the structure without unconditional branches to higher levels of the structure. Three types of control flow are used: sequential, test, and iteration.