What are the 3 things you can identify to start solving a problem using a computer program?

Answer 1

1. Identify the problem. Determine which task your program is intended to fulfil. Always consider existing solutions and any potential patent infringements.
2. Identify the user. If the program is for your own use only, then you can largely eliminate those aspects that are of little or no concern to the problem itself, such as help files and an eye-catching GUI. If the solution is intended for the retail market (including freeware/shareware), you must consider all aspects of the design. The more user-friendly your solution, the more likely people will use it.
3. Determine the target computer. Do you intend to run the program on a desktop computer or a mobile device, or both? Or something else altogether? Which operating systems will you be targeting? This step will ultimately determine which programming language(s) you will use.

There's also a fourth element: determine your programming skill. Can you write the entire program yourself or will you need help from a third-party? You may well be a skilled programmer but can you write a help file? Can you design a GUI? If the solution is a complex affair, you may need to divide the workload between several specialist teams, the most important of which will be the design team since 80% of all programming is spent simply designing the solutions to the collective problems you will encounter. The other 20% is spent converting the design to code (programming). And the other 80% is spent testing and debugging. :-)