Jackson structured programming: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:03, 30 July 2025

Latest revision as of 18:06, 10 August 2025

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{{Short description|Computer programming method}}

[[Image:JSP RLE output1.png|thumb|240px|Example of a JSP diagram.]]

'''Jackson structured programming''' ('''JSP''') is a method for [[structured programming]] developed by British software consultant [[Michael A. Jackson (computer scientist)|Michael A. Jackson.]] and It was described in his 1975 book ''Principles of Program Design''.<ref name="PoPD">{{Citation | first = MA | last = Jackson | title = Principles of Program Design | publisher = Academic | year = 1975}}.</ref> The technique of JSP is to analyze the data structures of the files that a program must read as input and produce as output, and then produce a program design based on those data structures, so that the program control structure handles those data structures in a natural and intuitive way.

JSP describes structures (of both data and programs) using three basic structures – sequence, iteration, and selection (or alternatives). These structures are diagrammed as (in effect) a visual representation of a [[regular expression]].