╘HIS CHAPTER SHOWS WHAT IS INVOLVED IN "DATA PROCESSING" ON A SMALL SCALE. "─ATA" CAN MEAN ANYTHING: NAMES OF BOOKS OR PHONGRAPH RECORDS, NAMES AND ADDRESSES ON A MAILING LIST, NAMES OF MEMBERS OF A SOCIAL CLUB ETC. "╨ROCESSING" MEANS ACTIVITIES SUCH AS TABULATING, COUNTING, SORTING INTO DESIRED SEQUENCE, SEARCHING TO FIND A SPECIFIC ITEM, OR ALL ITEMS MEETING SOME SPECIFICATION.
╘HERE ARE PROGRAMS HERE WHICH FIND THE SMALLEST AND LARGEST NUMERICAL VALUE IN A LIST, GROUP VALUES INTO CATEGORIES, SORT RECORDS INTO ALPHABETICAL ORDER SEARCH THROUGH DATA FOR SELECTING THOSE THAT MEET SOME CRITERIA. ╘HE PROGRAMS ARE SMALL ROUTINES THAT CAN BE USED TO BUILD APPPLICATION PROGRAMS. ╞OR INSTANCE, A DOCTOR MIGHT HAVE AN APPOINTMENT CALENDAR ON A COMPUTER. ╨ATIENT'S NAME, PHONE NUMBER, AND THE APPOINTMENT DATE AND TIME WOULD BE INCLUDED. ╔T WOULD BE EASY TO FIND THE PATIENT'S DATA OR EMPTY SLOTS ON THE CALENDAR TO MAKE NEW APPOINTMENTS OR TO CHANGE AN EXISTING APPOINTMENT. ╒SING SIMILAR PROCEDURES, BILLING SUMMARIES COULD BE PREPARED. ╘HIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE. ╘HE PROGRAMS IN THIS CHAPTER DON'T CARE WHAT THE APPLICATION IS, THEIR PURPOSE IS TO ILLUSTRATE HOW A COMPUTER CAN BE USED.
╞OR PEOPLE WHO ARE NEW TO THIS SORT OF THING, THIS CHAPTER PROVIDES A LITTLE BIT OF LOGIC BEHIND THE CONCEPTS OF SORTING AND SWAPPING VALUES AROUND. ┘OU ARE INVITED FOR A HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN LEARNING HOW TO APPROACH A PROBLEM AND HOW TO TELL THE METHOD OF SOLVING IT TO YOUR COMPUTER.
╧NCE AGAIN YOU ARE INVITED TO PLUG IN YOUR OWN INFORMATION, TO CHANGE THE PROGRAMS AND PLAY WITH THEM UNTIL YOU SEE WHAT MAKES THEM WORK. ═OST OF THE ROUTINES IN THIS SECTION ARE WRITTEN IN A FORM THAT MAKES THEM SUITABLE FOR MOVING TO OTHER (AND BIGGER) PROGRAMS, HENCE THEY SHOULD BE USEFUL AS "CANNED" ROUTINES IN SOME FORM OR ANOTHER.
