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Common exam pitfall
Students often invert the comparison operators, checking Val < Max or Val > Min.
A current maximum or minimum must start at a value that is valid for the actual dataset. Guessing 9999 as a minimum fails if every input exceeds 9999; starting a maximum at zero fails for all-negative data.
Worked example
Read the first value, 12000. Set both Minimum and Maximum to 12000. The next value, 15000, changes Maximum only. A later 11000 changes Minimum only. The result is based on observations rather than a guessed limit.
INPUT Value
Minimum <- Value
Maximum <- Value
FOR i <- 2 TO 5
INPUT Value
IF Value < Minimum THEN
Minimum <- Value
ENDIF
IF Value > Maximum THEN
Maximum <- Value
ENDIF
NEXT iTrace before coding
For -6,-2,-9, the successive (minimum,maximum) pairs are (-6,-6), (-6,-2), (-9,-2). Equal values do not require changing either extreme. Test all-equal, all-negative and large values, not only convenient positive values.
The separate mean lesson combines total and count and handles an empty dataset.
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Exam-Style Question: Complete Average and Min/Max Calculation
Assume each score is between 0 and 100 inclusive. Complete the algorithm to compute the average of 10 student scores and find the highest score:
Highest <- 0
Total <- 0
FOR i <- 1 TO 10
INPUT Score
Total <- Total + Score
IF Score [Space 1] Highest THEN
Highest <- Score
ENDIF
NEXT i
Average <- Total [Space 2] [Space 3]Interactive exercises for Module 2 and beyond require an active plan.