A2.1 Plan first, then code
A program is planned before it is written: what it should do, what it reads in, what it prints, and the order of the steps. Jotted steps are not yet a program — the plan puts them in run order and finds the missing one.
Example
A plan's steps were jotted as: *print the reading, read the sensor, add one to the count, set the count to zero*. Put them in run order.
- Run order: set the count to zero → read the sensor → add one to the count → print the reading → print the count.
Example
Predict the output when the sensor reads 21, and say why the order matters.
- Set before add, read before print — a step out of order prints a value that does not exist yet.
- Output: 21, then 1.
A2.2 Coding, AI and the trades
Example
Describe what an AI photo-sorter on trail cameras changes for the people who use it.
- Photo-sorter: the volunteers now read hundreds of flagged frames instead of hundreds of thousands of empty ones — the sorting hours go to the science instead.
Example
Describe what an AI flood model changes for the people who use it.
- Flood model: the sandbags and the road closures go to the flagged streets before the water arrives, instead of after.
Example
Describe what a speech-to-text tool changes for the people who use it.
- Speech-to-text: a tradesperson dictates a site report with gloves on. Each system gives a capability; the consequence is where the human hours go.
Summary
- Plan: purpose, input, output, order.
- Set before add; read before print.
- AI systems shift where human hours go.