A developer is writing a shipping dispatch program to categorize packages based on their weight. She writes two different algorithms to achieve this, shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
Figure 1
1 SEND 'Enter package weight: ' TO DISPLAY
2 RECEIVE weight FROM (REAL) KEYBOARD
3 IF (weight < 5.0) THEN
4 SEND 'Standard courier' TO DISPLAY
5 ELSE
6 IF (weight <= 15.0) THEN
7 SEND 'Heavy courier' TO DISPLAY
8 ELSE
9 SEND 'Freight cargo' TO DISPLAY
10 END IF
11 END IF
Figure 2
1 SEND 'Enter package weight: ' TO DISPLAY
2 RECEIVE weight FROM (REAL) KEYBOARD
3 IF (weight < 5.0) THEN
4 SEND 'Standard courier' TO DISPLAY
5 END IF
6 IF (weight >= 5.0) AND (weight <= 15.0) THEN
7 SEND 'Heavy courier' TO DISPLAY
8 END IF
9 IF (weight > 15.0) THEN
10 SEND 'Freight cargo' TO DISPLAY
11 END IF
Explain why the algorithm in Figure 1 is more efficient than the algorithm in Figure 2.
45 exam-style questions on Edexcel IGCSE Computer Science Algorithms. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.