Computer programs are living entities, subject to continual change and varying use. Anyone who uses a new program or modifies an old program realizes the difficulty of understanding the software functions. Structured programming is a methodology for writing programs that helps simplify complex software packages making them easier to test for correctness. use, and mod:iiy. Another by-product is a yardstick to measure successful project completion.

This paper summarizes the methods of structured programming approaches to software development ani explains briefly the key techniques and terminology used by programmers. A sample program to reformat weather tapes shows these techniques in use. The project started with the development of a requirement specification and ended when the program performed tests demonstrating satisfied requirements.