Characteristics of procedure-oriented programming:
- Emphasis is on doing things (algorithms).
- Large programs are divided into smaller programs known as functions.
- Most of the functions share global data.
- Data move openly around the system from function to function.
- Functions transform data from one form to another.
- Employs top-down approach in program design.
POP has two major drawbacks, namely
- Data moves freely around the program and therefore vulnerable to changes caused by any function in the program
- POP does not model the real world problems very well. This is because functions are action-oriented and do not really correspond to the elements of the problem.