Learn More About Mini-Mall
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2. STATEMENT AND ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM
Programming is one of the most valuable things in computers. Computers run with the instructions written by its programmer. Without a programmer to program a computer, it cannot do anything by itself. It is based on solving problems and thinking logically. In programming, it is very important to have a great sense of logic and different ways to solve problems to reach the goal of finishing a quality program. It is a completely new language for mankind because machines only use it. Nowadays, humans understand it and know how to manipulate the language by themselves. The programming has the significance to solving problems better and easier but it all depends on how the programmer handles a problem and how he or she solves them with logic. Without using the programming language, it is hard to do and solves problems particularly if there is more than one task to do. For that reason, this section is dedicated on how tasks can be broken down to pieces and be simplified.
2.1 Statement and Analysis of the Two Major Problems
Creating a virtual mall is not a waste of time because it can be a very helpful tool for people at home who needs to shop at that particular time and cannot go the mall due to not having a source of transportation during that day and sale prices are ending at the same day. This program enables the users to be able to shop at the mall using software called “Mini-Mall” connected to various Mall outlets. The difference between shopping with this program and shopping online is that this program allows you to order your items and ready to be picked up anytime you want needing only the receipt of the items bought with the software, while online shopping charges you for sending the items at your home and makes you wait for a certain time to come. Why would you wait for your items to come if you can just order and pick it up whenever you want to pick it up or when you need it right away? Specially, if you’re in a hurry to get the items for that day and rushing to meet a specific time, this program is a very helpful tool for shopping in no time. Paying methods are just as if you were going to buy in malls, because it is shopping at the mall but only shopping very fast, letting you pay with Credit/Debit Card or Cash. The two major problems that are needed to be handled is how to successfully create a virtual mall that has all stores that are planned to be included with its products and prices. Another problem is how to get the receipt with the total price of what items there are without having a mistake with pricing the customers.
2.1.1 Virtual Mini-Mall for Shoppers
The problem was how to create the virtual mall for shoppers to be able to shop efficiently and productively without having to deal with product problems. Basically, this was a problem that required a great deal of work preparation-wise and organization-wise. Shoppers would have access to items by going through each category going down to its subcategories. For example, sample Menu on its main categories are shown in Figure 2.1.1A.
The problem is how to get the receipt for the customers with the exact total price efficiently without having to deal with item price mistakes. Clearly, the way the stores can be chosen in Figure 2.1.1A is by typing the store number to get into its subcategories. This method can be used on the next level down over and over until it reaches the pricing list of the items in a store. See Figure 2.1.1B for Price List of one of the stores.
As is seen in figures 2.1.1A and 2.1.1B,
managing the different categories would be tough because prices would need to be
rounded to two decimal places while the price is added up to the total price
bought.
• It is important to break the
categories down to subcategories to get into the items.
• Secondly, it is important to plan how the
prices would be added together to be calculated efficiently
However, it is important to keep the original goal which is to be able to make changes on the products bought by the shopper incase the shoppers made a mistake on selecting the items they want.
2.1.2 Shopping With A Virtual Mall
This program would enable the shoppers to shop without the hassle. It would be very easy to use and a time saving program for shoppers who needs products from a real mall. It also saves the shoppers some money because the shopper doesn’t need to stay long inside the mall and don’t have to pay a bigger amount of money for their parking time. Shopping with a Virtual Mall makes it easy for shoppers having them to search for the product that they want using this subcategory idea using only numbers to get to the items they want to choose. All of the items chosen are recorded in a receipt showing what they want to buy and the virtual receipt will ask the shopper if the receipt looks right. If the receipt is right, it can be printed. If it isn’t, then the user has the ability to change what is wrong with it. See Figure 2.1.2A for a sample receipt.
Figure 2.1.2A shows an example of the receipt
a user would get after selecting the items that they wanted to buy. It
also shows that the virtual receipt is asking the user if the data in the
receipt is right. Seeing the total price is on the top of the receipt, the
shopper would see right away the overall price that they have to pay. The
problem with this is, when the receipt is not right then the program has to know
which item is not correctly selected by the user typing the item number.
The program will need to take that item off of the list and do a recalculation
for its total price.
Complete Price List: (Categories and Subcategories)
:::MiniMall:::
• Foot Locker
o Nike Shox
? Low Cut $70.00
? Regular
$75.00
? High
Cut $80.00
o
Nike Uptempo
? Low
Cut $60.00
?
Regular $63.50
? High Cut $65.75
o Timberland
? Regular $100.00
? Boots
$115.00
o
Colorado
?
Regular $50.00
? Boots $65.00
o Reebok
? Running $43.00
? Basketball
$85.00
?
Tennis $74.75
? Football $67.50
• GAP
o Belt
? Snake $15.00
? Leather $7.00
o Pants
? Jeans $28.50
? Khaki
$20.00
o
Shirt
?
Polo $13.99
? T-shirt $15.00
? Sweat Shirt $21.00
o Jacket
? Leather $99.00
? Cotton
$50.00
• EB
Games
o PC
Games
?
Old $20.00
? Used $39.99
? New $49.99
o XBox Games
? Old
$20.00
?
Used $25.99
? New $39.99
o Playstation 2 Games
? Old $19.95
? Used
$25.99
?
New $39.99
o GameCube Games
? Old $19.00
? Used $26.00
? New
$39.99
•
McDonalds
o
Burgers $2.50
o Fries $1.50
o Soda $1.50
o Salad
$1.75
o Apple
Pie $1.00
• Hollywood Video
o VHS
?
Old $10.99
? New $19.99
o DVD
? Old $15.00
? New
$25.00
Statement and Discussion of Problem:
The people needs a way to be able to shop at home for them to find things easier and save time to shop. Many ideas came up to solve this problem. People tried to give ideas on how to build something to make this shopping at home idea work out for the people. Security problems came up after all of the ideas the people made for shopping at home. Shopping at home was made possible after the Internet was created. The downside of this is that credit cards are not protected because there are viruses and spy-wares the records the number and it returns it to the computer that sent the virus. Also, another downside of this is that shoppers has to pay for shipping and handling and then have to wait for days in order to get the items or just an item to get what they want.
Luckily, there’s a program to have all of these turn around. There would be no credit card problems because items would be paid straight to the seller, which means no personal information typed on the computer, which means no data, sent to the hacker. Also, there’s no more paying for shipping and handling because you would be able to pick up the items that you want anytime you want, so there’s no need to wait for days to get the item(s) the shoppers need.
Analysis of Problem:
From the programmer’s perspective, this project can be fairly complex. The prices would have to be added limited to only 2 decimal places as it is in real life situation. Top down categorized menu would need to be organized by subcategorizing it. The total price would be added all together and would need to be ready to be changed in case of calculation failure or order error.
By allowing the shoppers to edit their items, it makes the programs much better because this is what shoppers really need. The program will require the shoppers to interact productively and has to be sensible with the product because this program would give the user an error message in case of the user not interacting correctly with the program.
One thing that might have enhanced
this particular example is printing the name shoppers first and last name on the
receipt.
