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Planning and Implementation Errors in Algorithm Design

Introduction This study examines the algorithm design process for 59 LISP programmers who tackle a classic artificial intelligence search problem for the first time. Programmers were asked to code a single function called descendent, that was of average length and that performs a depth-first search over an hierarchy. This was a fairly difficult task. In this paper, we outline a set of basic planning steps for designing this algorithm and examine variations in the 59 solutions that reflect divergences at different steps.