Source: https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/4-1-4-writing-your-own-program-input-outputs-design

[Revision notes](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes.md) › [Primary](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary.md) › [Computer Science](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science.md) › [Computing: Year 5 & 6 National Curriculum](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum.md) › Writing Your Own Program: Input, Outputs, Design

# Writing Your Own Program: Input, Outputs, Design

Computing: Year 5 & 6 National Curriculum, topic 4.1.4

## Designing a ‘basketball’ game

Imagine you are making a basketball game. You need to think about how the game will look, the inputs, the outputs, and the parts of the game.

### What will it look like?

![What will it look like?](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2025-07/90c704ff-8a14-482e-b92c-fc8d90a83b30/4996222d-276d-45ca-97c8-dbd99abfefb1.png)

- You will want to make your game attractive to the player. 
 - You might want to make it look like a bird's-eye view of a basketball court.
 - The game should have a simple design.

### What is the input?

![What is the input?](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2025-07/d9143cbe-6415-4807-845f-d903d68e88fd/0e6b3089-cef1-437c-bebf-71ac034c6534.png)

- The input is how the player will use the game.
 - What will the player need to do with the keypad, mouse, finger, etc. to control the game?

### What is the output?

![What is the output?](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2025-07/7ed41e55-0686-423f-95ff-615c1f56155f/53a3a3cf-2930-4edd-a4b7-b9d295c7fadc.png)

- The outputs of the game are everything the game should do.
 - The ball can be moved with the red and blue boxes. 
 - The ball should bounce off the walls.
 - If the ball hits the basket, you should add points to the team's score.

### What are the parts of the game?

![What are the parts of the game?](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2025-07/841e7edc-78ac-41e3-b71d-0164911ddfbb/dde77797-8e06-4f92-acb7-2ca17f8160cf.png)

- The parts of the game are the different components you can see, hear, or feel.

### Parts of the game: examples

![Parts of the game: examples](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2025-07/3ffa9b05-bbed-47e8-9a45-00a60332e1c2/4dac6aac-084c-462b-aec2-aa7c5aaa34f6.png)

- Parts of the game are:
 - the background design
 - the ball
 - the movement of the ball and hands
 - the bounce of the ball off the walls
 - the point-scoring
 - the effects (e.g. sound)

## Test yourself on Writing Your Own Program: Input, Outputs, Design

- Which of these is an output in a basketball game?
- What is an example of input in a football game?
- What are the parts of a game
- What is the input in a game?

[Practise this topic for free](https://app.senecalearning.com/classroom/course/19eff8d0-37ca-47d8-89d9-9810d0f53c27/section/a05c1afb-ed50-456e-8032-fa4b2b8d60e1/session)

- Previous topic: [4.1.3 Writing Programs](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/4-1-3-writing-programs.md)
- Next topic: [4.1.5 Turning an Algorithm into an App (1/2)](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/4-1-5-turning-an-algorithm-into-an-app-12.md)

## Computing: Year 5 & 6 National Curriculum contents

### 1 Using Computers
- 1.1 Computers as a Tool
  - [1.1.1 Uses of Computers](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/1-1-1-uses-of-computers.md)
  - [1.1.2 More Uses of Computers](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/1-1-2-more-uses-of-computers.md)
  - [1.1.3 Advantages of Information Technology](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/1-1-3-advantages-of-information-technology.md)
  - [1.1.4 More Advantages of Information Technology](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/1-1-4-more-advantages-of-information-technology.md)
- 1.2 Data
  - [1.2.1 Storing Data](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/1-2-1-storing-data.md)
  - [1.2.2 Databases](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/1-2-2-databases.md)
  - [1.2.3 Sorting & Filtering Data](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/1-2-3-sorting-and-filtering-data.md)
  - [1.2.4 Interrogating Data](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/1-2-4-interrogating-data.md)
- 1.3 Plagiarism & Illegal Sharing
  - [1.3.1 Plagiarism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/1-3-1-plagiarism.md)
  - [1.3.2 Copyrighted Content](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/1-3-2-copyrighted-content.md)

### 2 Networks & the World Wide Web
- 2.1 Networks
  - [2.1.1 Parts of Networks](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-1-1-parts-of-networks.md)
  - [2.1.2 The Internet](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-1-2-the-internet.md)
  - [2.1.3 The World Wide Web](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-1-3-the-world-wide-web.md)
- 2.2 Searching Online
  - [2.2.1 Searching the World Wide Web](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-2-1-searching-the-world-wide-web.md)
  - [2.2.2 Searching Tips](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-2-2-searching-tips.md)
  - [2.2.3 Reliable Information](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-2-3-reliable-information.md)
- 2.3 Protecting Yourself Online
  - [2.3.1 Your Digital Footprint](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-3-1-your-digital-footprint.md)
  - [2.3.2 Being Safe](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-3-2-being-safe.md)
  - [2.3.3 Online Safety](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-3-3-online-safety.md)
  - [2.3.4 Viruses](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-3-4-viruses.md)
  - [2.3.5 Malware](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-3-5-malware.md)
  - [2.3.6 People Online](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-3-6-people-online.md)
  - [2.3.7 Your Feelings](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-3-7-your-feelings.md)
  - [2.3.8 Getting Help](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/2-3-8-getting-help.md)

### 3 Computational Thinking
- 3.1 Computational Thinking
  - [3.1.1 Computational Thinking](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/3-1-1-computational-thinking.md)
  - [3.1.2 Decomposing Tasks](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/3-1-2-decomposing-tasks.md)
  - [3.1.3 Algorithms (1/2)](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/3-1-3-algorithms-12.md)
  - [3.1.4 Algorithms (2/2)](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/3-1-4-algorithms-22.md)
  - [3.1.5 Logical Reasoning & Debugging](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/3-1-5-logical-reasoning-and-debugging.md)

### 4 Computer Languages
- 4.1 Coding
  - [4.1.1 Code](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/4-1-1-code.md)
  - [4.1.2 Programs](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/4-1-2-programs.md)
  - [4.1.3 Writing Programs](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/4-1-3-writing-programs.md)
  - [4.1.4 Writing Your Own Program: Input, Outputs, Design](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/4-1-4-writing-your-own-program-input-outputs-design.md)
  - [4.1.5 Turning an Algorithm into an App (1/2)](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/4-1-5-turning-an-algorithm-into-an-app-12.md)
  - [4.1.6 Turning an Algorithm into an App (2/2)](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/primary/computer-science/computing-year-5-and-6-national-curriculum/4-1-6-turning-an-algorithm-into-an-app-22.md)
