Well i always take these steps when I am trying to make a program.
Hope these help.

The development cycle
The Following steps make up the devolopment cycles:

1. Come with an idea for a program

2. Decide the probable identity of the typical user of this program

3. Decide which computer the program is to run on

4. Pick one or more computer languages to use

5.Design the program by using pseudocode or any other tool to outline the structure of the
program.

6. Write the program

7. Test the prgram (also known as alpha testing)

8. Fix any problems that you discover during testing


The following steps are steps that you may need to follow and existing program:

1. Verify all reprots of problems (or bugs) and determine what part of the program may be causing the program may be causing the bug to appear.

2. Fix the bug.

3. Test the program to make sure that the bug is really gone and that any changes you make to the prgram don't introduce any new bugs.

4. Fix any problems that may occur during testing.

5. Repeat Steps 1. through 4. for each bug that someone reports in the program.

6. Release a software patch, which you can add to an existing version of the program to incorporate corrections that you make to "patch up" the problems.


The upgrade cycle, the following steps make up the upgrade cycle:

1. Determine what new feature you want to add to the program.

2. Plan how this new feature is to work (by using pseudocode or another tool to help structure you ideas).

3. Modify the program to add this new feature.

4.Test this new feature (by using alpha testing) to make sure that it works and doesn't introduce new bugs into the program.

5. Fix any problems that may accur during alpha testing.

6. Try out your new program and maybe even sell it to the public.



>Hope that helps you in programming.