Computational tools are used for the design analysis of power plant cycles. Combination of these with optimisation codes yields efficient optimisation of both cycle topology and cycle parameters. The efficiency of these tools is demonstrated for an advanced steam cycle with double reheating and multiple feed water preheating. For feed water preheating, it is shown that the optimum total amount of preheating, represented by the maximum pressure level of steam extraction, is largely decoupled from the distribution of the individual pressure levels of the succeeding stages of steam extraction.