PSEUDOCODE STANDARD

PSEUDOCODE STANDARD

Pseudocode is a kind of structured english for describing algorithms. It allows the designer to focus on the logic of the algorithm without being distracted by details of language syntax.  At the same time, the pseudocode needs to be complete.  It describe the entire logic of the algorithm so that implementation becomes a rote mechanical task of translating line by line into source code.

In general the vocabulary used in the pseudocode should be the vocabulary of the problem domain, not of the implementation domain.  The pseudocode is a narrative for someone who knows the requirements (problem domain) and is trying to learn how the solution is organized.  E.g.,

Extract the next word from the line (good)
set word to get next token (poor)Append the file extension to the name (good)
name = name + extension (poor)
FOR all the characters in the name (good)
FOR character = first to last (ok)

Note that the logic must be decomposed to the level of a single loop or decision. Thus "Search the list and find the customer with highest balance" is too vague because it takes a loop AND a nested decision to implement it. It's okay to use "Find" or "Lookup" if there's a predefined function for it such asString.indexOf().

Each textbook and each individual designer may have their own personal style of pseudocode. Pseudocode is not a rigorous notation, since it is read by other people, not by the computer. There is no universal "standard" for the industry, but for instructional purposes it is helpful if we all follow a similar style. The format below is recommended for expressing your solutions in our class.

The "structured" part of pseudocode is a notation for representing six specific structured programming constructs: SEQUENCE, WHILE, IF-THEN-ELSE, REPEAT-UNTIL, FOR, and CASE. Each of these constructs can be embedded inside any other construct. These constructs represent the logic, or flow of control in an algorithm.

It has been proven that three basic constructs for flow of control are sufficient to implement any "proper" algorithm.

SEQUENCE is a linear progression where one task is performed sequentially after another.
WHILE is a loop (repetition) with a simple conditional test at its beginning.
IF-THEN-ELSE is a decision (selection) in which a choice is made between two alternative courses of action.

Although these constructs are sufficient, it is often useful to include three more constructs:

REPEAT-UNTIL is a loop with a simple conditional test at the bottom.
CASE is a multiway branch (decision) based on the value of an expression. CASE is a generalization of IF-THEN-ELSE.
FOR is a "counting" loop.

SEQUENCE

Sequential control is indicated by writing one action after another, each action on a line by itself, and all actions aligned with the same indent. The actions are performed in the sequence (top to bottom) that they are written.

Example (non-computer)

Brush teeth
Wash face
Comb hair
Smile in mirror

Example

READ height of rectangle
READ width of rectangle
COMPUTE area as height times width

Common Action Keywords

Several keywords are often used to indicate common input, output, and processing operations.

Input: READ, OBTAIN, GET
Output: PRINT, DISPLAY, SHOW
Compute: COMPUTE, CALCULATE, DETERMINE
Initialize: SET, INIT
Add one: INCREMENT, BUMP

IF-THEN-ELSE

Binary choice on a given Boolean condition is indicated by the use of four keywords: IF, THEN, ELSE, and ENDIF. The general form is:

IF condition THEN

sequence 1

ELSE

sequence 2

ENDIF

The ELSE keyword and "sequence 2" are optional. If the condition is true, sequence 1 is performed, otherwise sequence 2 is performed.

Example

IF HoursWorked > NormalMax THEN

Display overtime message

ELSE

Display regular time message

ENDIF

WHILE

The WHILE construct is used to specify a loop with a test at the top. The beginning and ending of the loop are indicated by two keywords WHILE and ENDWHILE. The general form is:

WHILE condition

sequence

ENDWHILE

The loop is entered only if the condition is true. The "sequence" is performed for each iteration. At the conclusion of each iteration, the condition is evaluated and the loop continues as long as the condition is true.

Example

WHILE Population < Limit

Compute Population as Population + Births - Deaths

ENDWHILE

Example

WHILE employee.type NOT EQUAL manager AND personCount < numEmployees

INCREMENT personCount
CALL employeeList.getPerson with personCount RETURNING employee

ENDWHILE

CASE

A CASE construct indicates a multiway branch based on conditions that are mutually exclusive. Four keywords, CASE, OF, OTHERS, and ENDCASE, and conditions are used to indicate the various alternatives. The general form is:

CASE expression OF

condition 1 : sequence 1
condition 2 : sequence 2
...
condition n : sequence n
OTHERS:
default sequence

ENDCASEThe OTHERS clause with its default sequence is optional. Conditions are normally numbers or characters

indicating the value of "expression", but they can be English statements or some other notation that specifies the condition under which the given sequence is to be performed. A certain sequence may be associated with more than one condition.

Example 

        CASE  Title  OF
                Mr      : Print "Mister"
                Mrs     : Print "Missus"
                Miss    : Print "Miss"
                Ms      : Print "Mizz"
                Dr      : Print "Doctor"
        ENDCASE

Example 

        CASE  grade  OF
                A       : points = 4
                B       : points = 3
                C       : points = 2
                D       : points = 1
                F       : points = 0
        ENDCASE

REPEAT-UNTIL

This loop is similar to the WHILE loop except that the test is performed at the bottom of the loop instead of at the top. Two keywords, REPEAT and UNTIL are used. The general form is:

REPEAT

sequence

UNTIL condition

The "sequence" in this type of loop is always performed at least once, because the test is peformed after the sequence is executed. At the conclusion of each iteration, the condition is evaluated, and the loop repeats if the condition is false. The loop terminates when the condition becomes true. 

FOR

This loop is a specialized construct for iterating a specific number of times, often called a "counting" loop.  Two keywords, FOR and ENDFOR are used. The general form is:

FOR iteration bounds

sequence

ENDFOR

In cases where the loop constraints can be obviously inferred it is best to describe the loop using problem domain vocabulary.

Example

FOR each month of the year (good)
FOR month = 1 to 12 (ok)FOR each employee in the list (good)
FOR empno = 1 to listsize (ok)

NESTED CONSTRUCTS

The constructs can be embedded within each other, and this is made clear by use of indenting. Nested constructs should be clearly indented from their surrounding constructs.

Example

SET total to zero
REPEAT

READ Temperature
IF Temperature > Freezing THEN
    INCREMENT total
END IF

UNTIL Temperature < zero
Print total

In the above example, the IF construct is nested within the REPEAT construct, and therefore is indented. 
  

INVOKING SUBPROCEDURES

Use the CALL keyword. For example:

CALL AvgAge with StudentAges
CALL Swap with CurrentItem and TargetItem
CALL Account.debit with CheckAmount
CALL getBalance RETURNING aBalance
CALL SquareRoot with orbitHeight RETURNING nominalOrbit

EXCEPTION HANDLING

    BEGIN 
        statements 
    EXCEPTION 
        WHEN exception type 
            statements to handle exception
        WHEN another exception type 
            statements to handle exception
    END 

---

Sample Pseudocode

"Adequate"

FOR X = 1 to 10 
    FOR Y = 1 to 10 
        IF gameBoard[X][Y] = 0 
            Do nothing 
        ELSE 
            CALL theCall(X, Y) (recursive method) 
            increment counter                  
        END IF
    END FOR
END FOR

"Better"

Set moveCount to 1
FOR each row on the board 
    FOR each column on the board 
        IF gameBoard position (row, column) is occupied THEN 
            CALL findAdjacentTiles with row, column
            INCREMENT moveCount 
        END IF 
    END FOR
END FOR

(Note: the logic is restructured to omit the "do nothing" clause) 

---

"Not So Good"

FOR all the number at the back of the array
    SET Temp equal the addition of each number
    IF > 9 THEN
        get the remainder of the number divided by 10 to that index
        and carry the "1"
    Decrement one
Do it again for numbers before the decimal

"Good Enough (not perfect)"

SET Carry to 0
FOR each DigitPosition in Number from least significant to most significant

    COMPUTE Total as sum of FirstNum[DigitPosition] and SecondNum[DigitPosition] and Carry  

    IF Total > 10 THEN
        SET Carry to 1
        SUBTRACT 10 from Total
    ELSE
        SET Carry to 0
    END IF

    STORE Total in Result[DigitPosition]

END LOOP  

IF Carry = 1 THEN
    RAISE Overflow exception
END IF

---

"Pretty Good"  This example shows how pseudocode is written as comments in the source file. Note that the double slashes are indented.

public boolean moveRobot (Robot aRobot)
{
    //IF robot has no obstacle in front THEN
        // Call Move robot
        // Add the move command to the command history
        // RETURN true
    //ELSE
        // RETURN false without moving the robot
    //END IF
}

Example Java Implementation

• source code statements are interleaved with pseudocode.
• comments that correspond exactly to source code are removed during coding.

public boolean moveRobot (Robot aRobot)
{
    //IF robot has no obstacle in front THEN
    if (aRobot.isFrontClear())
    {
        // Call Move robot
        aRobot.move();
        // Add the move command to the command history
        cmdHistory.add(RobotAction.MOVE);
        return true;
    }
    else // don't move the robot
    {
        return false;
    }//END IF
}
  

  Examples of vague pseudocode

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Document History

Date	Author	Change
12/2/03	JD	Added Exception Handling and more examples
2/21/03	JD	Added "problem domain vocabulary" paragraph. Modified FOR loop explanation.

Loop: if we want to print all result then insert o/p box in loop…

           if aggregate want to print then put o/p box out of the loop…

Pseudo code:

1.  "//" is used to represent the Comment.
2. "begin ...end" use to start and end the Pseudo code.
3. "accept"  use to accept Input.
4. "display" print Output.
5. "if…. else" use to make decision.
6. "repeat… un-till"

Pseudo code coding: Example

begin

numeric ' n num1, n num2, n sum'. (Variable)

Display 'enter first number'

Accept 'n num1'

Display 'second number'

Accept 'n num2'

n sum=n num1+n num2

Display' the sum is '+n sum..(+ concatenate operrator)

End

Q.1: Write  Pseudo code that accept temperature in Celsius. Convert it into Fahrenheit and then displays the result ?

c/5=(f-32)/9

begin

numeric ntemp,nres

display 'enter temp in celsius'

accept 'ntemp'

nres=(9/5*ntemp)+32

display 'the temp in Fahrenheit is'+nres'.

end

Pseudo code: Product of two numbers…...

begin

numeric 'nnum1,nnum2,nproduct'(variable)

display 'enter first number'

accept 'nnum1'

display 'enter second number'

accept 'nnum2'

nproduct= nnum1*nnum2

display 'the product ' *nproduct'

end

Begin

Character cname

Display'enter name'

Accept cname

Display'Hello+cname'

end

Which  on is largest?

begin

nummeric nnum1,nnum2,nnum3,nnum4,nnum5,ntemp

display 'enter five number'

accept nnum1,nnum2,nnum3,nnum4,nnum5

If nnum1>nnum2

begin

ntemp=nnum1

end

begin

ntemp=nnum2

end

if nnum3>ntemp

begin

ntemp=nnum3

end

else

begin

if ntemp<nnum4

begin

ntemp= nnum4

end

end

if nnum5>ntemp

begin

nnum5=ntemp

end

display'the largest number'+ntemp

end

Write a pseudocode to find out the percentage of a student in five subject and give him grade according to the following norms…

If %>= 90 Grade A

      >= 75              B

      >= 60              C

      =< 60              D

Begin

Numeric nnum1, nnum2, nnum3, nnum4,nnum5,nsum,npercentage,ntotal

Character, cname

Display'name of the student'

Accept'cname'

Display'enter number of five subject'

Accept 'nnum1,nnum2,nnum3,nnum4,nnum5.'

nsum=nnum1+nnum2+nnum3+nnum4+nnum5

npercentage=(nsum/ntotal)*100

IfNpercentage >=90

begin

Display cGarde_A

end

Else

begin

If Npercentage>= 75

end

Begin

Display cgrade_B

End

Else

begin

ifNpercentage>= 60

end

Begin

Display cgrade_c

end

Else

Begin

Npercentage=<60

Begin

Display cgrade_d

End

End

Begin

Numeric nmarks,ntotal,navg,nctr

Nmarks=0

Ntotal=0

Navg=0

Nctr=0

Repeat

Begin

Enter'display the number of a student'

Accept nmarks

Ntotal=ntotal+nmarks

Nctr=nctr+1

End

Untill(nctr==30)

Navg=ntotal/30

Display the the avg marks of student'+navg'

end