What is Pseudo-code

What is Pseudo-code?

Definition1: Pseudo-code is an informal manner of explanation of programming which does not need a rigid syntax of language or technical aspects.

Definition 2: Pseudo-code is an artificial and informal language that helps programmers develop algorithms. 

Some common attributes about a Pseudo-code:

  1. Pseudo-code is a "text-based" detail (algorithmic) design tool.
  2. Pseudo-code describes the flow of a program and excludes the underlying information. 
  3. System designers generate pseudo code to ensure programmers comprehend and align code with the needs of a software project.
  4. It is a way that enables the programmer to represent an algorithm’s implementation. (Algorithms are often expressed as pseudo codes because they may be read by programmers regardless of their experience and background.)
  5. As the name implies, pseudo code is a bogus code or code representation that even a non programmer with little experience of the programming of school level may understand.
  6. It is used for creating an outline or a rough draft of a program. 
  7. Pseudo-code summarizes a program’s flow, but excludes underlying details.
  8. Pseudo-code is not an actual programming language. So it cannot be compiled into an executable program.
  9.  It uses short terms or simple English language syntaxes to write code for programs before it is actually converted into a specific programming language.
  10. This is done to identify top level flow errors, and understand the programming data flows that the final program is going to use. 
  11. This definitely helps save time during actual programming as conceptual errors have been already corrected. 
  12. Firstly, program description and functionality is gathered and then pseudo-code is used to create statements to achieve the required results for a program. 
  13. Detailed pseudo-code is inspected and verified by the designer’s team or programmers to match design specifications. 
  14. Catching errors or wrong program flow at the pseudo-code stage is beneficial for development as it is less costly than catching them later.
  15. The purpose of using pseudo-code is an efficient key principle of an algorithm. It is used in planning an algorithm with sketching out the structure of the program before the actual coding takes place.

Advantages Of Pseudo-code:

  1. Pseudo-code is understood by the programmers of all types.
  2. It enables the programmer to concentrate only on the algorithm part of the code development.
  3. It acts as a bridge to the algorithm or flowchart. It also acts as a rough manual so that one developer’s software may be readily understood by writing the pseudo code.

Disadvantage of Pseudo-code:

  1. Pseudo-code does not provide the display the programming logic visually.
  2. There is no correct way to write a pseudo code format.
  3. They require further documentation to maintain in pseudo code.
  4. Many companies follow their own standard to write the pseudo-code because pseudo-code don’t have any proper standard.

Example of Pseudo-code

Pseudo-code :

* if i is less than 10, increment i by 1.

Java code : 

* if (i < 10)

{

i++;

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