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Writing pseudo-code

Pseudo-code
Pseudo-code is a cross between English and the keywords used in programming languages. It also makes use of the programming constructs found in programming languages (sequence, selection, iteration) but it has no strict rules that you have to follow. It is used to effectively describe solutions in a near-programming language type of way! This means that the pseudo-code can then be given to a programmer expert in any language and they should be able to quickly convert the pseudo-code into that language. This is the big advantage of pseudo-code. It is independent of any particular programming language and can be quickly converted into any language!

An example of pseudo-code
Suppose you need to write an algorithm to find a record in a file. A first attempt at an algorithm might look like this (Don’t worry if you don’t understand the code. We are only at the beginning of a long path)!                

RecordFound=FALSE
EndOfFile=FALSE
READ Key field of record you want to find
READ First record in file
WHILE ((EndOFFile=FALSE) AND (RecordFound=FALSE)) DO
BEGIN
      COMPARE record you are looking for with record from file
      IF same THEN
           RecordFound=TRUE
           PRINT "Record found"
      ELSE
           IF EndOfFile Then
                EndOfFile=TRUE
                PRINT "End of file reached. Record not found."
           ELSE
                READ next record
           ENDIF
      ENDIF
END
ENDWHILE