Module 2

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 Module 2

► ALGORITHM AND PSEUDOCODE REPRESENTATION:- Meaning and Definition of

Pseudocode, Reasons for using pseudocode, The main constructs of pseudocode -
Sequencing, selection (if-else structure, case structure) and repetition (for, while, repeat-
until loops), Sample problems

► FLOWCHARTS :- Symbols used in creating a Flowchart - start and end, arithmetic

calculations, input/output operation, decision (selection), module name (call), for loop
(Hexagon), flow-lines, on-page connector, off-page connector.

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 Algorithms and pseudocodes

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 Algorithms and pseudocodes
► Algorithm
► A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem.
► Uses pure English phrases or sentences.
► Pseudocode
► A high-level representation of an algorithm.
► Uses a mix of natural language and programming-like syntax.
► More structured than algorithms.

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 Pseudocodes

► Confused between algorithms and pseudocodes? Let us take an example.

We will now write an algorithm and a pseudocode to evaluate an
expression, say d = a + b ∗ c.

Pseudocode
Algorithm

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 Why pseudocodes?

Wondering why pseudocodes are important? Here are a few motivating reasons:
► Ease of understanding: Since the pseudocode is programming language independent,
novice developers can also understand it very easily.
► Focus on logic: A pseudocode allows you to focus on the algorithm’s logic without
bothering about the syntax of a specific programming language.
► More legible: Combining programming constructs with English phrases makes
pseudocode more legible and conveys the logic precisely.
► Consistent: As the constructs used in pseudocode are standardized, it is useful in sharing
ideas among developers from various domains.
► Easy translation to a program: Using programming constructs makes mapping the
pseudocode to a program straightforward.
► Identification of flaws: A pseudocode helps identify flaws in the solution logic before
implementation.

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Difference between Algorithm and Pseudocode

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 Constructs of a pseudocode

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 Constructs of a pseudocode

► A good pseudocode should follow the structured programming approach.

► Structured coding aims to improve the readability of pseudocode by
ensuring that the execution sequence follows the order in which the code
is written.
► The main constructs are
► Sequencing
► Selection
► Repetition (loop)

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Sequence
► This is the most elementary construct where the instructions of the
algorithm are executed in the order listed.
► It is the logical equivalent of a straight line.
► Consider the code below.

► The statement S1 is executed first, which is then

followed by statement S2, so on and so forth, Sn until all
the instructions are executed.
► No instruction is skipped and every instruction is
executed only once.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Sequence
► Example: Write a pseudocode to find the area of a square

1. Start
2. Read the side length of the square
3. area: area = side_length * side_length
4. Print the area
5. End

► All the statements in the given pseudocode will execute in sequential

order, without skipping any line.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Decision or Selection

► A selection structure consists of a test condition together with one or

more blocks of statements.
► The result of the test determines which of these blocks is executed.
► There are mainly two types of selection structures
► if structure
► Simple if structure
► If…else structure
► if ..else if.. else structure
► Case Structure

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Decision or Selection

► Simple If
► The general form of this structure is

The pseudocode CheckPositive(x) checks if an input value x is positive.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Decision or Selection

► if .. else structure
► The general form of this structure is
► This structure contains two blocks of statements.
► If the test condition is met, the first block (denoted by
true_instructions) is executed and the algorithm skips over the
second block (denoted by false_instructions).
► If the test condition is not met, the first block is skipped and only
the second block is executed.

The pseudocode PersonType(age) checks if a person is a major or not.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Decision or Selection

► if ..else if .. else structure

► When a selection is to be made out of a set of more than two possibilities,
you need to use the if else if else structure, whose general form is given
below: ► Here, if condition1 is met, TRUE_INSTRUCTIONS1 will be executed.

► Else condition2 is checked. If it evaluates to True,

TRUE_INSTRUCTIONS2 will be selected.
► There is no limit to the number of else if statements, but in the
end, there has to be an else statement.
► The conditions are tested one by one starting from the top,
proceeding downwards.
► Once a condition is evaluated to be True, the corresponding block is
executed, and the rest of the structure is skipped.
► If none of the conditions are met, the final else part is
executed.
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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Decision or Selection

► if ..else if .. else structure

► Example

The pseudocode CompareVars(x, y) compares two variables x

and y and prints the relation between them.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Case Structure

► The case structure is a refined alternative to if else if else structure.

► The pseudocode representation of the case structure is given below.

► First, the value of an expression (which could also be a single

variable) is compared to a predefined value1.
► If a match is found, the first block of code, referred to as block1, is
executed.
► Typically, each block ends with a break statement, which exits the
case structure.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Case Structure

► The case structure is a refined alternative to if else if else structure.

► The pseudocode representation of the case structure is given below.

► If there is no match with value1, the expression or variable is then

compared with value2.
► If this comparison results in a match, block2 is executed, and the
case structure is exited with the corresponding break statement.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Case Structure

► The case structure is a refined alternative to if else if else structure.

► The pseudocode representation of the case structure is given below.

► This comparison process continues for each case until either a

match is found, or all cases are exhausted.
► If no matches are found for any of the cases, the default_block will
be executed.
► This block handles cases where the expression doesn't match any
predefined values.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Case Structure

► The case structure is a refined alternative to if else if else structure.

► The pseudocode representation of the case structure is given below.

► If a break statement is omitted from a block, the program will

continue executing the subsequent blocks, regardless of whether
the subsequent cases match, until a break is encountered or the
end of the case structure is reached.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Case Structure

► Example

► The pseudocode PRINTDIRECTION(dir) prints the

direction name based on the value of a character called
dir.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Repetition or loop

► When a certain block of instructions is to be repeatedly executed, we use

the repetition or loop construct.
► Each execution of the block is called an iteration or a pass.
► Definite iteration: If the number of iterations (how many times the block
is to be executed) is known in advance.
► Indefinite or conditional iteration: If the number of iterations is not
known in advance
► The block that is repeatedly executed is called the loop body.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode - Repetition or loop
► There are three types of loop constructs as discussed below
► while loop
► repeat-until loop
► for loop

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 Constructs of a pseudocode – while loop
► A while loop is generally used to implement indefinite iteration. The
general form of the while loop is as follows:

► Here, the loop body (TRUE_INSTRUCTIONS) is executed

repeatedly as long as condition evaluates to True.
► When the condition is evaluated as False, the loop body
is bypassed

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 Constructs of a pseudocode – repeat-until loop

► The second type of loop structure is the repeat-until structure.

► This type of loop is also used for indefinite iteration.
► Here the set of instructions constituting the loop body is repeated as long as condition
evaluates to False.
► When the condition evaluates to True, the loop is exited

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 Constructs of a pseudocode – repeat-until loop

► There are two major differences between while and repeat-until loop
constructs:
► In the while loop, the pseudocode continues to execute as long as the resultant of
the condition is True; in the repeat-until loop, the looping process stops when the
resultant of the condition becomes True.
► In the while loop, the condition is tested at the beginning; in the repeat until loop,
the condition is tested at the end.
► For this reason, the while loop is known as an entry controlled loop and the
repeat-until loop is known as an exit controlled loop.

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 Constructs of a pseudocode – for loop

► The for loop implements definite iteration.

► for loop constructs use a variable (call it the loop variable) as a counter that starts
counting from a specific value called begin and updates the loop variable after each
iteration.
► The loop body repeats execution until the loop variable value reaches end.
► The condition var <= end is tested first.

► If the condition is True, the loop body is executed.

► After the first iteration, the loop variable is incremented

(increased by 1).
► The condition var <= end is tested again with the
updated value of var.
► If the condition remains True, the loop body is executed
again.The loop continues: updating the loop variable
after each iteration and testing the condition.When the
loop variable becomes greater than end, the condition
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evaluates to False.At this point, the loop execution STOPS
Constructs of a pseudocode – for loop

► In the second for loop variant, whose pseudocode

syntax is given
► The loop variable is decremented (decreased by 1) after
every iteration
► The condition being tested is var >= end.
► Here, begin should be greater than or equal to end,
and the loop exits when this condition is violated.

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Constructs of a pseudocode – for loop

► It is also possible to update the loop variable by an

amount other than 1 after every iteration.
► The value by which the loop variable is increased or
decreased is known as step.
► In the pseudocode shown below, the step value is
specified using the keyword by .

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Constructs of a pseudocode – for loop

lists some examples of for loops. In these examples, var is the loop variable.

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► Problem: To find simple interest

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 Solved problems - Algorithms

► Problem: To determine the larger of two numbers

LargerTwo
1 Start
2 Read(number1, number2)
3 if (number1 > number2)
4 large = number1
5 else
6 large = number2
7 endif
8 Print(large)
9 Stop.

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► Problem: To determine the smallest of three numbers.
SmallestThree
1 Start
2 Read(number1, number2, number3)
3 if (number1 < number2)
4 small = number1
5 else
6 small = number2
7 endif
8 if (number3 < small )
9 small = number3
10 endif
11 Print(small )
12 Stop.

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 Solved problems - Algorithms

► Problem: To determine the entry-ticket fare in a zoo based on age.

TicketFare
1 Start
2 Read(age)
3 if (age < 10)
4 fare = 7
5 else if (age < 60)
6 fare = 10
7 else
8 fare = 5
9 endif
10 Print(fare)
11 Stop

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► Problem: To print the colour based on a code value as follows:.
PrintColour
1 Start
2 Read(code)
3 caseof (code)
4 case ‘R’:
5 Print(“Red”)
6 break
7 case ‘G’:
8 Print(“Green”)
9 break
10 case ‘B’:
11 Print(“Blue”)
12 break
13 default :
14 Print(“Wrong code”)
15 endcase
16 Stop
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 Solved problems - Algorithms

► Problem: To print the numbers from 1 to 50 in descending order.

PrintDown
1 Start
2 for count = 50 downto 1
3 Print(count)
4 endfor
5 Stop

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► Problem: To find the factorial of a number.

Factorial
1 Start
2 Read(number)
3 fact = 1
4 for var = number downto 1
5 fact = fact ∗ var
6 endfor
7 Print(fact)
8 Stop

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 Solved problems - Algorithms

► Problem: To determine the largest of n numbers.

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► Problem: To determine the average age of students in a class. The user will
stop giving the input by giving the age as 0.

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 Solved problems - Algorithms

► Problem: To determine the average age of students in a class. The user will
stop giving the input by giving the age as 0. use repeat-until loop

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► Problem: To find the average height of boys and average height of girls in a
class of n students

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 Module 2-
part 2

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Flowchart

► Flowcharts use standardized symbols to visually

represent various aspects of an algorithm or a
process.

► Terminator : A terminator symbol is used to START

represent the beginning and end of an algorithm
STOP

► Connector Lines: Connector lines are used to

connect symbols in the flowchart.
► The direction of the arrow indicates the next step.
Flowchart

► Process: A process symbol : represents an activity. Process

It represents a particular step of an algorithm.
► The symbol contains text which describes the step.
Sum = Number1+ Number2 Example

► Data: A data symbol represents data used in the

algorithm. It is also used to represent the input and
output
► The symbol contains text which describes the step.
Examples
► Multiple inputs can be read or multiple data can be
initialised in the same symbol

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Flowchart

► Decision: A symbol used to branch into different

steps based on condition
► Based on whether the condition succeeds or fails,
connector lines connect to different points in the
flowchart.
<10

► On page and Off Page References: Symbols used

when the entire flowchart cannot fit on the same P2
page fully.
On page
Off page
Reference
Reference
Flowchart

► Rectangle with vertical side-lines denotes a

module. A module is a collection of statements
written to achieve a task. It is known by the name
function in the programming domain.

► Hexagon denotes a for loop. The symbol shown

here is the representation of the loop: for count =
A to B by S.

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Flowchart
Flowchart

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Flowchart

► Problem 2.1 To find simple interest.

Flowchart

► Problem 2.2 To determine the larger of two numbers.

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Flowchart

► To determine the smallest of three numbers.

Flowchart

► To determine the entry-ticket fare in a zoo based on age as follows:

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Flowchart

► To print the colour based on a code value as follows:

Flowchart

► To find the factorial of a number

Solution: The factorial of a number n is defined as n! = n×n−1×·········· ×2×1.

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Flowchart

► To find the factorial of a number

Solution: The factorial of a number n is defined as n! = n×n−1×·········· ×2×1.
Flowchart

► To find the average height of boys and average height of girls in a class
of n students.

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