An algorithm is a procedure for solving a problem in terms of the actions to be executed and the order in which those actions are to be executed. An algorithm is merely the sequence of steps taken to solve a problem. The steps are normally "sequence," "selection, " "iteration," and a case-type statement.
In C, "sequence statements" are imperatives. The "selection" is the "if then else" statement, and the iteration is satisfied by a number of statements, such as the "while," " do," and the "for," while the case-type statement is satisfied by the "switch" statement.
Pseudocode is an artificial and informal language that helps programmers develop algorithms. Pseudocode is a "text-based" detail (algorithmic) design tool.
The rules of Pseudocode are reasonably straightforward. All statements showing "dependency" are to be indented. These include while, do, for, if, switch. Examples below will illustrate this notion.
1.. If student's grade is greater than or equal to 60
2. Set total to zero
Set grade counter to one
While grade counter is less than or equal to ten
Set the class average to the total divided by ten
Print the class average.
Initialize total to zero
Initialize counter to zero
Input the first grade
while the user has not as yet entered the sentinel
if the counter is not equal to zero
initialize passes to zero
initialize failures to zero
initialize student to one
while student counter is less than or equal to ten
add one to student counter
print the number of passes
print the number of failures
if eight or more students passed
As verbs, use the words Generate, Compute, Process, etc. Words such as set, reset, increment, compute, calculate, add, sum, multiply, ... print, display, input, output, edit, test , etc. with careful indentation tend to foster desirable pseudocode.
Do not include data declarations in your pseudocode.