2. Pseudocode Conventions and Standards

Basic Pseudocode Structure

ALGORITHM_NAME

    // Header section with algorithm description

    BEGIN

        // Variable declarations (if needed)

        // Input operations

        // Processing steps

        // Output operations

    END

Common Pseudocode Keywords and Conventions

Construct

Pseudocode Keyword

Example

Algorithm Start

ALGORITHM, BEGIN

ALGORITHM CalculateAverage

Algorithm End

END

END CalculateAverage

Input

READ, INPUT, GET

READ studentName

Output

PRINT, DISPLAY, WRITE

PRINT "Hello World"

Assignment

← or =

total ← mark1 + mark2

Conditional

IF-THEN-ELSE-ENDIF

IF score >= 50 THEN

Loops

WHILE-ENDWHILE, FOR-ENDFOR

WHILE count < 10 DO

Comments

// or /* */

// This is a comment

 

Variable Declaration and Usage

  • Variables are implicitly declared by their first use
  • Use meaningful names (e.g., studentCount instead of sc)
  • No need to specify data types in pseudocode
  • Example: counter ← 0 or totalMarks ← 0