Pseudocode & Flowcharts

General Information Chances are, if you were to go into a conference room at a software company, it would contain a white-board filled with pseudocode and flowcharts. Pseudocode and flowcharts are programmer's ways of expressing algorithms, control structures, and other programming concepts quickly and simply. Most software projects involve lengthy planning sessions, where programmers and managers brainstorm and analyze coding tricks and ideas.

You'll find a good definition of pseudocode by searching for "pseudocode" at online glossary sites such as Webopedia (www.webopedia.com) or FOLDOC (Free On-Line Dictionary Of Computing)  (http://foldoc.org). You'll find out how to use pseudocode to express program control structures and how to write smooth, proper pseudocode at the Pseudocode Guide. There is a Pseudocode Translation Quick Reference Guide at this link. To find some examples of pseudocode, use a search engine, such as www.msn.com or www.google.com , to search for "pseudocode." In addition to using the search term "flowchart" at your favorite Web-based dictionary site or search engine, you can explore some flowcharting tools by connecting to this Web page. Check out some professional-level, commercial flowchart software at either RFFlow from www.rff.com, or iGrafx FlowCharter from www.igrafx.com. The SmartDraw site also includes a variety of flowchart examples and a flowcharting tutorial, and you can download a trial version of SmartDraw from www.smartdraw.com.

Additional Links This Wikipedia Pseudocode web page has an easy-going description  of what pseudocode is, some examples of what it looks like, and an explanation of how it is applied. For specific information about pseudocode take a look at the Pseudocode Language Specification.