(2210) Algorithm & Programming Basics

Algorithms:
An algorithm is a sequence of steps done to perform some task.
The essential aim of an algorithm is to get a specific output,
An algorithm involves with several continuous steps,
The output comes after the algorithm finished the whole process.

So basically, all algorithms perform logically while following the steps to get an output for a
given input.

Types of Algorithms:
Structure Diagrams
Flowcharts
Pseudo codes
Program Code

FLOWCHARTS:
Flow chart is a graphical representation of a program.
Flowcharts use different symbols containing information about steps or a sequence of events.
 (2210) Algorithm & Programming Basics
PSEUDOCODE:
Pseudo code is an outline of a program, written as a series of instruction using simple
English sentences. Pseudo code uses keywords commonly found in high-level languages and
mathematical notation.

Variable:
Variable is named memory location or data holder whose value can change during
running of a program. Variable must have a meaningful name and a Data Type
Variables must be DECLARED or created before they are used in the program.

Variables are declared as follows:

DECLARE variablename : DataType

DECLARE name : STRING
DECLARE marks : INTEGER

Constants:
Just like variables, constants are "dataholders".
In contrast to variable, the content of a constant can't change at runtime, it has a
constant value. Constants are also declared with a value before they are used in the
program.

CONSTANT <identifier> = <Value>

CONSTANT Pi 3.1415 or CONSTANT Pi = 3 .14

Arithmetic operations: Use the arithmetic operators.

Operator Comparison
Addition
+
Subtraction
-
Multiplication

*
Division
/
Equals to
=
Not equal
<>
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Logical operations:

Operator Comparison
> Greater than
< Less than
>= Greater than equal to
<= Less than equal to
= Equals to
<> Not equal
() Group
AND And
OR Or
NOT Not

Assignment
Assignment is the process of writing a value into a variable (a named memory location).
For example, Count ← 1 can be read as ‘Count is assigned the value 1

Initialization:
The value of variable can be initialized before user’s input If an algorithm needs to read
the value of a variable before it assigns input data or a calculated value to the variable,
the algorithm should assign an appropriate initial value to the variable, known as
Initialization.

Data types

The following table shows the data types:

A variable can store one type of data. The data types are:

Data Type Explation

INTEGER Stores whole numbers e.g. 1,22, -78 etrc
REAL Stores decimal numbers e.g. 3.5 , - 7.6
STRING Stores text e.g. name, address in text
BOOLEAN Stores True or False
CHAR Stores a single character e.g. F for female
DATE Stores date e.g. 12/02/2024
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Input
In Pseudocodes we indicate input by keywords such as INPUT, READ or ENTER,
followed by the name of a variable to which we wish to assign the input value.

Output:
In Pseudocodes we indicate output by words such as OUTPUT, WRITE or PRINT,
followed by a comma-separated list of expressions.

Totaling

To keep a running total, we can use a variable such as Total or Sum to hold the running
total and assignment statements such as:

Total ← Total + Number (ADD Number to Total)

Counting
It is sometimes necessary to count how many times something happens.
To count up or increment by 1, we can use statements such as:

Count ← Count + 1 INCREMENT Count by 1

Structured statements
In the sequence structure the processing steps are carried out one after the other. The
instructions are carried out in sequence, unless a selection or loop is encountered.

Declaration of Variables and Constant:

The process of creating a variable is called declaring a variable. Variables must be

created or declared where users enter their data.

Pseudo code

BEGIN
DECLARE variable : Datatype

Variable 0 //initialization

OUTPUT (“What is your Email address”)

INPUT variable value

IF valid email address?

Then ...
END

Each declaration needs 4 things:

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Pseudo code VB code example:

• DECLARE keyword
• Variable name
• : keyword
• Variable data type

DECLARE variable : Datatype

Declaring Multiple Variables:

Pseudocodes VB Code Console Mode

DECLARE index : Integer

DECLARE grade : Integer
DECLARE counter : Integer
The three declarations above can be rewritten as one declaration if same data type is used:
DECLARE index, grade, counter : Integer

Constants
Creating Constants in Pseudocode is just writing costant name and value with it. In contrast to variable,
the content of a constant can't change at runtime, it has a constant value.

CONSTANT <identifier> = <Value>

CONSTANT Pi 3.1415 or CONSTANT Pi = 3 .14

Type of Programs:
 Sequence
 Selection
 Repetitions/Loops
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Sequence
Statements are followed in sequence so the order of the statements in a program is
important.
Assignment statements rely on the variables used in the expression on the right-hand
side of the statement all having been given values. Input statements often provide
values for assignment statements. Output statements often use the results from
assignment statements.
VB code example PSEUDOCODE
BEGIN
DECLARE number1 : Integer
DECLARE number2 : Integer
DECLARE sum : Integer
DECLARE product : Integer

PRINT (“Enter number 1”)

INPUT number1
PRINT (“Enter number 2”)
INPUT number2
Sum number1 + number2
product number1 * number2
PRINT (“the sum is”, sum)
PRINT (“the product is”,product)
END

Flowchart Pseudocode

BEGIN
DECLARE miles,km : REAL

OUTPUT (“Enter miles”)

INPUT miles
km miles * 1.61
OUTPUT(“Km are : ” & km)
END
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Structured statements for selection (conditional statements)

These statements are used to select alternative routes through an algorithm; selection’s
logical expressions often involve comparisons, which can operate on text strings as well
as numbers

IF…THEN…ELSE…ENDIF
CASE…OF…OTHERWISE…ENDCASE

IF…THEN…ELSE…ENDIF
For an IF condition the THEN path is followed if the condition is true and the ELSE path
is followed if the condition is false.
There may or may not be an ELSE path. The end of the statement is shown by ENDIF.

A condition can be set up in different ways:

IF ((Height > 1) OR (Weight > 20) OR (Age > 5)) AND (Age < 70)
THEN
PRINT ("You can ride")
ELSE
PRINT ("Too small, too young or too old")
ENDIF

CASE … OF … OTHERWISE … ENDCASE

For a CASE condition the value of the variable decides the path to be taken. Several
values are usually specified. OTHERWISE is the path taken for all other values. The
end of the statement is shown by ENDCASE.

The algorithm below specifies what happens if the value of Choice is 1, 2, 3 or 4.

CASE Choice OF

1: Answer ← Num1 + Num2

2: Answer ← Num1 - Num2
3: Answer ← Num1 * Num2
4: Answer ← Num1 / Num2

OTHERWISE PRINT ("Please enter a valid choice")

ENDCASE
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The IF THEN ELSE statement

FLOWCHART:
START

INPUT
marks

Yes
OUTPUT
IF marks>50 (“Pass”)

No
OUTPUT
(“Fail”)

STOP

PSEUDOCODE VB Code

BEGIN
DECLARE marks : Integer

PRINT ("Enter your grade")

INPUT marks
IF marks > 50
THEN PRINT ("You’ve passed")
ELSE PRINT (“You’ve failed”)
END IF

END
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IF THEN, ELSE-IF statements VB code example

BEGIN
DECLARE marks : INTEGER
PRINT ("Enter marks")
INPUT marks
IF marks >= 80
THEN PRINT ("Grade A")
ELSE IF marks >= 60
THEN PRINT ("Grade B")
ELSE IF marks >= 60
THEN PRINT ("Grade C")
ELSE PRINT ("Grade U")
END IF
END IF
END IF
The IF statement is useful, but can get clumsy if you want to consider “multi-way
END
selections

FLOWCHART: START

INPUT
marks

Yes OUTPUT
IF marks >= 80
(“Grade A”)

No
Yes OUTPUT
IF marks >=
(“Grade B”)
70
No
Yes OUTPUT (“Grade C”)
IF marks >=60
No
OUTPUT (“Grade U”)

STOP
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CASE OF OTHERWISE… FLOWCHART

START

Pseudo code
INPUT marks
BEGIN
DECLARE marks : Integer
OUTPUT
PRINT ("Enter your marks") marks>=80? Yes (“Grade A”)
INPUT marks
CASE OF marks no
80 >= :PRINT("Grade A") marks>=70? Yes OUTPUT
70 >= :PRINT("Grade B") (“Grade B”)
60 >= :PRINT("Grade C") no
60 >= :PRINT("Grade D") OUTPUT
40 >= :PRINT ("Grade E") marks>=60? Yes (“Grade C”)
OTHERWISE
PRINT("Grade U, Repeat Exam") no
marks>=50? OUTPUT
END CASE Yes (“Grade D”)
END no

yes
OUTPUT
marks>=40? (“Grade D”)

no

OUTPUT
(“Grade U)

STOP
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Program Code in Visual Basic Console Mode:

LOOPS (Structured statements for iteration (repetition)

Many problems involve repeating one or more statements, so it is useful to have
structured statements for controlling these iterations or repetitions. Exit conditions
consist of logical expressions whose truth can be tested, such as Count = 10 or Score <
0. At a particular time, a logical expression is either True or False.
FOR…TO…NEXT
WHILE…DO…ENDWHILE
REPEAT…UNTIL
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FOR … NEXT LOOP

This is to be used when loop is to be repeated a known fixed number of times.
The counter is automatically increased each time the loop is performed.

FOR count = 1 to 10
INPUT number
total = total + number
NEXT count

WHILE … Do LOOP
This loop is used when we don’t know how many times the loop is to be performed. The Loop is
ended when a certain condition is true.
This condition is checked before starting the loop.

While COUNT < 10 DO

Input NUMBER
TOTAL = TOTAL + NUMBER
COUNT = COUNT + 1
Endwhile
Output TOTAL

REPEAT … UNTIL LOOP

REPEAT UNTIL Loop is used when we do not know how many times loop will be performed.
The Loop is ended when a certain conation is true.
The Condition is checked at the end of the Loop and so a REPEAT Loop always has to be
performed at least once.

REPEAT
Input NUMBER
TOTAL = TOTAL + NUMBER
COUNT = COUNT + 1
Until COUNT = 10
Output Total

FOR Loop PSEUDOCODE

The fore loop repeats statements a set number of time. It uses a variable to count how many time it goes
round the loop and stops when it reaches its limit.
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BEGIN
DECLARE count, number : Integer
OUTPUT (“Input a number for its times table")
INPUT number
FOR count = 1 To 20
PRINT (number , “times" , count , “ = ” number * Count”)

NEXT

VB code example:
Sub Main(args As String())
Console.WriteLine("Times Table Program")
Dim count, num As Integer
Console.WriteLine("please Input a number for its TimesTable")
num = Console.ReadLine()
For count = 1 To 20
Console.WriteLine(num & " Times " & count & " = " & num * count)
Next
End Sub

OUTPUT of Code
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Other examples of FOR loop

BEGIN
DECLARE BiggestSoFar, NextNumber, Counter : Integer

INPUT BiggestSoFar

FOR Counter 1 TO 5

INPUT NextNumber
IF NextNumber > BiggestSoFar
THEN
BiggestSoFar NextNumber
ENDIF

END FOR

OUTPUT (“The biggest number so far is” & BiggestSoFar)

END

Sample VB Code of above Pseudocode:

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FLOWCHART FOR LOOP

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WHILE DO ENDWHILE loop

The wile loop is known as a test before loop. The condition is tested before entering the loop, but tested
each time it goes round the loop. The number of times the statements within the loop are executed
varies. The test before loop goes round 0 or more times.
This method is useful when processing files and using “read ahead” data

VB Code example
BEGIN
DECLARE name : String

INPUT name

WHILE name <> "x"

PRINT (“Your name is: “name)
INPUT name
END WHILE

END

REPEAT UNTIL loop

The repeat loop is similar to the while loop, but it tests the condition after the statements have been
executed once. This means that this test after loop goes round 1 or more times.

VB code example
BEGIN
DECLARE name : String

REPEAT
INPUT name
PRINT (“Your name is:” name)
UNTIL name = "x"

END

Keeps inputting name and keeps printing name until user enters “X”
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FLOWCHART…WHILE-ENDWHILE

START
marks

(“Grade A”)

(“ ”)

INPUT name (“ ”)
LOOP
(“ ”)

(“ ”)

(“

WHILE OUTPUT (“Your name

name <> “x” is”)
Yes OUTPUT (name)

No

STOP
marks

(“Grade A”)

FLOWCHART…REPEAT-UNTIL
(“ ”)

(“ ”)

(“ ”)

(“ ”) START
(“
marks

(“Grade A”)

(“ ”)

INPUT name (“ ”)
LOOP
(“ ”)

(“ ”)

OUTPUT (“Your name

(“

is”)
OUTPUT (name)

UNTIL
name= “x” No

Yes

STOP
marks

(“ ”)

(“ ”)
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Array Data Type
An array is a special variable that has one name, but can store multiple values. Each value is stored in an
element pointed to by an index.
The first element in the array has index value 0, the second has index 1, etc

One Dimensional Arrays

A one dimensional array can be thought as a list. An array with 10 elements, called names, can store 10
names and could be visualized as this:

Arrays (One-dimensional arrays)

In order to use a one-dimensional array in a computer program, you need to consider:

• What the array is going to be used for, so it can be given a meaningful name
• How many items are going to be stored, so the size of the array can be determined.
• What sort of data is to be stored, so that the array can be the appropriate data type.

This array would be created by:

VB code example:

DECLARE names(9): String

PRINT (names(1))

will display James

PRINT (names (7))

Will display Mathew

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Entering Values in One-Dimension Array

BEGIN
DECLARE count : Integer
DECLARE name (5) : String // for declaring 5 elements in ARRAY
DECLARE marks (5) : Integer

FOR count = 1 to 5 // for inputting 5 names and grades

PRINT (“Enter Name “& count)
INPUT name (count)
PRINT (“Enter grade for “& name(count))
INPUT marks (count)
NEXT count
// for displaying 5 names and grades
FOR count 1 to 5
PRINT (name (count) & “has marks " & marks(count))
NEXT count
END

VB Code in Console Mode

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Output of VB code displayed above

Another example of One-Dimensional Array

Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim count As Integer
Dim name(4) As String
Dim marks(4) As Integer
Dim gender(4) As String
For count = 0 To 4
Console.WriteLine("please enter your name" & count)
name(count) = Console.ReadLine()
Console.WriteLine("please enter your gender" & count)
gender(count) = Console.ReadLine()
Console.WriteLine("please enter your marks" & count)
marks(count) = Console.ReadLine()
Next count
For count = 0 To 4
Console.WriteLine("your name is : " & name(count))
Console.WriteLine("your gender is : " & gender(count))
Console.WriteLine("your marks are : " & marks(count))
Next count
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module
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Two Dimensional Arrays (2-D Arrays)

PSEUDOCODE Example of Two-Dimension Array

BEGIN
DECLARE table(3, 4) : Integer
FOR row = 1 To 3
FOR column = 1 To 4
PRINT("Please Input Value in Row: ",row, "column : ", column)
INPUT table(row, column)
NEXT
NEXT

FOR row = 1 To 3
FOR column = 1 To 4
PRINT ("Row = " & row & "column = " & column & “has Value”)
PRINT (table(row, column))
NEXT
NEXT
END

VB Code Example of Two-Dimension Array

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Sub Main()
Dim table(2, 3) As Integer
For row = 0 To 2
For column = 0 To 3
Console.WriteLine("Please Input Value in Row: " & row & "column : " & column)
table(row, column) = Console.ReadLine()
Next
Next
Console.Clear()

For row = 0 To 2
For column = 0 To 3
Console.WriteLine("Row = " & row & "column = " & column & “has Value”)
Console.WriteLine(matrix(row, column))
Next
Next
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub

Multi-Dimensional Arrays:

A multi-dimensional array can be thought of as a table, each element has a row and column index.
Following example declares a two-dimensional array called matrix and would be declared by

VB Code for 2-D Array is:

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