Pseudocode

Pseudocode is an informal way of writing down the steps of an algorithm by borrowing the familiar conventions of programming languages, such as assignment, conditionals and loops, and mixing them with plain natural language and compact mathematical notation. It is meant to be read by people rather than run by machines, so it leaves out the details a real implementation would need, and it can only be checked by hand. There is no broad standard for its syntax, although limited standards exist for settings such as academic assessment, and writers range from near copies of a real language to prose-like outlines. Textbooks and scientific papers use it to describe algorithms in a way that stays understandable whatever language a reader knows, and programmers often sketch an unfamiliar algorithm in pseudocode before translating it into working code. Standards such as MPEG also rely on formal C-like pseudocode.