Pseudocode Guidelines for Writing Algorithms

1. Pseudocode Guidelines for Writing Algorithms • High-level description: • Begin with an English description of how the algorithm works. • Include a general overview of the approach and goals. • You may want to include examples and diagrams of the data structures that help make the operation of the algorithm more clear. • For recursive algorithms it is often useful to clearly describe the base and inductive cases that make the algorithm correct. • About one or two paragraphs of text is usually enough.

2. Language and Syntax • Follow basic C and/or C++ syntax. • Dynamically created structures should be allocated using "new" and deallocated using "delete". • Avoid the use of advanced C++ features like iterators, templates, class inheritance, etc. • Do not rely on pre-defined classes from the Weiss book unless that is part of the assignment (as it was in the case of hw #1).

3. Functions and Operators • You may assume that you have at your disposal the basic operations of the data type you are manipulating. • Introduce definitions for the relational operators applied to non-numeric types. • For example: Define (F < G) for nodes F and G to hold iff (F.data < G.data) This should be done only to clarify, never to obscure, the presentation.

4. Additional Tips • Include meaningful comments in the body of the pseudocode. • Try to make the program as succinct and elegant as you can. This is not only good style but usually makes the algorithm easier for others to understand. • Pseudocode should be typed (preferred) or VERY neatly handwritten.

5. Lists and writing pseudocode • Given 2 sorted lists, L1 and L2, write a procedure to compute L1 U L2 (the union of the two lists). The resulting list should be sorted as well.

6. Recursive Algorithms • Provide a recursive algorithm that given a binary tree determines the number of leaves in the tree.