<s>
In	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
,	O
pseudocode	B-Language
is	O
a	O
plain	O
language	O
description	O
of	O
the	O
steps	O
in	O
an	O
algorithm	O
or	O
another	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pseudocode	B-Language
often	O
uses	O
structural	O
conventions	O
of	O
a	O
normal	O
programming	O
language	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
intended	O
for	O
human	O
reading	O
rather	O
than	O
machine	O
reading	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
purpose	O
of	O
using	O
pseudocode	B-Language
is	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
easier	O
for	O
people	O
to	O
understand	O
than	O
conventional	O
programming	O
language	O
code	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
an	O
efficient	O
and	O
environment-independent	O
description	O
of	O
the	O
key	O
principles	O
of	O
an	O
algorithm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
No	O
broad	O
standard	O
for	O
pseudocode	B-Language
syntax	B-Application
exists	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
program	O
in	O
pseudocode	B-Language
is	O
not	O
an	O
executable	O
program	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
certain	O
limited	O
standards	O
exist	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
for	O
academic	O
assessment	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pseudocode	B-Language
resembles	O
skeleton	O
programs	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
compiled	B-Language
without	O
errors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flowcharts	B-Language
,	O
drakon-charts	B-Language
and	O
Unified	B-Language
Modelling	I-Language
Language	I-Language
(	O
UML	B-Language
)	O
charts	O
can	O
be	O
thought	O
of	O
as	O
a	O
graphical	O
alternative	O
to	O
pseudocode	B-Language
,	O
but	O
need	O
more	O
space	O
on	O
paper	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Languages	O
such	O
as	O
HAGGIS	B-Language
bridge	O
the	O
gap	O
between	O
pseudocode	B-Language
and	O
code	O
written	O
in	O
programming	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Textbooks	O
and	O
scientific	O
publications	O
related	O
to	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
and	O
numerical	B-General_Concept
computation	I-General_Concept
often	O
use	O
pseudocode	B-Language
in	O
description	O
of	O
algorithms	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
all	O
programmers	B-Application
can	O
understand	O
them	O
,	O
even	O
if	O
they	O
do	O
not	O
all	O
know	O
the	O
same	O
programming	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
level	O
of	O
detail	O
of	O
the	O
pseudocode	B-Language
may	O
in	O
some	O
cases	O
approach	O
that	O
of	O
formalized	O
general-purpose	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
programmer	B-Application
who	O
needs	O
to	O
implement	O
a	O
specific	O
algorithm	O
,	O
especially	O
an	O
unfamiliar	O
one	O
,	O
will	O
often	O
start	O
with	O
a	O
pseudocode	B-Language
description	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
"	O
translate	O
"	O
that	O
description	O
into	O
the	O
target	O
programming	O
language	O
and	O
modify	O
it	O
to	O
interact	O
correctly	O
with	O
the	O
rest	O
of	O
the	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programmers	B-Application
may	O
also	O
start	O
a	O
project	O
by	O
sketching	O
out	O
the	O
code	O
in	O
pseudocode	B-Language
on	O
paper	O
before	O
writing	O
it	O
in	O
its	O
actual	O
language	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
top-down	O
structuring	O
approach	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
process	O
of	O
steps	O
to	O
be	O
followed	O
as	O
a	O
refinement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pseudocode	B-Language
generally	O
does	O
not	O
actually	O
obey	O
the	O
syntax	B-Application
rules	O
of	O
any	O
particular	O
language	O
;	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
systematic	O
standard	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
writers	O
borrow	O
style	O
and	O
syntax	B-Application
from	O
control	O
structures	O
from	O
some	O
conventional	O
programming	O
language	O
,	O
although	O
this	O
is	O
discouraged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
syntax	B-Application
sources	O
include	O
Fortran	B-Application
,	O
Pascal	B-Application
,	O
BASIC	O
,	O
C	B-Language
,	O
C++	B-Language
,	O
Java	B-Language
,	O
Lisp	B-Language
,	O
and	O
ALGOL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Depending	O
on	O
the	O
writer	O
,	O
pseudocode	B-Language
may	O
therefore	O
vary	O
widely	O
in	O
style	O
,	O
from	O
a	O
near-exact	O
imitation	O
of	O
a	O
real	O
programming	O
language	O
at	O
one	O
extreme	O
,	O
to	O
a	O
description	O
approaching	O
formatted	O
prose	O
at	O
the	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fortran	B-Application
style	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Pascal	B-Application
style	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
C	B-Language
style	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
numerical	B-General_Concept
computation	I-General_Concept
,	O
pseudocode	B-Language
often	O
consists	O
of	O
mathematical	O
notation	O
,	O
typically	O
from	O
set	O
and	O
matrix	B-Architecture
theory	I-Architecture
,	O
mixed	O
with	O
the	O
control	O
structures	O
of	O
a	O
conventional	O
programming	O
language	O
,	O
and	O
perhaps	O
also	O
natural	O
language	O
descriptions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Normally	O
non-ASCII	O
typesetting	O
is	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
mathematical	O
equations	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
markup	O
languages	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
TeX	B-Application
or	O
MathML	B-Language
,	O
or	O
proprietary	O
formula	B-Application
editors	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mathematical	O
style	O
pseudocode	B-Language
is	O
sometimes	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
pidgin	B-Language
code	I-Language
,	O
for	O
example	O
pidgin	B-Language
ALGOL	I-Language
(	O
the	O
origin	O
of	O
the	O
concept	O
)	O
,	O
pidgin	O
Fortran	B-Application
,	O
pidgin	O
BASIC	O
,	O
pidgin	B-Language
Pascal	I-Language
,	O
pidgin	O
C	B-Language
,	O
and	O
pidgin	O
Lisp	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Here	O
follows	O
a	O
longer	O
example	O
of	O
mathematical-style	O
pseudocode	B-Language
,	O
for	O
the	O
Ford	B-Algorithm
–	I-Algorithm
Fulkerson	I-Algorithm
algorithm	I-Algorithm
:	O
</s>
<s>
input	O
:	O
Graph	O
G	O
with	O
flow	O
capacity	O
c	B-Language
,	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
attempts	O
to	O
bring	O
elements	O
of	O
natural	O
language	O
grammar	O
into	O
computer	O
programming	O
have	O
produced	O
programming	O
languages	O
such	O
as	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
,	O
Lingo	B-Language
,	O
AppleScript	B-Application
,	O
SQL	B-Language
,	O
Inform	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
some	O
extent	O
Python	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
syntax	B-Application
rules	O
may	O
be	O
just	O
as	O
strict	O
and	O
formal	O
as	O
in	O
conventional	O
programming	O
,	O
and	O
do	O
not	O
necessarily	O
make	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
programs	O
easier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
alternative	O
to	O
using	O
mathematical	O
pseudocode	B-Language
(	O
involving	O
set	O
theory	O
notation	O
or	O
matrix	B-Architecture
operations	O
)	O
for	O
documentation	O
of	O
algorithms	O
is	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
formal	O
mathematical	O
programming	O
language	O
that	O
is	O
a	O
mix	O
of	O
non-ASCII	O
mathematical	O
notation	O
and	O
program	O
control	O
structures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
formal	B-Application
specification	I-Application
languages	I-Application
include	O
set	O
theory	O
notation	O
using	O
special	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Vienna	B-Application
Development	I-Application
Method	I-Application
Specification	B-Application
Language	I-Application
(	O
VDM-SL	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
array	B-Application
programming	I-Application
languages	I-Application
include	O
vectorized	O
expressions	O
and	O
matrix	B-Architecture
operations	O
as	O
non-ASCII	O
formulas	O
,	O
mixed	O
with	O
conventional	O
control	O
structures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
(	O
APL	B-Language
)	O
,	O
and	O
its	O
dialects	O
APLX	B-Language
and	O
A+	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
MathCAD	B-Application
.	O
</s>
