Assignment 01A - Pseudo-Code

In the first part of the first assignment, you should write a small, but detailed, pseudo-code, just as the tea example I gave you last class.

First write the human instructions, then "translate it" to a format a computer could possibly understand. You should pick something simple and ordinary, such as "boiling an egg", or "walking around the block".

Here is, again, the "making tea" example. For humans, we would simply write:

boil the water
put it in a cup
put a teabag in the water
add sugar if you want

But for a computer, these simple four statements would need much more thorough instructions:

function boilWater:
 with waterBoiler
     fill with coldWater
     if waterBoiler = full:
         stop fill
         turn waterBoiler.switch to „on“
         when waterBoiler.switch = „off“:
             execute function fillCup

function fillCup:
 get cup
 place cup right to waterBoiler
 with waterBoiler:
     move 20cm up
     turn -90°
 if cup = „full“
     with waterBoiler:
         turn 90°
         move 20cm down
     execute function makeTea

function makeTea:
 desiredSugar = 2
 desiredTime = 3min

 get teaBag
 with teaBag:
     place inside cup
  
 start counting time
 if time = 3min:
     put teaBag in initial position
  
 if desiredSugar > 0:
     execute function putSugar
 else:
     finish

And it would go on and on. We would also need to specify what those objects are (waterBoiler, teaBag...).

When you are writing your pseudo-code, keep in mind the following overall rules:

• Be aware if indenting: Python relies heavily on indenting to structure and process the code. It also helps make the code more organized, by nesting actions.
• Think about all data you need to pass the computer and, most important, how and when it should use this data

You should post here your pseudo codes in the blog, along this week until Saturday, 25.04, so we can have it for next class.

In order to post your pseudo-code formatted as above, you can follow this tip.