Dry-Running and Pseudocode

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Learning Programming
• Introducing two methods that will help you in
learning programming
1. Dry-run: To run a program in your brain
2. Pseudocode: An informal, usually step-by-step
description of a program, written in a human readable
form
• If you master these two methods, you will gain
superpower* in learning programming!

*Slight exaggeration

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Dry Running
• How to best understand the program code?
– Think like a computer!
• The computer executes the C program line by line
• You can also read it line by line
– This is called a “dry run”
• You may do it on a piece of paper
• You may use NotePad/TextEdit or other ways too
• NEVER read just the starting and ending lines of code and
attempt to guess the outcome of the program!

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Dry Running with a Trace Table
1 #include <stdio.h> Dry Run Table
2 *****************
3 int main(void) **
4 {
5 int side, perimeter, area;
6 side perimeter
7 side = 3; area
8 perimeter = 4 * side;
9 area = side * side;
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11 printf("Side : %d\n", side); The dry run table allow us
12 to track how each variable
printf("Perimeter: %d\n", perimeter);
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area); change as we run the
14 program
15 return 0;
16 }

Example from Lecture 01b: Computing the perimeter and the area of a square. 4
Dry Running with a Trace Table
1 #include <stdio.h> Dry Run Table
2 *****************
3 int main(void) **
4 {
5 int side, perimeter, area;
6 side perimeter
7 side = 3; area
8 perimeter = 4 * side; ? ?
9 area = side * side; ?
10
11 printf("Side : %d\n", side);Variables start with
12 printf("Perimeter: %d\n", perimeter);
unknown values, before
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area);
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we assign values to them
15 return 0;
16 }

Example from Lecture 01b: Computing the perimeter and the area of a square. 5
Dry Running with a Trace Table
1 #include <stdio.h> Dry Run Table
2 *****************
3 int main(void) **
4 {
5 int side, perimeter, area;
6 side perimeter
7 side = 3; area
8 perimeter = 4 * side; ? ?
9 area = side * side; ?
10 3
11 printf("Side : %d\n", side);We step forward as if we
12 printf("Perimeter: %d\n", perimeter);
are the computer, line by
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area);
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line, and write down how
15 return 0; the variables will change
16 }

Example from Lecture 01b: Computing the perimeter and the area of a square. 6
Dry Running with a Trace Table
1 #include <stdio.h> Dry Run Table
2 *****************
3 int main(void) **
4 {
5 int side, perimeter, area;
6 side perimeter
7 side = 3; area
8 perimeter = 4 * side; ? ?
9 area = side * side; ?
10 3
11 printf("Side : %d\n", side);We step forward as12if we
12 printf("Perimeter: %d\n", perimeter);
are the computer, line by
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area);
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line, and write down how
15 return 0; the variables will change
16 }

Example from Lecture 01b: Computing the perimeter and the area of a square. 7
Dry Running with a Trace
Repeat until the program is
Table
1 finished
#include <stdio.h> Dry Run Table
2  You may even add a column *****************
3 int main(void) for the printf output. Try **
4 { it!
5 int side, perimeter, area;
6 side perimeter
7 side = 3; area
8 perimeter = 4 * side; ? ?
9 area = side * side; ?
10 3
11 printf("Side : %d\n", side); 12
12 printf("Perimeter: %d\n", perimeter);
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area); 9
14
15 return 0;
16 }

Example from Lecture 01b: Computing the perimeter and the area of a square. 8
Pseudocode
• Maybe your problem is not in understanding a
program, but writing one?
– For some beginners, it is very hard to start writing C from
nothing
• Programmers may be very good at thinking like a
computer, but we are still human beings!
– As a human, we use logic and natural language, which are
largely programming language independent
• To express our logic and communicate with others,
programmers often use a human readable form of
programming called pseudocode
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Pseudocode
• Example: I wish to write a program to calculate the sum of an
arithmetic sequence from x1 to xn
• Recall that an arithmetic sequence is a sequence of numbers with a
constant difference Δ between consecutive terms,
e.g., given initial x1 = 5; difference Δ = 3; n = 7 terms; x7 = 23 :
5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23
• We may all know that the formula is:
sum = x1 + x2 + … + xn = n * (x1 + xn) / 2
where n is the number of terms in the sequence
• In the above example, the sum of the sequence is
7 * (5 + 23) / 2 = 98
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Pseudocode
• Let's attempt to write the program in pseudocode
• There's no restriction in pseudocode syntax, but it
should "look like" your target language, i.e. C
• For example, we may write the pseudocode like
this. Notice how readable it is?
1. Declare integers x1, xn, n
2. Ask for values of x1, xn, n from user (assume valid)
3. Declare integer sum
4. Assign sum to be n * (x1 + xn) / 2
5. Print out sum
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Pseudocode
1 #include <stdio.h>
2 int main(void)
3 {
4 // declare integers x1, xn, n
5 // ask for values of x1, xn, n from user
6 // declare integer sum
7 // sum = n * (x1+xn) / 2
8 // print sum
9 A good trick is to write down your pseudocode as comments into
10 return 0; your program first.
11 }
12 Notice that your pseudocode should be separated into multiple
13 statements, which could be executed step by step like a computer
program, to achieve our objective (hopefully).
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15 We use terminology similar to, but not exactly same as, features of C,
16 such as declaring integers (implying integer variable), and printing
(implying printf).
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Pseudocode
1 #include <stdio.h>
2 int main(void)
3 {
4 // declare integers x1, xn, n
5 int x1,xn,n;
6 // ask for values of x1, xn, n from user
7 scanf("%d%d%d", &x1, &xn, &n);
8 // declare integer sum
9 I can then "translate" each line of my
int sum;
pseudocode and insert one or more
10 // sum = (n * (x1+xn))/2 valid C statement(s) under each.
11 sum = n * (x1+xn) / 2;
12 // print sum It is not necessary a one-to-one
13 printf("Sum = %d\n", sum); translation, but the order of each
14 statement of your pseudocode must be
15 return 0; preserved.
16 }
Do you think the program is correct?
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Pseudocode
// declare integers x1, xn, n
// ask for values of x1, xn, n from user
// declare integer sum
// sum = n * (x1+xn) / 2
// print sum
Pseudocode is very flexible. Here, both A and B are valid
A pseudocode for the sample program, but B is more concise, and
is targeted towards more mature programmers

// ask for integers x1, xn, n from user

B In B, the first step clearly implies you need to declare x1, xn and
n as integers first. In cases where the pseudocode is very concise
or ambiguous, it is up to the programmer to use their knowledge
and be smart!
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Pseudocode
• If you are a beginner programmer and you feel
afraid to write in C
– Write in pseudocode as comments first
• If you face a hard programming problem of C
– It is also a good idea to write in pseudocode so that
you can put your thinking "on paper"
– You can even discuss with your classmate on its
correctness, and he/she will understand your logic
better than through a C program

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Pseudocode in Lab Exercises
• In your Lab Exercises, sometimes we will give you
the correct pseudocode as a hint to the problems!
– Yay! It's almost like cheating!
– As long as you can "translate" from the pseudocode to
C correctly, your program will be correct!
– However, as a beginner, you might sometimes translate
the pseudocode into C incorrectly
• In such a case, please make sure you check your C syntax and
see if you understand how to express your logic in C properly
– Good luck!

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