B) Standard Methods and Techniques Used to Develop Algorithms

Question 1

What is pseudocode?

Answer 1

A form of structured English used to describe an algorithm that can be interpreted into any coding language.

Question 2

What are the advantages of pseudocode?

Answer 2

• can be converted into any language
• fairly easy to understand
• can be quicker to develop than code

Question 3

What is a dry run?

Answer 3

The process of manually running through pseudocode to ensure there are no logic errors.

Question 4

What is a trace table?

Answer 4

A trace table tracks the values of all variables and how they change. They are useful to ensure that an algorithm is giving the expected outputs.

Question 5

What shape is the start/stop box in flowcharts?

Answer 5

A rounded rectangle.

Question 6

What shape is the process box in flowcharts and what can it include?

Answer 6

A rectangle. Contains a brief description of the process being carried out, such as a calculation.

Question 7

What shape is the decision box in flowcharts and what can it include?

Answer 7

A diamond. Should contain a question that can only be answered with yes or no.

Question 8

What shape is the input/output box in flowcharts and what can it include?

Answer 8

A parallelogram. Contains a brief description of data being input/output, as well as variable names.