1.6 How can I think like a programmer? What are algorithms and pseudo code?

A. Introduction

Have you completed all the tasks in 1.3? If not, try to do all of them. Make sure you are comfortable with errors. Now think about it: what else can you program other than basic prints and calculations?

B. Algorithms and Pseudo Code

1. When dealing with complex problems, you have to think of the steps to solve the problem. When you write down these steps, you create an "algorithm" to solve the problem.

2. You don't write your algorithms in a programming language, you write them in English using a simplified format such as if... then... else so everyone can understand. The algorithms written in simplified English are called pseudocode. See examples here.

C. Try this:

Consider a robot that is placed in a room. The robot can:

• Move forward by one unit. • Turn left or right. • Sense what is in front of it: a wall, a window, or neither.

Write an algorithm that enables the robot, placed anywhere in the room, to count the number of windows. For example, in the room at right, the robot (marked as R) should find that it has two windows.