Pseudo-code for the uninitiated

People new to algorithms and coding often have a question in their mind: “Do I really need to write pseudo-code?”

It depends on how you to decide to tackle the problem. Some people can visualize the entire solution to an algorithmic problem in their mind while others may find it difficult to come up with a solution without having to first write it down somewhere. In general, pseudo-code wont do any harm if not any good.

It does take a bit of time to first put down your thoughts into pseudo-code and then translate it to code. But who here has to solve an algorithmic problem while the clock ticks over their head tick-tocking every second? People may argue that interview coding challenges and other online competitive coding contests have time as one of the important deciding factors, and that’s true. But the purpose of pseudo-code is to develop your algorithmic thinking capacity, so that the next time you tackle a similar problem you don’t have to go through the entire process all over again. That being said, you will resort to writing pseudo-code only if you encounter a new problem, there seems no reason at all for you to start thinking all over from scratch for a problem, the solution to which you already know.