Hi Claudia and all<br><br>Is there any news on what pseudocode we can expect to be "standard" in SD exams?
Until recently there wasn't even a FOR structure in pseudocode, but it's
there now (Q4 in the sample questions) - a good move. <br>What other structures and syntaxes does VCAA consider appropriate?<br><br>Just as the lack of complex structures in flowcharts result in primitive and bulky representations of design, a pseudocode lacking important programming primitives must hamstring the potential of pseudocode-based questions.<br>
I
suggest we need some more powerful data and control
structures in our pseudocode that better reflect the standards seen in all modern languages.<br>
The exact naming is
neither here nor there as long as they're intelligible to everyone...<br>
<br>
= for assignment. Why do we persist with <- when it's not used in any language and is so hard to typeset for printing??<br>
<br>
IF-ELSEIF-ELSE-ENDIF (including AND/OR as logical operators)<br>
<br>The three basic loops...<br>
FOR-NEXT<br>DO-WHILE<br>LOOP-UNTIL (or REPEAT-UNTIL like last year's exam had)<br><br>
I'd like pseudocode to be able to declare variables and arrays. It's a vital programming concept...<br>
DECLARE var AS type<br>DECLARE array(a,b) AS type<br>
<br>
Add some decent I/O operators...<br>
INPUT (from keyboard) and READ (from a file)<br>DISPLAY (onscreen), WRITE (to file) and PRINT (to paper)<br>OPEN - CLOSE text file<br>MESSAGEBOX - hell, our language has to be GUI but there's no GUI support in the pseudocode. <br>
<br>
One major omission in current pseudocode is the concept of modularity: I've never seen a subprogram or function call. <br>
We could really improve the power and reality of algorithms by allowing modularity with<br>
CALL subprogram(parameters)<br>SUBPROGRAM(parameters)-END SUBPROGRAM<br>
FUNCTION(parameters)-END FUNCTION (with RETURN value)<br>
<br>And if the examiners want to introduce new functions all they have to do is explain them before using them. It's not too hard.<br>
<br>
Have I left out any important programming concepts you think we could use in pseudocode?<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Mark Kelly<br>Manager of ICT, Reporting, IT Learning Area<br>McKinnon Secondary College<br>McKinnon Rd McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia<br>
Direct line / Voicemail: +613 8520 9085, Fax +613 9578 9253<br><a href="mailto:kel@mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au" target="_blank">kel@mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au</a><br>VCE IT Lecture Notes: <a href="http://vceit.com" target="_blank">http://vceit.com</a><br>
Moderator: IT Applications Edulist<br><br><font>Want a good time? Call 0112358. Ask for Mr </font>Fibonacci.<br>