The University of Pennsylvania — Computational Thinking for Problem Solving — Week 3
This course in its third week focused on how to write pseudo-code.
The great thing about this course is that it builds wonderfully on itself. In all of the courses I have taken so far, no course built on itself in such an efficient, effective manner. The first week is about how to tackle a problem. The second week is about how to represent that problem with a flowchart. The third week is how to write pseudo-code for the problem. The wonderful thing about this course’s style is that if you follow the lessons of the first three weeks of this course, you will know how to decompose your problem and the steps to take in order to solve it.
Writing pseudo-code is the process of writing down what needs to be changed into code into a simple-to-read manner. This form of “code” should be easily readable even to people who do not know how to program. It is an efficient way for, say, a manager to communicate with their engineers and vice-versa. I think it is a wonderful idea to focus on how to write pseudo-code in a course designed to teach people about the underpinnings of computational thinking and problem-solving skills. This tool is effective at bridging the gap between tech-savvy individuals and those requesting their help.
The next week will focus on changing pseudo-code to actual code. The blog will be released on January 29, 2019. Stay tuned!
