Algorithm Specification

Dr. Bibhudatta Sahoo

Communication & Computing Group
Department of CSE, NIT Rourkela
Email: [email protected], 9337938766, 2462358
 Algorithm
 Algorithm: is a procedure that consists of a finite set of
instructions which, given an input from some set of possible
inputs, enables us to obtain an output if such an output exists
or else obtain nothing at all if there is no output for that
particular input through a systematic execution of the
instructions.
 Algorithm: It’s an organized logical sequence of the
actions or the approach towards a particular problem.
 A programmer implements an algorithm to solve a problem.
 Algorithms are expressed using natural verbal but somewhat
technical annotations.

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 Algorithm definition
An algorithm is a finite set of instructions that, is followed, accomplishes
a particular task. In addition, all algorithms must satisfy the following
criteria:
1. Input: Zero or more quantities
2. Output: At least one
3. Definiteness : Each instruction is clear and unambiguous
4. Finiteness: Algorithm terminates in finite number of steps
5. Effectiveness: Every instruction must be very basic and feasible.

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 Algorithm Description
How to describe algorithms independent of a programming
language
 Text (Pseudo-Code) = a description of an algorithm that is
 more structured than usual prose but
 less formal than a programming language

 Diagrams e.g., flowchart, sequence diagram (good for complex

interactions among objects) Communicate visually, however, time-consuming
to create, hard to maintain, separate from source file.

Example: find the maximum element of an array.

Algorithm arrayMax(A, n):
Input: An array A storing n integers.
Output: The maximum element in A.
currentMax  A[0]
for i 1 to n -1 do
if currentMax < A[i] then currentMax  A[i]
return currentMax

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 What is Pseudocode?
 Pseudocode (pronounced SOO-doh-kohd) is a detailed yet readable
description of what a computer program or algorithm must do, expressed in
a formally-styled natural language rather than in a programming language.
 Pseudocode is sometimes used as a detailed step in the process of
developing a program
 Pseudocode is a plain-text description of a piece of code or an algorithm.
It's not actually coding; there is no script, no files, and no programming. As
the name suggests, it's "fake code".
 Pseudocode is not written in any particular programming language. It's
written in plain English that is clear and easy to understand.
 Writing a full program in pseudocode requires a lot of different statements
and keywords much like regular programming. In fact, once you get far
enough along in your pseudocode it will start to look very close to a real
program.

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 Pseudo code
 Pseudo code: It’s simply an implementation of an algorithm in the form of
annotations and informative text written in plain English.
 It has no syntax like any of the programming language and thus can’t be
compiled or interpreted by the computer.
Advantages of Pseudocode
 Improves the readability of any approach. It’s one of the best approaches to
start implementation of an algorithm.
 Acts as a bridge between the program and the algorithm or flowchart. Also
works as a rough documentation, so the program of one developer can be
understood easily when a pseudo code is written out. In industries, the
approach of documentation is essential. And that’s where a pseudo-code
proves vital.
 The main goal of a pseudo code is to explain what exactly each line of a
program should do, hence making the code construction phase easier for the
programmer.

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 Difference between Algorithm, Pseudocode and Program
 Algorithm : Systematic logical approach which is a well-
defined, step-by-step procedure that allows a computer to solve a
problem.

 Pseudocode : It is a simpler version of a programming

code in plain English which uses short phrases to write code for a
program before it is implemented in a specific programming language.

 Program : It is exact code written for problem following all the

rules of the programming language.

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 Write an algorithm to find area of a rectangle?

Step 1: Start
Step 2: get l, b values
Step 3: Calculate A=l*b
Step 4: Display A
Step 5: Stop

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 To check greatest of three numbers
Step1: Start
Step2: Get A, B, C
Step3: if(A>B) goto Step4 else goto step5
Step4: If(A>C) print A else print C
Step5: If(B>C) print B else print C
Step6: Stop

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 Example: Algorithm & Flowchart

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 Write an algorithm to find factorial of a given number
Step 1: start
step 2: get n value
step 3: set initial value i=1, fact=1
Step 4: check i value if(i<=n) goto step 5 else goto step8
step 5: calculate fact=fact*i
step 6: increment i value by 1
step 7: goto step 4
step 8: print fact value
step 9: stop

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 Pseudocode Conventions
[1] Comments begin with / / and continue until the end of line.

[2] Blocks are indicated with ·matching braces: { and }. A compound

statement (i.e., a collection of simple statements] can be represented
as a block. The body of a procedure also forms a block. Statements
are delimited by ; .

[3] An identifier begins with a letter. The data types of variables are not
explicitly declared. The types will be clear from the context.

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 Pseudocode Conventions
[4] Assignment of values to variables is done using the assignment
statement
(variable) := (expression);

[5] There are two boolean values true and false. In order to produce
these values, the logical operators and, or, and not and the
relational operators <,≤, =,≠,≥, and > are provided.

[6] Elements of multidimensional arrays are accessed using [ and ]. For

example, if A is a two dimensional array, the (i, j)th element of the
array is denoted as A[i, j]. Array indices start at zero.

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 Pseudocode Conventions
[7] The looping statements supported by the pseudo code are: for,
while, and repeat - until.

The while loop takes the following form

While  condition do
{
<statement1>
}

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 Pseudocode Conventions

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 Pseudocode Conventions
[9] Input and output are done using the instructions read and
write. No format is used to specify the size of input or
output quantities.
[10] There is only one type of procedure: Algorithm. An algorithm
consists of a heading and a body.
The heading takes the form
Algorithm Name ((parameter list))

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 Not an algorithm
 [Selection sort]

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 Algorithm finds and returns the maximum of n given numbers:

In this algorithm(named Max), A and n are procedure

parameters. Result and i are local variables

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 Algorithm: Selection Sort

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 Correctness of an algorithm
 In theoretical computer science, correctness of an algorithm is
asserted when it is said that the algorithm is correct with respect to a
specification.
 Functional correctness refers to the input-output behaviour of
the algorithm (i.e., for each input it produces the expected output).
 An algorithm is correct if:
– for any correct input data: it stops and it produces correct output.
–Correct input data: satisfies pre-condition
–Correct output data: satisfies post-condition

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 Total Correctness of Algorithm
 Definition: An algorithm which for any correct input data: (i) stops
and (ii) returns correct output is called totally correct for the
given specification.

These split into 2 sub-properties in the definition above.

 correct input data is the data which satisfies the initial condition of
the specification
 correct output data is the data which satisfies the final condition of
the specification

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 Recursive Algorithms
 A recursive function is a function that is defined in terms of itself.
Similarly, an algorithm is said to be recursive if the same algorithm is
invoked in the body.
 An algorithm that calls itself is direct recursive. Algorithm A is said
to be indirect recursive if it calls another algorithm B which in turn
calls A.
1. Directly recursive: a function that calls itself
2. Indirectly recursive: a function that calls another function and
eventually results in the original function call

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 Type of recursion

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 Different type of direct recursion
[1] Tail Recursion:
 If a recursive function calling itself and that recursive call is the last
statement in the function then it’s known as Tail Recursion.
 After that call the recursive function performs nothing. The function
has to process or perform any operation at the time of calling and it
does nothing at returning time.
[2] Head Recursion:
 If a recursive function calling itself and that recursive call is the first
statement in the function then it’s known as Head Recursion.
 There’s no statement, no operation before the call. The function
doesn’t have to process or perform any operation at the time of calling
and all operations are done at returning time.

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 Different type of direct recursion
[3] Tree Recursion:
 To understand Tree Recursion let’s first understand Linear
Recursion. If a recursive function calling itself for one time then it’s
known as Linear Recursion. Otherwise if a recursive function
calling itself for more than one time then it’s known as Tree
Recursion.
[4] Nested Recursion:
 In this recursion, a recursive function will pass the parameter as a
recursive call. That means “recursion inside recursion”.

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 Difference between recursion and iteration
Property Recursion Iteration
A program is recursive when a function A program is iterative if a set of
Definition calls itself repeatedly until a base condition instructions is executed repeatedly
is met. using a loop.
Infinite recursion can lead to a system In an iterative process, the program
Infinite
crash. Infinite recursion can occur due to a stops when the memory is
recursion
mistake in specifying the base condition. exhausted.
Code size Smaller code size Larger code size
Calling a function each time adds a layer to No stack is required in the case of
the stack. Performing the push and pop an iterative solution. Hence, an
Time and
operation in stack memory makes recursion iterative process is a time and
space
expensive in both processor time and as space-efficient as compared to the
well as memory space. recursive process.
A recursive code terminates when a base A control variable decides the
Termination
condition is met. termination of an iterative process.
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 Recursive algorithm : Towers of Hanoi

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 Recursive algorithm: Permutation Generator

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 Recursive binary search

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 Iterative binary search

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 difference between algorithm and pseudocode
an algorithm is a step by step procedure to solve a given
problem while a pseudocode is a method of writing an
algorithm.

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 Summary
 Pseudocode is an informal way of writing a program.
 It is not exactly a computer program.
 It represents the algorithm of the program in natural language and
mathematical notations.
 There is no particular code syntax to write a pseudocode. Therefore,
there is no strict syntax as a usual programming language. It uses
simple English language.
 A pseudocode is a method of developing an algorithm.
 Pseudocode is a text-based detailed design tool.

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 Thanks for Your Attention!

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Exercises
 Exercise: Write algorithms in Pseudo code
1. Present an algorithm that searches an unsorted array a[l: n] for the
element x. If x occurs, then return a position in the array; else
return zero.
2. The factorial function n! has value 1, when n  1and value n  (n-
1)!, when n > 1. Write both a recursive and an iterative algorithm to
Compute n!.
3. The Fibonacci numbers are defined f0 =0, f1 = 1,and fj = fj-1 + fj-2
for j > 1.Write both a recursive and an iterative algorithm to
compute nth Fibonacci number.
4. Give an algorithm to solve the following problem: Given n, a positive
integer, determine whether n is the sum of all of its divisors, that is,
whether n is the sum of all t such that 1 t < n, and t divides n.

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 Exercise: Write algorithms in Pseudo code
5. Given n boolean variables x1, x2, x3, …, and xn, we wish to print all
possible combinations of truth values they can assume. For instance,
if n = 2,there are four possibilities: true, true; true, false; false, true;
and false, false. Write an algorithm to accomplish this.
6. Devise an algorithm that inputs three integers and outputs them in
Non-decreasing order.
7. Give an algorithm to solve the following problem: Given n, a positive
integer, determine whether n is the sum of all of its divisors, that is,
whether n is the sum of all t such that 1≤ t < n, and t divides n.
8. If Sis a set of n elements, the power set of S is the set of all possible
Subsets of S. For example, if S = (a,b,c), then power set(S)= {( ),
(a), (b), (c), (a,b), (a,c),(b,c), (a,b,c)}.Write a recursivealgorithm
to compute power set(S).

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