3 ms·

I think in pseudo-code, then figure out what language is best suited for the task.

• gdp 17y ago
  When you say "I think in pseudo-code", what are the semantics of this pseudo-code? 'cause it's actually a bit of a non-answer, when you think about it. Saying 'pseudo code' means that the language you think in has some informality in its syntax - but presumably you still have some fixed understanding of what it does? If it has no fixed syntax and no fixed semantics, then is it actually helpful as a mental model? I would argue that it is not. (Note: I'm not just being antagonistic here, I'm genuinely curious. I don't think in terms of "syntax", so this is all a bit alien to me).
  • mbrubeck 17y ago
    It's perfectly possible to express solutions at a high level without much regard for formal semantics. Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming expresses most of its algorithms in a combination of informal English and ad-hoc pseudocode. It's usually not difficult to translate them into languages with semantics varying from machine code to Haskell.
    • gdp 17y ago
      I didn't say "formal semantics", I said "fixed semantics", as in "something you understand and can apply consistently within a context". Within the context of a single code-fragment, the semantics are not changing. They might change from example to example, but that's perfectly reasonable. My assertion is that when people say "I think in pseudo-code", they actually mean "an idealised version of language X", where language X is some paradigm or language they understand well. I just wrote a blog post about this very subject, based on the flood of comments (shameless self-promotion follows): http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=802780 http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=802780
  • byoung2 17y ago
    For example, if someone asked me to do the fizzbuzz test (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000781.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000781.html), I might think to myself in pseudocode: Loop from 1-100: if the current number is a multiple of 3, print "fizz" if the current number is a multiple of 5, print "buzz" otherwise, print the number print newline Then I might turn that into PHP: <?php for($i=1;$i<=100;$i++) { if($i % 3 == 0) {echo("Fizz");} if($i % 5 == 0) {echo("Buzz");} if($i % 3 != 0 && $i % 5 != 0) {echo($i);} echo("<br />"); } ?>
• fake_pg 17y ago
  I take a slightly more abstract approach: I first think of the problem from the user's perspective (and their expectations), then I map out a work flow before diving into pseudo-code and wire-frames. Overall, I agree with the parent because before you can dive into coding, you have to think of the problem and solution abstractly. But which language is used for writing out the solution? Whichever is the best tool for that particular problem.
  • doki_pen 17y ago
    I still don't think it adequately answers the question. Maybe the question should be rephrased as "What programming paradigm do you think in?"
    • fake_pg 17y ago
      Yes, perhaps the original question is too open-ended, but without a proper context, all answers will be leaning towards the abstract. While I may express the solution in Objective-C, PHP or Python, I always think of the solution in terms of logic. Also, if you have experience in multiple languages (and environments), then you're less likely to be constrained by a single mindset.