General Question - Do you plan with pseudocode?

In one of my college courses, the topic of pseudocode was brought up. I'm curious as to how many people actually use it when planning a script or application.

Personally, I think it's a waste of time. I'd rather get right into the coding and debug it. What do you think?

sorry jmh, but what exactly is a pseudocode?
example code??

@micky and anyone else who doesn't know: Pseudocode

I'll take that as a "no" then lol

It's very useful whenever you're trying to explain to someone what you wanna do
with X module or code piece.

Ya know, sometimes ppl are not on the same page as you are so, rather
than writing the code for them, you can give them a head start by
making some pseudo code (though it's a matter of interpretation)
I make mine more english like than anything.

Just to get your coding coworkers in the right track.
Or to explain the bossman why a particular structure would be more suitable than another.

Now that I think about it, we do that Very often here at Aspfree.

Good points, thanks for your input lewy

I sometimes use pseudocode to represent program flow when I am producing user documentation. I find that it can be used to demonstrate the way in which the program works, without baffling the non-technical user with the complexities of the code. Especially as my naming conventions leave a lot to be desired!!!

Like you, I work best if I can get right into the coding and then debug it. My approach to programming is very much one of prototyping, building something quickly and amending it as necessary.

I suppose though that my approach is suitable for the sort of small web-based applications that I develop, it may not be suitable for large projects.

I guess I look at it the way I do because I don't have to answer to anyone on how I code. I never have had to. All they care about is if it works efficiently. I guess the answer to my question is based on what type of environment you work in.

Thanks for your response, sync_or_swim

I tend to use UML more than pseudocode but pseudocode is good for
working out specifics of an algorithm. I find that I can write better code
if I plan it out. The question is what do I mean by better code?

Firstly it has to work (Duh!), it has to be easily maintainable
and it has to be reusable. Particularly if it is Object Oriented.

When developing software, the actual process of writing code should
almost be a case of transcribing what you have already worked out.

Interesting, elija. I never heard of UML before. Just read up on it here, in case anyone else is interested: http://atlas.kennesaw.edu/~dbraun/c...D/UML_tutorial/

UML is a great tool but it takes a bit of getting used to.