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Pseudo code can be broken down into five components. 

Variables:

Assignment:

Input/output:

Selection:

Repetition:

A variable has a name, a data type, and a value. There is a location in memory associated with each variable. A variable can be called anything or be given any name. It is considered good practice to use variable names that are relevant to the task at hand.

Assignment is the physical act of placing a value into a variable. Assignment can be shown using

set = 5;

set = num + set;

The left side is the variable a value is being stored in and the right side is where the variable is being accessed. When a variable is assigned a value, the old value is written over with the new value so the old value is gone. x = 5 does not mean that x is equal to 5; it means set the variable x to have the value 5. Give x the value 5, make x equal to 5.

Input / Output both deal with an outside source (can be  a user or another program) receiving or giving information. An example would be assuming a fast food restaurant is a program. A driver (user) would submit their order for a burger and fries (input), they would then drive to the side window and pick up their ordered meal (output.)

Output – Write / display / print

Input – Read / get / input

Selection construct allows for a choice between performing an action and skipping it. It is our conditional statements. Selection statements are written as such:

if ( conditional statement)

           statement list

else

              statement list

Repetition is a construct that allows instructions to be executed multiple times (IE repeated).

In a repetition problem

Count is initialized

Tested

incremented

Repetition problems are shown as:

               while ( condition statement)

                statement list