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twovests wrote

Reply to comment by Moonside in pseudocode is imperative propaganda: cmv by no_defun_allowed

I like using pseudocode when there's a lot of magic that needs to happen and you want people to know what that will look like.

magic_fib (n) = magic_fib(n - 1) * something_else_magical(magic_fib(n - 1))

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Moonside wrote

Tbh in that specific case I'd just use mathematics:

f(n+1) = f(n) * g(f(n))

which is almost an implementation in some functional languages. (Nb. it's very nice to be able to use n+1 or 2n style notation in parameters, it can clean up expressions a lot.) Obviously the base case ought to be treated somehow, but that's besides the point.

I would say that ad hoc usage of pseudocode seems innocuous to me - sometimes you have improvise and there's not an common agreed upon system to draw on. Perfect is the enemy of the good. But I think its virtues as a tool for planning and documentation aren't great. If you go forth and plan or prototype your project in pseudo before implementation, why?

I'm speculating here as I don't have access to any empirical research treating this topic.

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twovests wrote

i guess in a functional language pseudocode would replace larger swathes than just adding something_else_magical but tbh i only ever used pseudocode imperatively :c

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Moonside wrote

The curious thing is that I've never really seen functional language pseudo being written. But then again I'm not a serious programmer or a software engineer.

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