It's a way of expressing what you want a program to do without actually writing that program in a valid, language-specific syntax. For example, pseudocode for a line-following algorithm would be:
read left and right sensor inputs
if left sensor > right sensor
{
right motor speed = 100
left motor speed = 0
}
else
{
right motor speed = 0
left motor speed = 100
}
This code will not compile as it is not written in a valid language. The whole point is to express the concept of how my program will flow. I then need to figure out how to implement the details. For example, what is the code I will need to actually read the sensors? What code do I need to drive the motors? Pseudocode is like the outline for a paper; it is a very high-level construct that people can understand even if they don't know how to program in the language you will eventually end up using.
- Ben
