College Board uses a kind-of programming language in its Multiple Choice exam. There are thousands of different programming languages have been created, and more are being created every year. College Board has designed a pseudo code, a non operational programming language, to highlight concepts that it wants every student to learn.
College Board is trying to remain neutral and build Computer Science Principles off of any language, thus the Teacher is left to pick the language(s) according to application and curriculum.
College Board Pseudo Code Exam Reference Sheet
| Command Vocabulary | Pseudo code | Python | Purpose |
| Output | DISPLAY(expression) | print(expression, end=” “) | Displays the value of expression, followed by a space. Python defaults to newline, thus the end=” “ |
| Input | a ← INPUT() | a = input(prompt) | Accepts a value from the user and returns it to the variable a. |
| Assignment | a ← expression | a = expression | Evaluates expression and assigns the result to the variable a. |
| Selection | IF (expression) | if expression: | Run commands in the code block associated with the selection |
| Iteration n times | REPEAT n TIMES | for i in range(n): | Repeat commands in the code block associated withe the iteration n times |
| Iteration expression | REPEAT UNTIL (expression) | while expression: | Repeat commands in the code block associated withe the iteration while expression is true |
| List Assignment | list ← [expression1, expression2, expression3] | list = [expression1, expression2, expression3] | Assigns 3 values to list, value can be literal or expressions |
| First index in List | list[1] | list[0] | Access the 1st element in the list[]. FYI, most programming languages start a zero. |
| Last index in List | list[LENGTH(list)] | list[len(list) - 1] | Access the last element in the list[]. If you start at zero, last element is length - 1. |
| Define Procedure | PROCEDURE name (parameter) | def name(parameter): | Create a procedure containing a sequence of programming instructions. |
| Expression equals | a = b | a == b | Evaluate if assigned value of a equals assigned value of b |
| Expression not equals | a ≠ b | a != b | Evaluate if assigned value of a is NOT equal to assigned value of b |
a ← 1
b ← 1
IF (a = b) {
DISPLAY("A equals B")
}
# Python code if block to match Pseudo Code
a = 1
b = 1
if (a == b):
# Python uses indent to establish code block, Teacher use tab key
print("A equals B")
A equals B
Key Learnings. It is very important that you become fluent in “ Vocabulary” and researching problems.
Code a JavaScript cell, this must start with %%js%% in first line of cell. Match the IF condition example in this blog.
Reflect on our PSEUDO code and how it helped with your problem solving in these hacks.