Re:A Paper Algorithm Notation
by seanmcdirmid on Saturday December 31, 2016 @08:48PM
(#13294268)
In the PL community, when we want to communicate an algorithm in a paper in something like code, we will say something to the effect of C-style pseudo code. This serves two roles: 1) everyone "knows" C so you don't have to explain your notation very well, and 2) we will skip over all the ickiness of C (hence the C-like).
I get the impression that the work here is more about thinking and iterating on paper, not just communicating on paper, which, IMHO, is a very niche use case that most people aren't going to run into. We don't do anything in our C-style pseudo codes but present.
1. Private exploration as you said.
2. Publication of algorithms in a form most will understand and be able to duplicate.
There's an example of 2 on the front page right now:
https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.08129
In the PDF, they describe their algorithms in pseudo-code that combines the common, BASIC/ALGOL-like text with some common notation (i.e. division) from math. I immediately understood the algorithms enough to implement them myself in about any language without soneone telling me what the notation meant. A common effect of published pseudocode since it's intended to be widely understood.
This new notation Id have to think about and practice with. Just using it in a paper with the label pseudocode would cause confusion. It's less intuitive in a world of widely-deployed, ALGOL-like notations. Maybe it has benefits worth sacrificing the wide usability but person switching it better be OK with that.