SECTION 4:

ALGORITHMIC THINKING
ENGR 112 – Introduction to Engineering Computing
2 Algorithmic Thinking

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Algorithmic Thinking
3

 Algorithmic thinking:
 The ability to identify and analyze problems, and to
develop and refine algorithms for the solution of those
problems
 Algorithm:
 Detailed step-by-step procedure for the performance of
a task
 Learning to program is about developing
algorithmic thinking skills, not about learning a
programming language

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Algorithms
4

 Ultimately, algorithms will be implemented by

writing code in a particular programming language
 Algorithm design is (mostly) language-independent
A procedure that can be implemented in any language

 Universal algorithm representations:

 Flowcharts
 Graphical representation

 Pseudocode
 Natural language
 Not necessarily language-independent
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5 Flowcharts

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Flow Charts
6

 Flowcharts are graphical representations of

algorithms
 Interconnection of different types of blocks
 Start/End
 Process
 Conditional
 Input/Output

 Connection paths indicate flow from one step in the

procedure to the next
 Well-constructed flowcharts are easily translated
into code later
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 Flowchart Blocks
7

 Start/End
 Always indicate the start and end of any
flowchart
 Process
 Indicates the performance of some
action
 Conditional
 Performs a check and makes a decision
 Binary result: True/False, Yes/No, 1/0
 Algorithm flow branches depending on
result
 Input/Output
 Input or output of variables or data
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 Flowchart – Example
8

 Consider the very simple

example of making toast
 Process flows from Start to the
End through the process and
conditional blocks
 Arrows indicate flow
 Conditional blocks control flow
branching
 Note the loop defining the
waiting process
 Wait block is unnecessary

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 Flowchart – Example
9

 Flowchart for a given procedure

is not unique
 Varying levels of complexity and
detail are always possible
 Often important to think about
and account for various possible
outcomes and cases
 Forexample, is your toast always
done after it first pops up?
 Here, part of the procedure is
repeated if necessary
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 Flowchart – Example
10

 Taking this example further,

consider the possibility of burnt
toast or the desire for butter
 Another loop added for
continued scraping until edible
 Also possible to bypass portions
of the procedure – e.g., the
scraping of the toast or the
application of butter
 Can imagine significantly more
complex flow chart for the
same simple procedure …
K. Webb ENGR 112
11 Common Flowchart Structures

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Common Flowchart Structures
12

 Several basic structures occur frequently in many

different types of flowcharts
 Recurrent basic structures in many algorithms
 Ultimately translate to recurrent code structures
 Two primary categories
 Conditional statements
 Loops

 In this section of notes, we’ll gain an understanding of

flowchart structures that fall into these two categories
 In the next section of notes we’ll learn how to
implement these structures in code
K. Webb ENGR 112
13 Conditional Statements
• if statements
• Logical and relational operators
• if…else statements

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Conditional Statements – if
14

 Flowcharts represent a set of

instructions
 Blocks and block structures can be
thought of as statements
 Simplest conditional statement
is a single conditional block
 An if structure
 If X is true, then do Y, if not, don’t do Y
 In either case, then proceed to do Z
 Y and Z could be any type of process or action
 E.g. add two numbers, turn on a motor, butter the toast, etc.
 X is a logical expression or Boolean expression
 Evaluates to either true (1) or false (0)
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 Conditional Statements – if … else
15

 Can instead specify an action

to perform if X is not true
 An if … else structure
 If X is true, then do A, else do B

 Then, move on to do C

 Here, a different process is

performed depending on the
value of X (1/0, T/F, Y/N)

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Conditional Statements – if … else
16

 Logical expression with a single

relational operator
𝑥𝑥 > 9
 Either true (Y) or false (N)
 If true, 𝑥𝑥 = 1
 If false, 𝑥𝑥 = −1

 Logical expression may also include a

logical operator
𝑥𝑥 > 9 || 𝑥𝑥 < −9
 Again, statement is either true or false
 Next process step dependent on value
of the conditional logical expression

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Logical or Relational Expressions
17

 Logical expressions use logical and relational operators

Operator Relationship or Logical Operation Example

== Equal to x == b
~= Not equal to k ~= 0
< Less than t < 12
> Greater than a > -5
<= Less than or equal to 7 <= f
>= Greater than or equal to (4+r/6) >= 2
NOT– negates the logical value of an
~ expression
~(b < 4*g)
AND – both expressions must evaluate to
&& true for result to be true
(t > 0)&&(c == 5)
OR – either expression must evaluate to true
|| for result to be true
(p > 1)||(m > 3)

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Logical Expressions – Examples
18

 Let 𝑥𝑥 = 12 and 𝑦𝑦 = −3
 Consider the following logical expressions:
Logical Expression Value

𝑥𝑥 + 𝑦𝑦 == 15 0

𝑦𝑦 == 2 || 𝑥𝑥 > 8 1

~ 𝑦𝑦 < 0 0

(𝑦𝑦/2 + 1 < −1) 0

𝑥𝑥 == 12 &&~(𝑦𝑦 ≥ 5) 1

𝑦𝑦~ = 2 || 𝑥𝑥 < 10 || 𝑥𝑥 < 𝑦𝑦 1

𝑥𝑥 == 2 && 𝑦𝑦 < 0 || 𝑥𝑥 ≥ 5 && 𝑦𝑦~ = 8 1

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Conditional Statements – if … elseif … else
19

 Two conditional logical

expressions
 If the X is true, do A
 If X is false, evaluate Y
 If Y is true, do B
 If Y is false, do C

 The if … elseif … else

structure
 Can include an arbitrary
number of elseif statements
 Successive logical statements evaluated only if preceding
statement is false

K. Webb ENGR 112

 if … elseif … else – Example
20

 Consider a
piecewise linear
function of 𝑥𝑥
 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥) not
defined by a single
function
 Function depends
on the value of 𝑥𝑥
 Can implement
with an
if … elseif … else
structure

K. Webb ENGR 112

 if Statements – Other Configurations
21

 In previous examples, successive logical statements only

evaluated if preceding statement is false
 Result of a true logical expression can also be the
evaluation of a second logical expression

K. Webb ENGR 112

22 Loops
• while loops
• for loops

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Loops
23

 We’ve already seen some examples of flow charts

that contain loops:

 Structures where the algorithmic flow loops back and

repeats process steps
 Repeats as long as a certain condition is met, e.g., toaster
has not popped up, toast is inedible, etc.
K. Webb ENGR 112
 Loops
24

 Algorithms employ two primary types of loops:

 while loops: loops that execute as long as a specified
condition is met – loop executes as many times as is
necessary
 for loops: loops that execute a specified exact number
of times
 Similar looking flowchart structures
 forloop can be thought of as a special case of a while
loop
 However, the distinction between the two is very
important
K. Webb ENGR 112
25 while Loop

K. Webb ENGR 112

 while Loop
26

 Repeatedly execute an instruction or set of instructions

as long as (while) a certain condition is met (is true)
 Repeat A while X is true
 As soon as X is no longer true, break
out of the loop and continue on to B
 A may never execute

 A may execute only once

 A may execute forever – an infinite

loop
 If A never causes X to be false
 Usually not intentional

K. Webb ENGR 112

 while Loop
27

 Algorithm loops while 𝑥𝑥 ≤ 4

 Loops three times:
Iteration x
0 1
1 6
3
2 8
4
3 9
4.5

 Value of 𝑥𝑥 exceeds 4 several times during

execution
 𝑥𝑥 value checked at the beginning of the loop
 Final value of 𝑥𝑥 is greater than 4
K. Webb ENGR 112
 while Loop – Infinite Loop
28

 Now looping continues as long as 𝑥𝑥 < 12

 𝑥𝑥 never exceeds 12
 Loops forever – an infinite loop
Iteration x
0 1
1 6
3
2 8
4
3 9
4.5
4 9.5
4.75
5 9.75
4.875
6 9.875
4.9375
⋮ ⋮
K. Webb ENGR 112
 Infinite Loops
29

 Occasionally infinite loops are

desirable
 Consider for example microcontroller
code for an environmental monitoring
system
 Continuously takes measurements and
displays results while powered on
 Note the logical statement in the
conditional block
 Logical statements are either true (Y, 1)
or false (N, 0)
 1 is the Boolean representation of true
or Y
K. Webb ENGR 112
 while Loop – Example 1
30

 Consider the following

algorithm:
 Read in a number (e.g. user
input, from a file, etc.)
 Determine the number of times
that number can be
successively divided by 2 before
the result is ≤ 1

 Use a while loop

 Divide by 2 while number is > 1

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 while Loop – Example 1
31

 Number of loop iterations

depends on value of the input
variable, x
 Characteristic of while loops
# of iterations unknown a priori
 If x ≤ 1 loop instructions never
execute

 Note the data I/O blocks

 Typical – many algorithms
have inputs and outputs

K. Webb ENGR 112

 while Loop – Example 1
32

 Consider a few different input,

x, values:

count x x x
0 5 16 0.8
1 2.5 8 -
2 1.25 4 -
3 0.625 2 -
4 - 1 -
5 - - -

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 while Loop – Example 2
33

 Next, consider an algorithm to

calculate x!, the factorial of x:
 Read in a number, x
 Compute the product of all
integers between 1 and x
 Initialize result, fact, to 1
 Multiply fact by x
 Decrement x by 1

 Use a while loop

 Multiply fact by x, then
decrement x while x > 1
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 while Loop – Example 2
34

 Consider a few different input,

x, values:

x fact x fact x fact

5 1 4 1 0 1
5 5 4 4 - -
4 20 3 12 - -
3 60 2 24 - -
2 120 1 24 - -
1 120 - - - -

K. Webb ENGR 112

 while Loop – Example 2
35

 Let’s say we want to define our

factorial algorithm only for
integer arguments
 Add error checking to the
algorithm
 After reading in a value for x,
check if it is an integer
 If not, generate an error message
and exit
 Could also imagine rounding x,
generating a warning message
and continuing

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36 for Loop

K. Webb ENGR 112

 for Loop
37

 We’ve seen that the number of while loop iterations is

not known ahead of time
 May depend on inputs, for example
 Sometimes we want a loop to execute an exact,
specified number of times
 A for loop
 Utilize a loop counter
 Increment (or decrement) the counter on each iteration
 Loop until the counter reaches a certain value

 Can be thought of as a while loop with the addition of a

loop counter
 But, a very distinct entity when implemented in code

K. Webb ENGR 112

 for Loop
38

 Initialize the loop counter

 i, j, k are common, but name
does not matter
 Set the range for i
 Not necessary to define
variable istop
 Execute loop instructions, A
 Increment loop counter, i
 Repeat until loop counter
reaches its stopping value
 Continue on to B
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 for Loop
39

 for loops are counted loops

 Number of loop iterations is
known and is constant
 Here loop executes 10 times
 Stopping value not
necessarily hard-coded
 Could depend on an input or
vector size, etc.

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 for Loop
40

 Loop counter may start at

value other than 1
 Increment size may be a
value other than 1
 Loop counter may count
backwards
Iteration cntr Process
1 6 A
2 4 A
3 2 A
4 0 A
5 -2 A
6 -4 B

K. Webb ENGR 112

 for Loop – Example 1
41

 Here, the loop counter, i, is used

to update a variable, x, on each
iteration
Iteration i x
1 1 1
2 2 4
3 3 9
4 4 16
5 5 25
 When loop terminates, and flow
proceeds to the next process
step, x = 25
 A scalar
 No record of previous values of x
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 for Loop – Example 2
42

 Now, modify the loop process to store

values of x as a vector
 Use loop counter to index the vector

i x(i) x
1 1 [1]
2 4 [1, 4]
3 9 [1, 4, 9]
4 16 [1, 4, 9, 16]
5 25 [1, 4, 9, 16, 25]

 When loop terminates,

x = [1, 4, 9, 16, 25]
 A vector
 x grows with each iteration
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 for Loop – Example 3
43

 The loop counter does not

need to be used within the
loop
 Used as a counter only
 Here, a random number is
generated and displayed
each of the 10 times through
the loop
 Counter, i, has nothing to do
with the values of the
random numbers displayed
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 for Loop – Example 4
44

 Have a vector of values, x

 Find the mean of those
values
 Sum all values in x
 A for loop
# of iterations equal to the
length of x
 Loop counter indexes x

 Divide the sum by the

number of elements in x
 After exiting the loop
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45 Nested Loops

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Nested Loops
46

 A loop repeats some process some number of times

 The repeated process can, itself, be a loop
 A nested loop

 Can have nested for loops or while loops

 Can nest for loops within while loops and vice versa
 One application of a nested for loop is to step
through every element in a matrix
 Loop counter variables used as matrix indices
 Outer loop steps through rows (or columns)

 Inner loop steps through columns (or rows)

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Nested for Loop – Example
47

 Recall how we index the elements within a matrix:

 𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 is the element on the 𝑖𝑖 𝑡𝑡𝑡 row and 𝑗𝑗𝑡𝑡𝑡 column of the matrix 𝐴𝐴
 Using MATLAB syntax: A(i,j)
 Consider a 3 × 2 matrix
−2 1
𝐵𝐵 = 0 8
7 −3
 To access every element in 𝐵𝐵:
 start on the first row and increment through all columns
 Increment to the second row and increment through all columns
 Continue through all rows
 Two nested for loops

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Nested for Loop – Example
48

−2 1
𝐵𝐵 = 0 8
7 −3
 Generate a matrix 𝐶𝐶
whose entries are the
squares of all of the
elements in 𝐵𝐵
 Nested for loop
 Outer loop steps through
rows
 Counter is row index
 Inner loop steps through
columns
 Counter is column index
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49 Pseudocode & Top-Down Design

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Pseudocode
50

 Flowcharts provide a useful tool for designing

algorithms
 Allow for describing algorithmic structure
 Ultimately used for generation of code

 Details neglected in favor of concise structural and

functional description
 Pseudocode provides a similar tool
 One step closer to actual code
 Textual description of an algorithm

 Natural language mixed with language-specific syntax

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Pseudocode – Example
51

 Consider an algorithm for

determining the maximum of a
vector of values
 Pseudocode might look like:
N = length of x
max_x = x(1)
for i = 2:N
if x(i) is greater than current
max_x, then set max_x = x(i)
end

 Note the for loop syntax

 We’ll cover this in the following
section of notes

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Top-Down Design
52

 Flowcharts and pseudocode are useful tools for top-

down design
 A good approach to any complex engineering design (and
writing, as well)
 First, define the overall system or algorithm at the top level
(perhaps as a flowchart)
 Then, fill in the details of individual functional blocks

 Top-level flowchart identifies individual functional

blocks and shows how each fits into the algorithm
 Each functional block may comprise its own flow chart or
even multiple levels of flow charts
 Hierarchical design

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Top-Down Design - Example
53

 Let’s say you have deflection data from FEM

analysis of a truss design
 Data stored in text files
 Deflection vs. location along truss
 Parametric study
 Three different component thicknesses
 Two different materials
 Six data sets

 Read in the data, calculate the max deflection and

plot the deflection vs. position

K. Webb ENGR 112

 Top-Down Design - Example
54

Level 1: Level 2: Level 3:

K. Webb ENGR 112