[loudouncodes]

This is ridiculous.

1. Pseudocode should be typeable in an email.

2. You should be able to write pseudocode on a whiteboard without worrying about syntax.

3. Pseudocode should be loose enough that it suggests a domain-specific language that it might inspire.

4. If your pseudocode requires a mechanism for comments, you’ve lost the plot. In their example, they comment ‘v1’ as ‘variable holding candidate 1’s tally’. Then name it that! ‘tally_can1’ would be much better.

[jpurnell]

Fair, but if you're teaching an entry-level undergraduate CS course, you have to to start somewhere, right? Giving them a set of best practices and a clear syntax does that. And then, as students progress, they can be as creative as you suggest.