Coding Sheets, Practice & Learning Support: Common Exam Algorithm Patterns Summary Sheet (Copy)

Common Exam Algorithm Patterns Summary Sheet

Purpose Of This Sheet

• Ultra-condensed revision + recall sheet
• Covers most repeated algorithm structures seen in exams
• Designed to:
  • Trigger recognition
  • Speed up writing
  • Reduce logic errors
• All patterns are copy-paste safe pseudocode

Pattern 1: Input → Process → Output (IPO)

Used When

• Single calculation
• Straightforward processing

INPUT value
result ← PROCESS(value)
OUTPUT result

Pattern 2: Fixed-Count Loop

Used When

• Number of inputs is known

FOR i ← 1 TO n
  INPUT value
  PROCESS value
NEXT i

Pattern 3: Counting Pattern

Used When

• “How many…”
• “Count the number of…”

count ← 0

FOR i ← 1 TO n
  INPUT value
  IF condition THEN
    count ← count + 1
  ENDIF
NEXT i

OUTPUT count

Pattern 4: Accumulation Pattern

Used When

• “Find the total…”
• “Calculate sum…”

total ← 0

FOR i ← 1 TO n
  INPUT value
  total ← total + value
NEXT i

OUTPUT total

Written and Compiled By Sir Hunain Zia (AYLOTI), World Record Holder With 154 Total A Grades, 7 Distinctions and 11 World Records For Educate A Change AS Level Computer Science Full Scale Course

Pattern 5: Average Calculation

All Values Included

total ← 0

FOR i ← 1 TO n
  INPUT value
  total ← total + value
NEXT i

average ← total / n
OUTPUT average

Selected Values Only

total ← 0
count ← 0

FOR i ← 1 TO n
  INPUT value
  IF condition THEN
    total ← total + value
    count ← count + 1
  ENDIF
NEXT i

IF count > 0 THEN
  average ← total / count
  OUTPUT average
ENDIF

Pattern 6: Maximum / Minimum

Exam-Safe Version

INPUT value
max ← value
min ← value

FOR i ← 2 TO n
  INPUT value
  IF value > max THEN
    max ← value
  ENDIF
  IF value < min THEN
    min ← value
  ENDIF
NEXT i

OUTPUT max
OUTPUT min

Pattern 7: Validation (REPEAT UNTIL)

Range Check

REPEAT
  INPUT value
UNTIL value >= min AND value <= max

Option Validation

REPEAT
  INPUT option
UNTIL option = 1 OR option = 2 OR option = 3

Written and Compiled By Sir Hunain Zia (AYLOTI), World Record Holder With 154 Total A Grades, 7 Distinctions and 11 World Records For Educate A Change AS Level Computer Science Full Scale Course

Pattern 8: Sentinel-Controlled Input

REPEAT UNTIL Sentinel

REPEAT
  INPUT value
  IF value <> sentinel THEN
    PROCESS value
  ENDIF
UNTIL value = sentinel

WHILE Sentinel

INPUT value
WHILE value <> sentinel DO
  PROCESS value
  INPUT value
ENDWHILE

Pattern 9: Flag Variable (Detection)

flag ← FALSE

FOR i ← 1 TO n
  IF condition THEN
    flag ← TRUE
  ENDIF
NEXT i

IF flag = TRUE THEN
  OUTPUT "Yes"
ELSE
  OUTPUT "No"
ENDIF

Pattern 10: Early Exit Using Flag

flag ← FALSE
i ← 1

WHILE i <= n AND flag = FALSE DO
  IF condition THEN
    flag ← TRUE
  ELSE
    i ← i + 1
  ENDIF
ENDWHILE

Pattern 11: Linear Search

found ← FALSE
i ← 1

WHILE i <= n AND found = FALSE DO
  IF arr[i] = target THEN
    found ← TRUE
  ELSE
    i ← i + 1
  ENDIF
ENDWHILE

Written and Compiled By Sir Hunain Zia (AYLOTI), World Record Holder With 154 Total A Grades, 7 Distinctions and 11 World Records For Educate A Change AS Level Computer Science Full Scale Course

Pattern 12: Bubble Sort (Ascending)

FOR pass ← 1 TO n - 1
  FOR j ← 1 TO n - pass
    IF arr[j] > arr[j + 1] THEN
      temp ← arr[j]
      arr[j] ← arr[j + 1]
      arr[j + 1] ← temp
    ENDIF
  NEXT j
NEXT pass

Pattern 13: Nested Loops (Tables / Grids)

FOR row ← 1 TO rows
  FOR col ← 1 TO cols
    PROCESS table[row][col]
  NEXT col
NEXT row

Pattern 14: Combined High-Mark Pattern

(Max + Min + Total + Average)

INPUT value
max ← value
min ← value
total ← value
count ← 1

FOR i ← 2 TO n
  INPUT value
  IF value > max THEN
    max ← value
  ENDIF
  IF value < min THEN
    min ← value
  ENDIF
  total ← total + value
  count ← count + 1
NEXT i

average ← total / count

OUTPUT max
OUTPUT min
OUTPUT average

Written and Compiled By Sir Hunain Zia (AYLOTI), World Record Holder With 154 Total A Grades, 7 Distinctions and 11 World Records For Educate A Change AS Level Computer Science Full Scale Course

Pattern Recognition Table (Fast Recall)

Master Exam Skeleton (Safe Default)

initialise variables

REPEAT / FOR / WHILE
  INPUT
  IF condition THEN
    PROCESS
  ENDIF
END LOOP

FINAL CALCULATION
OUTPUT

Written and Compiled By Sir Hunain Zia (AYLOTI), World Record Holder With 154 Total A Grades, 7 Distinctions and 11 World Records For Educate A Change AS Level Computer Science Full Scale Course

Ultra-High-Yield Reminders

• Initialise everything
• Validate before processing
• Flags detect, counters count
• Sentinels stop input, not data
• Simple structure = more marks