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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Pidgin code</span></span>
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<p>In <a href="Computer_programming" title="Computer programming">computer programming</a>, <b>pidgin code</b> is a mixture of several <a href="Programming_language" title="Programming language">programming languages</a> in the same program, or mathematical <a href="Pseudocode" title="Pseudocode">pseudocode</a> that is a mixture of a programming language with <a href="Natural_language" title="Natural language">natural language</a> descriptions.<sup id="cite_ref-n549_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-n549-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-l762_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-l762-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Hence the name: the mixture is a programming language analogous to a <a href="Pidgin" title="Pidgin">pidgin</a> in <a href="Natural_language" title="Natural language">natural languages</a>.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Examples">Examples</h2></div>
<p>In <a href="Numerical_computation" class="mw-redirect" title="Numerical computation">numerical computation</a>, mathematical style pseudocode is sometimes called pidgin code, for example <i>pidgin <a href="ALGOL" title="ALGOL">ALGOL</a></i> (the origin of the concept), <i>pidgin <a href="Fortran" title="Fortran">Fortran</a></i>, <i>pidgin <a href="BASIC" title="BASIC">BASIC</a></i>, <i>pidgin <a href="Pascal_(programming_language)" title="Pascal (programming language)"> Pascal</a></i>, and <i>pidgin <a href="C_(programming_language)" title="C (programming language)"> C</a></i>. It is a compact and often informal notation that blends <a href="Syntax" title="Syntax">syntax</a> taken from a conventional <a href="Programming_language" title="Programming language">programming language</a> with <a href="Mathematical_notation" title="Mathematical notation">mathematical notation</a>, typically using <a href="Set_theory" title="Set theory">set theory</a> and <a href="Matrix_(mathematics)" title="Matrix (mathematics)">matrix</a> operations, and perhaps also <a href="Natural_language" title="Natural language">natural language</a> descriptions.
</p><p>It can be understood by a wide range of mathematically trained people, and is used as a way to describe <a href="Algorithm" title="Algorithm">algorithms</a> where the <a href="Control_structure" class="mw-redirect" title="Control structure">control structure</a> is made explicit at a rather high level of detail, while some data structures are still left at an abstract level, independent of any specific programming language.
</p><p>Normally non-<a href="ASCII" title="ASCII">ASCII</a> <a href="Typesetting" title="Typesetting">typesetting</a> is used for the mathematical equations, for example by means of <a href="TeX" title="TeX">TeX</a> or <a href="MathML" title="MathML">MathML</a> markup, or proprietary <a href="Formula_editor" title="Formula editor">Formula editor</a> formats.
</p><p>These are examples of articles that contain mathematical style pseudocode:
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<ul><li><a href="Algorithm" title="Algorithm">Algorithm</a></li>
<li><a href="Conjugate_gradient_method" title="Conjugate gradient method">Conjugate gradient method</a></li>
<li><a href="Ford-Fulkerson_algorithm" class="mw-redirect" title="Ford-Fulkerson algorithm">Ford-Fulkerson algorithm</a></li>
<li><a href="Gauss%E2%80%93Seidel_method" title="Gauss–Seidel method">Gauss–Seidel method</a></li>
<li><a href="Generalized_minimal_residual_method" title="Generalized minimal residual method">Generalized minimal residual method</a></li>
<li><a href="Jacobi_eigenvalue_algorithm" title="Jacobi eigenvalue algorithm">Jacobi eigenvalue algorithm</a></li>
<li><a href="Jacobi_method" title="Jacobi method">Jacobi method</a></li>
<li><a href="Karmarkar's_algorithm" title="Karmarkar's algorithm">Karmarkar's algorithm</a></li>
<li><a href="Particle_swarm_optimization" title="Particle swarm optimization">Particle swarm optimization</a></li>
<li><a href="Stone_method" class="mw-redirect" title="Stone method">Stone method</a></li>
<li><a href="Successive_over-relaxation" title="Successive over-relaxation">Successive over-relaxation</a></li>
<li><a href="Symbolic_Cholesky_decomposition" title="Symbolic Cholesky decomposition">Symbolic Cholesky decomposition</a></li>
<li><a href="Tridiagonal_matrix_algorithm" title="Tridiagonal matrix algorithm">Tridiagonal matrix algorithm</a></li></ul>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-n549-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-n549_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=78dO3P_QjPgC"><i>DAT10603 Programming Principle</i></a>. Center for Diploma Studies, Hannes Masandig. p. 125.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-l762-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-l762_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://codedocs.org/what-is/pseudocode">"Pseudocode"</a>. <i>CodeDocs</i>. 2021-06-18<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2025-03-01</span></span>.</cite></span>
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