Thinking Like a Computer

Computers are super fast but not clever — they do exactly what you say. So we give them an algorithm: clear steps in the right order.

🤖An Algorithm Is a Set of Steps

🔢Sequence: Order Matters!

✅Right order

1Get two slices of bread

2Spread peanut butter on one

3Spread jelly on the other

4Press the slices together

🥪A yummy sandwich!

🐞Wrong order = a bug

1Press the slices together

2Spread jelly… on the outside?

3Put the whole PB jar on top

4Get the bread (too late!)

🤖A sticky mess — a bug!

PSEUDOCODE

1GET 2 slices of bread2SPREAD peanut butter on slice A3SPREAD jelly on slice B4PUT slice A onto slice B5SHOW "Sandwich is ready!" 🥪

🔧Bugs & Debugging

🔁 Find it, fix it, run it again!

▶️ Run the program and watch what it does

🔍 Spot the bug — which step went wrong?

🐞 The bug is the mistake in your steps

🔧 Fix it and run again — that's debugging!

🔑Key Terms

📋Algorithm A list of steps to finish a task or solve a problem.

🔢Sequence The exact order in which steps or events happen.

🐞Bug An error in a program that stops it working right.

🔧Debug To find and fix the bugs in a program.

💾Program An algorithm coded so a machine can run it.

📝Pseudocode Plain-English steps that describe an algorithm before you code it.

⭐ Remember: a computer does exactly what you tell it — so write your algorithm in the right order, then debug any steps that go wrong!

✏️ Computer Science Anchor Chart · Thinking Like a Computer