Helpful LaTeX things

Helpful LaTeX things I wish I had known a long time ago

(Back to my home page).

How to do pseudocode in LaTeX

Contrary to my earlier understanding, you can get LaTeX style files that do a nice job of pseudocode in a standard, Algol-like style. I find using them to be pretty easy, e.g. you just say something like:
\IF{$P=NP$}
\STATE Run algorithm
\STATE Print result
\ELSE
\STATE print ``Sorry, that would take too long''
\ENDIF

My source of these is one particular mirror of The TeX Catalogue Online, Complete CTAN Edition (there seem to be tons of these on the web). NOTE: the versions of these files on my page might not be as up-to-date as the official CTAN versions.

Downloadable files for algorithm styles

I've found some different LaTeX style files that are all reasonable choices. Note that in some TeX systems, these may already be installed.

An example of the one I usually use, algorithmic.sty, along with Visio & some other stuff is here (it was for students taking an introductory theory of computation class I TA'd).

algorithmic.sty. I prefer this one, since I prefer the pseudocode style it generates. It looks nice, and its output is simple and conventional.
This package has recently gotten a number of improvements. I haven't tried the new package yet, but based on the manual, it has considerably more flexibility in layout, and the ability to use the standard latex \label and \ref commands to refer to line numbers.

Download from here

Comments & suggestions for improvement are requested here
newalg.sty. Does pseudocode in the style of the big white book (i.e. Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen, Leiserson and Rivest). Looks nice, but I haven't had much of a look at it.
The (possibly out-of-date) Postscript instructions for the package is here. The install directory on a random ctan mirror is here.
alg.sty. This is decent too, but not my preference.
The (possibly out-of-date) Postscript instructions for the package is here. The CTAN page is here. A (possibly out-of-date) local copy of the tar/gzipped file to install this is here.
Pseudocode.sty. I had a brief look at this (I'm already into 'algorithmic.sty'). The package seems to have a number of nice features, and be well-structured and more complete. On the negative side, the pseudocode it produces is in a pretty unconventional style (it's kind of interesting, and worth having a look at; but I suspect it might be a bit hard to read). I don't have the style files here, but you can get them from their source.
listings.sty and friends. This doesn't actually do pseudocode, but I think it's worth mentioning. It pretty-prints source code in a variety of programming languages. So, if what you really want it to include your source code in a LaTeX document, listings.sty is probably for you.
A (possibly out-of-date) copy of the documentation is here. The up-to-date entry at CTAN with the package is here (you'll have to wait for much of the page to load before it jumps to the right place).

Installing

To install either of the above files that I have ('algorithmic.sty' or 'alg.sty'), untar/gzip them like so:
Get into an good directory, type
gzip -d -c algorithms.tar.gz | tar xvf -

Then you need to make sure your LaTeX system looks in those directories for .sty files (generally, if you put it under your main TeX directory, it'll work, but I'm no TeX expert). Other than that, you're done.

Example usage/docs

Both come with .ps files that explain how to use it, and give examples. You'll see the file once you unpack the .tgz file.

Here's an example of mine for the algorithmic.sty file, in case your as LaTeX-naive as me:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{algorithmic}
\begin{document} 
\title{Example algorithm document}
\author{Zasha Weinberg (zasha@cs)}
\maketitle
Consider the following algorithm for sorting.  
The call $SlowSort(A,i,j)$ sorts the items
$A[i]\ldots A[j]$.

{\bf procedure} $SlowSort(A,i,j)$
\begin{algorithmic}[1]
\IF{$i\geq j$}
	\STATE Return
\ENDIF
\STATE $m\gets \lfloor (i+j)/2 \rfloor$
\STATE $SlowSort(A,i,m)$
\STATE $SlowSort(A,m+1,j)$
\IF{$A[m]>A[j]$}
	\STATE exchange $A[j],A[m]$
\ENDIF
\STATE $SlowSort(A,i,j-1)$
\end{algorithmic}

(This algorithm is due to Broder and Stolfi 
[SIGACT News, Fall, 1984]).
\end{document}

A more complete example along with Visio & some other stuff is here (it was for students taking an introductory theory of computation class I TA'd).

zasha@cs.washington.edu