Algol for Interviewing
Next time I'm interviewing a programmer for a job, I'd like to use this fragment of Algol. It comes from Electronic Computers by Hollingdale and Tootill (published 1965) which I stole from my brother-in-law's bookshelves.
begin comment Evaluate pi from Vieta's formula;
real e, f, product; integer count;
e := read tape;
f := 0; product := 1; count := 0;
for count := count + 1 while f < 2 - e do
begin f:= sqrt( 2 + f );
product := product x f/2
end;
newline; print (2/product); print (count)
end
Good algorithm, better maths. Sixteenth century Italy was an advanced place intellectually.


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