Specialized Notation

How to Write Pseudocode and Code Listings in LaTeX

Computer science papers frequently include algorithms (as pseudocode) and source code (as formatted listings). LaTeX offers several approaches: algorithmicx and algorithm2e for pseudocode, and listings and minted for syntax-highlighted code. This guide covers all four, helping you choose the right tool. Bibby AI supports minted with Pygments out of the box — no shell-escape configuration needed, unlike Overleaf where you must enable it manually.

Write Pseudocode with algorithmicx

Use the algorithm and algpseudocode packages for IEEE/ACM-style pseudocode with line numbers:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{algorithm}
\usepackage{algpseudocode}

\begin{document}

\begin{algorithm}
\caption{Binary Search}\label{alg:bsearch}
\begin{algorithmic}[1]  % [1] enables line numbers
\Require Sorted array $A[1..n]$, target value $t$
\Ensure Index $i$ such that $A[i] = t$, or $-1$
\State $\textit{lo} \gets 1$
\State $\textit{hi} \gets n$
\While{$\textit{lo} \leq \textit{hi}$}
    \State $\textit{mid} \gets \lfloor (\textit{lo} + \textit{hi}) / 2 \rfloor$
    \If{$A[\textit{mid}] = t$}
        \State \Return $\textit{mid}$
    \ElsIf{$A[\textit{mid}] < t$}
        \State $\textit{lo} \gets \textit{mid} + 1$
    \Else
        \State $\textit{hi} \gets \textit{mid} - 1$
    \EndIf
\EndWhile
\State \Return $-1$
\end{algorithmic}
\end{algorithm}

See Algorithm~\ref{alg:bsearch} for the binary search procedure.

\end{document}

Format Source Code with the listings Package

Use listings for syntax-highlighted code in many programming languages without external dependencies:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{listings}
\usepackage{xcolor}

\lstset{
    basicstyle=\ttfamily\small,
    keywordstyle=\color{blue}\bfseries,
    commentstyle=\color{green!60!black}\itshape,
    stringstyle=\color{red!70!black},
    numberstyle=\tiny\color{gray},
    numbers=left,
    numbersep=8pt,
    frame=single,
    breaklines=true,
    captionpos=b,
    tabsize=4,
    showstringspaces=false
}

\begin{document}

\begin{lstlisting}[language=Python, caption={Quicksort in Python}]
def quicksort(arr):
    """Sort array using quicksort algorithm."""
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)
\end{lstlisting}

\end{document}

Use algorithm2e for Alternative Pseudocode Style

The algorithm2e package offers a different pseudocode style popular in European CS papers:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[ruled, vlined, linesnumbered]{algorithm2e}

\begin{document}

\begin{algorithm}[H]
\caption{Dijkstra's Shortest Path}\label{alg:dijkstra}
\KwIn{Graph $G = (V, E)$, source vertex $s$}
\KwOut{Shortest distances $d[v]$ for all $v \in V$}

\ForEach{$v \in V$}{
    $d[v] \gets \infty$\;
    $\textit{visited}[v] \gets \textit{false}$\;
}
$d[s] \gets 0$\;
$Q \gets$ priority queue with all vertices\;

\While{$Q \neq \emptyset$}{
    $u \gets Q.\text{extractMin}()$\;
    $\textit{visited}[u] \gets \textit{true}$\;
    \ForEach{neighbor $v$ of $u$}{
        \If{$\neg\textit{visited}[v]$ \textbf{and} $d[u] + w(u,v) < d[v]$}{
            $d[v] \gets d[u] + w(u,v)$\;
            $Q.\text{decreaseKey}(v, d[v])$\;
        }
    }
}
\Return $d$\;
\end{algorithm}

\end{document}

💡 Tips

•Use algorithmicx (algpseudocode) for ACM/IEEE-style pseudocode and algorithm2e for European-style — don't load both.
•The listings package works everywhere but has limited highlighting. Use minted (requires Pygments) for publication-quality syntax coloring.
•Always add \usepackage{algorithm} alongside algpseudocode — the first creates the float, the second provides the pseudocode commands.
•For inline code snippets, use \lstinline|code here| (listings) or \mintinline{python}{code} (minted).

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