Introduction

AlgoLab is a French pseudo-code interpreter, built for algorithmics students and teachers.

What is AlgoLab?

AlgoLab lets you write pseudo-code exactly the way it's written in class — with French keywords like Variable, Debut, Fin, Si, Pour, TantQue — and run it directly on your machine.

Before AlgoLab, students wrote pseudo-code on paper or in text editors with no way to test it. To check their logic, they had to mentally "translate" their algorithm to Python, C or Java. AlgoLab eliminates that step: the pseudo-code is the program.

Audience

  • Beginner students in algorithmics who want to test their pseudo-code without learning a real programming language first.
  • Teachers who want to illustrate basic concepts with a tool that runs live in class or lab.
  • Curious developers looking for a simple, readable demonstration mini-language.

Philosophy

  • Pedagogy before complexity. Every feature must serve learning.
  • Natural French syntax. No if, no while, no def.
  • Clear error messages. No cryptic stack traces.
  • Zero friction. One binary, it just works.

What AlgoLab does (v0.1.0)

  • Typed variables: Entier, Reel, Caractere, Booleen
  • Fixed-size arrays (1-indexed)
  • Conditionals Si / SinonSi / Sinon / FinSi
  • Loops Pour and TantQue
  • Functions with typed parameters and return values
  • I/O: Lire and Ecrire
  • Pedagogical diagnostics with line locations
  • VS Code extension and Linux / Windows / macOS binaries