Question

which statement about the following pseudocode is correct?
1 start
2 declarations
3 string author
4 num size = 6
5 string stocked_authorssize = \christie\, \davis\, \dexter\, \doyle\, \grimes\
6 num index
7 string matchfound
8 matchfound =
o\
9 index = 0
10 output \enter the last name of the desired author: \
11 input author
12 while index < size
13 if author = stocked_authorsindex then
14 matchfound = \yes\
15 output \good news: books by \, author, \are available.\
16 endif
17 index = index + 1
18 endwhile
19 if matchfound =
o\ then
20 output \sorry, but we dont stock books by \, author
21 endif
22 stop

a. line 9 of this program will initialize a flag variable.
b. this program will perform a binary search.
c. the loop that begins on line 12 will exit when the users desired author is found in the array.
d. this program will compare each element in stocked_authors with the variable author.

Explanation:

• Option a: Line 9 initializes index to 0, not a flag variable (the flag is matchFound initialized at line 8). So a is incorrect.
• Option b: The program uses a linear search (checks elements one by one in order), not binary search (which requires a sorted list and dividing the search space). So b is incorrect.
• Option c: The loop (line 12) runs while index < SIZE, so it will iterate through all elements (even if a match is found early) because there's no break or exit condition other than index reaching SIZE. So c is incorrect.
• Option d: The loop (line 12 - 18) iterates through each index of STOCKED_AUTHORS, and the if statement (line 13) compares the author input with STOCKED_AUTHORS[index] for each element. So d is correct.

Answer:

d. This program will compare each element in STOCKED_AUTHORS with the variable author.