A simple way to typeset preformatted text blocks or pseudocode

Question

A am looking for a package or a simple method for typesetting blocks of pseudocode or just pre-formatted text. I know about the multitude of packages for typesetting algorithms, but all I need is a way to control the indentation and line breaks. Being able to mark indented blocks with a vertical line would be nice too (this one is done with algorithm2e):

I do not want to use an extra level of indirection by defining LaTeX commands for all pseudocode terms I am going to use (\If, \While, \ExtractNextElementFrom, etc), I want to write algorithms as plain nested prose.

It should also be possible to use basic formatting (like emphasis) and math mode inside.

I would also like to be able to strip an equal amount of indentation from all lines (to distinguish source indentation from the layout indentation).

I am currently wondering if I can achieve this with some tabulating environment, or by defining my own environment for inserting an indented block inside another indented block... Is there a better way?

Answer 1

No vertical lines but simple to set up:

\documentclass{article}


\makeatletter
\newenvironment{zzz}{\@vobeyspaces\obeylines}{}
\makeatother
\begin{document}

\begin{zzz}
if \textbf{this}
  set $x$ to $y^2$
else
  if \textbf{that}
    while $z <0$ do
      something
    end
  fi
fi
\end{zzz}
\end{document}