Early Term Test Some Study Reminders

General Topics Sources for information to be tested are –My slides and classroom presentations of slides –Chapter 1-3 of textbook –Problems assigned as homework Chapters 1-3 of textbook provide additional information about material covered on slides. Understand material covered in homework problems –Most test questions will not be identical to problem question. –In particular, at least the data will probably be different.

Some Items in Chapter 1 Need good working understanding of “computer science” definition –E.g., understand its different parts Need good working understanding of the properties “algorithm” – well-ordered, unambiguous, effectively computable, terminates,etc –Ability to identify whether a sequence of statements is an algorithm and explain why. Have an understanding of the more important events and contributions of major players & events in CS history. No emphasis on knowing precise dates –Know general time period that important events occurred. –E.g., Decade, During WW2, etc. No emphasis on details of how devices work –Should know their purpose, esp. for more important devices.

Some Items from Chapter 2 Understanding the different issues involved in representing algorithms Understanding the different types of operations required to represent algorithms. Understanding the algorithms discussed in class. –Should be able to execute algorithm on data Deciding whether or not an algorithm solves the problem it was intended to solve.

Some Items from Chapter 3 Understanding the concept of complexity –Understanding meaning and importance of both time and space complexity –Determining worst case or best case complexity for simple examples – especially variants of algorithms studied. –What operation(s) to choose in measuring time complexity –Knowing complexities of algorithms we have studied Being able to recall and execute algorithms we have discussed in Chapter 2-3 on specific data. –Addition, telephone search, data cleanup, searching, sorting, pattern matching, etc. Making simple modifications to algorithms studied. Some knowledge about when “situation is out of hand” –E.g., polynomial bound, exponential algorithms, intractible, etc.