1. Introduction to Computational Thinking
Manipulating
an Abstraction (Decisions)
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

2. Thinking about abstraction (1)
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Length
Genre
Format
Price
Moneyball
2011
133 min.
Sports
Blueray
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
219 min.
Drama
DVD
$10.95
Jurassic Park
1993
127 min.
SciFi
$12.50
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
143 min.
Comedy
$17.50
Sicko
2007
116 min.
Documentary
Streaming
$11.75
Are these the same abstraction?
Why or why not?
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Format
Genre
Length
Price
Moneyball
2011
Blueray
Sports
133 min.
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
DVD
Drama
219 min.
$10.95
Jurassic Park
1993
SciFi
127 min.
$12.50
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
Comedy
143 min.
$17.50
Sicko
2007
Streaming
Documentary
116 min.
$11.75
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

3. Thinking about abstraction (2)
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Length
Genre
Format
Price
Moneyball
2011
133 min.
Sports
Blueray
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
219 min.
Drama
DVD
$10.95
Jurassic Park
1993
127 min.
SciFi
$12.50
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
143 min.
Comedy
$17.50
Sicko
2007
116 min.
Documentary
Streaming
$11.75
Are these the same abstraction?
Why or why not
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Length
Format
Price
Moneyball
2011
133 min.
Blueray
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
219 min.
DVD
$10.95
Jurassic Park
1993
127 min.
$12.50
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
143 min.
$17.50
Sicko
2007
116 min.
Streaming
$11.75
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

4. Thinking about abstraction (3)
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Length
Genre
Format
Price
Moneyball
2011
133 min.
Sports
Blueray
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
219 min.
Drama
DVD
$10.95
Jurassic Park
1993
127 min.
SciFi
$12.50
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
143 min.
Comedy
$17.50
Sicko
2007
116 min.
Documentary
Streaming
$11.75
Are these the same abstraction?
Why or why not?
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Genre
Format
Length
Price
Moneyball
2011
Blueray
Sports
133 min.
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
DVD
Drama
219 min.
$10.95
Jurassic Park
1993
SciFi
127 min.
$12.50
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
Comedy
143 min.
$17.50
Sicko
2007
Streaming
Documentary
116 min.
$11.75
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

5. Thinking about abstraction (4)
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Length
Genre
Format
Price
Moneyball
2011
133 min.
Sports
Blueray
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
219 min.
Drama
DVD
$10.95
Jurassic Park
1993
127 min.
SciFi
$12.50
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
143 min.
Comedy
$17.50
Sicko
2007
116 min.
Documentary
Streaming
$11.75
Are these the same abstraction?
Why or why not?
Movie On-Line Customer
Name
Year
Run Time
Genre
Format
Cost
Moneyball
2011
133 min.
Sports
Blueray
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
219 min.
Drama
DVD
$10.95
Jurassic Park
1993
127 min.
SciFi
$12.50
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
143 min.
Comedy
$17.50
Sicko
2007
116 min.
Documentary
Streaming
$11.75
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

6. Thinking about abstraction (5)
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Length
Genre
Format
Price
Moneyball
2011
133 min.
Sports
Blueray
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
219 min.
Drama
DVD
$10.95
Jurassic Park
1993
127 min.
SciFi
$12.50
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
143 min.
Comedy
$17.50
Sicko
2007
116 min.
Documentary
Streaming
$11.75
Are these the same abstraction?
Why or why not?
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Format
Genre
Length
Price
Sicko
2007
Streaming
Documentary
116 min.
$11.75
Gone With the Wind
1939
DVD
Drama
219 min.
$10.95
Moneyball
2011
Blueray
Sports
133 min.
$15.00
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
Comedy
143 min.
$17.50
Jurassic Park
1993
SciFi
127 min.
$12.50
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

7. Thinking about abstraction (6)
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Length
Genre
Format
Price
Moneyball
2011
133 min.
Sports
Blueray
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
219 min.
Drama
DVD
$10.95
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003
143 min.
Comedy
$17.50
Sicko
2007
116 min.
Documentary
Streaming
$11.75
Are these the same abstraction?
Why or why not?
Movie On-Line Customer
Title
Year
Length
Genre
Format
Price
Moneyball
2011
133 min.
Sports
Blueray
$15.00
Gone With the Wind
1939
219 min.
Drama
DVD
$10.95
Jurassic Park
1993
127 min.
SciFi
$12.50
Sicko
2007
116 min.
Documentary
Streaming
$11.75
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

8. Lessons learned from last class
What was the abstraction of a playing card used in the sorting algorithms?
Was there only one algorithm for each sorting task?
If not, what does this imply?
The basic ingredients of the algorithms were
Sequence (numbered steps)
Decisions (if)
Iteration (repeat)
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

9. Decisions
“If number on card is 2,4,6,8,or 10 place it on table to left of original pile”
“If suit = Club, add card to group 1”
“If even, place card in pile 1 below, If not, continue to next step.”
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

10. Big Picture abstraction algorithm Proerty 1 Property 2 Property 3
Value 1
Value 2
Value 3
Value a
Value b
Value c
impact
algorithm
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

11. Big Picture ?? action abstraction Proerty 1 Property 2 Property 3
Value 1
Value 2
Value 3
Value a
Value b
Value c
algorithm ??
action
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

12. Representing a decision
Flowchart
condition
some actions
true
actions
other actions
false
condition
some actions
true
actions
false
Text
if condition
then some-actions
if condition
then some-actions
else other actions
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

13. A simple decision true flashing? false set speed-limit 15 Test
if flashing
then set speed-limit 15
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

14. A more complex decision
if time in 8-9:30AM
then set speed-limit 40
if time in 2:30-4PM
Text
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

15. A more complex decision
if time in 8-9:30AM
then set speed-limit 40
else if time in 2:30-4PM set speed-limit 40
Text
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

16. Manipulating properties
Setting the value of a property
Initialization: age = 0
Update: age = age + 1
Calculation: energy = (0.5*mass*(speed^2))
Calculation
Operators: +, -, * (multiplication), /, ^ (exponentiation)
Parenthesis for grouping
Clarity
Correct order of operations: what is / 5
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016

17. Next steps today
Work on the decision and calculation problems in your cohort
Cohort feedback/reports
Discussion
(C) Dennis Kafura 2016