1. Punctuation Stops Commas Colons and semi-colons Apostrophes Exclamations Parentheses Capitalization

2. Stops Stops end sentences. Stops are also used in abbreviations, acronyms and ellipses.

3. Stops: examples The process required less than a second (except when the machine was heavily loaded, the network was saturated, etc.). The process required less than a second (unless, for example, when the machine was heavily loaded or the network was saturated). 3. Neural Nets for Image Classification. 3. Neural Nets for Image Classification

4. Commas Mark pauses Indicate the correct parsing Form lists Indicate that a phrase is a parenthetical remark (comment) rather than a qualifier

5. Commas: Examples I The four processes that use the network are almost never idle. Of the processes, the four that use the network are almost never idle. The four processes, which use the network, are almost never idle. The four processes use the network and are almost never idle.

6. Commas: Examples II The process may be waiting for a signal, or even if processing input, may be delayed by network interrupts. The process may be waiting for a signal, or, even if processing input, may be delayed by network interrupts. Using disk tree algorithms were found to be particularly poor. Using disk tree, algorithms were found to be particularly poor.

7. Commas: Examples III One node was allocated for each state, but of the nine seven were not used. One node was allocated for each state, but, of the nine, seven were not used. Nine nine were allocated, one for each state, but seven were not used.

8. Colons and semi- colons I Colons are used to join related statements. –These small additional structures allow a large saving: costs are reduced from O(n) to O(log n). Colons are used to introduce lists. –There are three phases: accumulation of distinct symbols, construction of the tree, and the compression itself.

9. Colons and semi- colons II The elements in a list can be separated by semi-colons, allowing commas or other marks within each element. –There are three phases: accumulation of distinct symbols in a hash table; construction of the tree, using a temporary array to hold the symbols for sorting; and the compression itself.

10. Colons and semi- colons III A semi-colon can also be used to divide a long sentence, or to set off part of a sentence for emphasis. –In theory the algorithm would be more efficient with an array; but in practice a tree is preferable.

11. Apostrophes Singular possessives such as “the student’s algorithm”, “Thomas’s book”, and “Su and Lin’s method” require an apostrophe and an “s”. Plural possessives such as “students’ passwords” require an apostrophe but no “s”. Pronoun possessives such as “its” ( as in “its speed”) and “hers” do not require an apostrophe. Contractions such as “it’s” (as in “it is blue) and “can’t” require an apostrophe.

12. Exclamations Avoid exclamation marks! Never use more than one!! –Performance deteriorated after addition of resources! –Remarkably, performance deteriorated after addition of resources.

13. Parentheses A sentence containing a statement in parentheses should be punctuated exactly as if the statement was removed. Most quantities are small (but there are exceptions.) Most quantities are small (but there are exceptions). (Note that outlying points have been omitted). (Note that outlying points have been omitted.)