Day 27 - 5 December 2006
Exam review
9 Grand Ideas
1. Algorithm
{test} Definition: detailed and unambiguous set of step-by-step
procedures for solving a problem
Brookshear quotes
Concise definition of CS is “problem solving”
Easy to see the connection between CS and algorithms
Effective algorithm:
computable
finite
Big-O
measures the complexity of algorithms
used to compare two algorithms – time/space (chp 15)
detect …
control structures:
sequence
selection
repetition (**)
procedure call (*)
* impact on “big O”
Why? There are multiple, valid algorithms for the same problem
ex: searching, sorting
2. Abstraction
{test} Definition: simplification by agreement
note: not fair to just simplify (I made up my own language and it
answers the test questions perfectly :-) – we use standard
abbreviations to simplify; that is, there is an agreement
connotes: summary, generalization
way to deal with complexity
CSC 490 Course Notes and Outline, © Dr. Gary Locklair, Fall 2006
