1) Fundamentals of Algorithms

Question 1

What is abstraction?

Answer 1

Removing uncessary details so you can focus on the important parts

Question 2

What are examples of abstraction?

Answer 2

Maps (focus on important details such as roads and landmarks)
Money

Question 3

What is decomposition?

Answer 3

Breaking down a complex problem into smaller more manageable sub problems

Question 4

What are advantages of decomposition?

Answer 4

Allows large teams to each solve a part of a problem

Allows seemingly impossible problems to be solved

Question 5

What do structure charts visually represent?

Answer 5

Breaking down a large problem into smaller parts

Question 6

What do the parts of structure charts respresent?

Answer 6

Each box- a smaller problem to be solved

Lines- which bigger problem the box is a part of

Question 7

What is algorithmic thinking?

Answer 7

A way of solving problems by producing algorithms

Question 8

What is an algorithm?

Answer 8

A reusable set of instructions to solve a given problem

Question 9

How are algorithms written in computing?

Answer 9

Pseudocode

Flow diagrams

Question 10

What is pseudocode?

Answer 10

A way to write algorithms using code like statements

Question 11

What is pseudocode intended to be?

Answer 11

Readable

Easy to understand

Question 12

What is the purpose of pseudocode?

Answer 12

Planning algorithms focusing on the logic and steps rather than specific syntax

Question 13

What do arrows represent in flow diagrams?

Answer 13

The flow of control

Question 14

What do ovals represent in flow diagrams?

Answer 14

Start and end of a program

Question 15

What do rectangles represent in flow diagrams?

Answer 15

A process

Question 16

What do parallelograms represent in flow diagrams?

Answer 16

An input or ouput

Question 17

What do diamonds represent in flow diagrams?

Answer 17

A decision

Question 18

What do you need to look out for to interpret algorithms?

Answer 18

Identifiers
Inputs and outputs
Output messages
Comments

Question 19

What are comments?

Answer 19

Descriptions of code

Question 20

What is the easiest way to identify an algorithm?

Answer 20

Comments

Question 21

What are identifiers?

Answer 21

Names of variables, constants, subroutines

Question 22

What are common mistakes of algorithms? (3)

Answer 22

Incorrect operators
Incorrect identifiers
Missing processes

Question 23

What are common missing processes?

Answer 23

Lines of code being forgotten can lead to issues such as infinite loops

Question 24

What are 2 methods of completing an algorithm?

Answer 24

Trace tables

Identifying the algorithm

Question 25

What does each column of a trace table represent?

Answer 25

Each variable

Question 26

What does completing an algorithm mean?

Answer 26

Stating the output of an algorithm

Question 27

What is a search algorithm?

Answer 27

A set of instructions for finding a specific item of data within a data set

Question 28

What is an effective search?

Answer 28

A search which will always find the solution or determine if the target is not present

Question 29

What is an efficient search?

Answer 29

A search that will find the solution quickly regardless of its location within the data set

Question 30

What are 2 examples of search algorithms?

Answer 30

Linear search | Binary search

Question 31

What is a linear search?

Answer 31

Searching through a data set one piece of data at a time

Question 32

What are pros and cons of a linear search?

Answer 32

Pros- very easy to implement | Cons- slower on a long list

Question 33

What is an example of a divide-and-conquer search algorithm?

Answer 33

Binary search

Question 34

What is a binary search?

Answer 34

When you split a data set in two repeatedly until you find the target

Question 35

What are pros and cons of a binary search?

Answer 35

Pros- faster than a linear search on a large dataset | Cons- data must be sorted before searching

Question 36

What is a sort algorithm?

Answer 36

A set of instructions to arrange a dataset into a particular order

Question 37

What is an efficient sorting algorithm?

Answer 37

One which can sort a dataset in a short time

Question 38

What are 2 examples of sorting algorithms?

Answer 38

Bubble sort | Merge sort

Question 39

What is a bubble sort?

Answer 39

Comparing values in twos and swapping them if they are in the wrong order

Question 40

What are pros and cons of a bubble sort?

Answer 40

Pros- easy to implement, does not use much memory | Cons- poor for efficiency

Question 41

What is a merge sort?

Answer 41

Splitting lists ito lists of size one and merging each pair until there is only one list

Question 42

What are pros and cons of a merge sort?

Answer 42

Pros- very efficient algorithm | Cons- can be slower for small lists, needs additional memory