Lecture 1

Question 1

What is computer science?

Answer 1

• Computer science is not just coding.
• Computer science is about using the underlying principles that allow for the design and implementation of efficient programs.
• These issues exist regardless of the language used.

Question 2

Insertion sort

Answer 2

You keep the sorted part of your data separate from the unsorted part, placing each newly sorted object into the correct location into the currently sorted section.

Question 3

Quicksort

Answer 3

• This method works by picking an approximate “median” for the data you want to sort, then throwing all the rest of the data to either the “high” side or the “low” side.
• Once that’s complete, you sort the “high” side and the “low” side in the same manner.

Question 4

Origins of C

Answer 4

• C is a by-produce of UNIX, developed at Bell Lab by KenThompson, Dennis Ritchie and others.
• Thompson designed a small language named “B”.
• “B” was based on BCPL, a system programming language developed in the mid-1960s.
• By 1971, Ritchie began to develop an extended version of “B” language.
• He called the new language “NB” (New B) at first.
• As the NB language began to diverge more from B, he changed its name to C.
• The C language was stable enough by 1973 that UNIX could be re-written in C.
• C Became popular during the 1980s, both for UNIX programming and for developing applications for personal computers.

Question 5

Origins of C++

Answer 5

• Bjarne Stroustrup, a Danish and British trained computer scientist, began his work (in AT&T) on C++’s predecessor “C with Classes” in 1979.
• The motivation for creating a new language originated from Stroustrup’s experience in programming for his Ph.D. thesis.