MIT Introduction to Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Flashcards
How are variables, data structures, and procedures stored and managed in Python?
In a binding environment that associates names with values. Procedures are associations of names to pointers that point to the actual procedure, in addition to pointers to the global environment (providing access to the global namespace.
Describe how objects are implemented in Python?
An object is constructed as a class as a local environment, just like when calling a procedure. An instance of that class is then constructed as a local environment again, with the class environment as a parent.
What is the standard Python interpreter written in?
C
What is the core data structure in Python and how is it implemented?
A dictionary which is an associative array of key value pairs implemented as a hash table in C in which each entry stores a struct containing hash, key, value information.
Contrast lists and tuples in Python
Lists are mutable and usually homogenous whereas tuples are immutable data structures.
In control theory, if a system incorporates feedback what type of behavior will it exhibit?
Feedback produces cyclic signal flow paths. Even transient input can produce persistent responses.
Adding/extending delays in a feedback system increases/decreases stability.
Delays in a feedback system are destabilizing: think about the wall finder robot trying to gauge its distance from the wall.
Describe transistors / integrated circuit chip growth since 1970
In 1970 there were around 1,000 transistors / chip, now there are easily 5 - 10 billion.
Kirchoff’s Voltage Law states that
the sum of all voltages around any closed path is zero.
Kirchoff’s Current Law states that
the sum of current entering and leaving a node are equal.
What is an op-amp?
Operational amplifier, an electronic component capable of taking an input voltage and amplifying it many times over into a single output.
What is a transistor?
An electronic device capable of acting as a switch or current amplifier. In its capacity as a switch, transistors can store binary values. Modern computer microchips contain billions of transistors acting as such logic gates.
Op amps in addition to Thevenin and Norton equivalents, are used in electronic circuits
as abstractions to simplify engineering problems.
What is the sample space in probability theory?
The maximum set of all atomic events.
What is Bayes’ Rule?
Conditional Probability: a rule that gives the probability that one event A occurs given that a different event B is known to have occurred. Conditioning on B restricts the sample space from the universe to B, leaving the likelihood of A occurring to the original overlap between A and B.
