CST370- Class Engagement Week1

Class Engagement Week 1


Many core ideas for algorithm design and analysis were covered in Module 1, and one major idea that resonated with me in this part was being taught to express algorithms using pseudocode first, and then translating them into the actual program. I think dividing an algorithm into step-by-step logic really helps organize the problem in a more coherent and digestible way, and it makes programming easier later on. The algorithm puzzles, such as the fake coin, traveling salesman and matching pairs puzzles were very enjoyable as well because they challenge my ability to think from multiple angles.

Another thing that I thought was really interesting was getting introduced to Sorting, Searching, Graphs and Trees, and what the purpose of different STL data structures are in efficiently organizing data.

We also started touching upon algorithm analysis and time complexity. Identifying the basic operation and comparison between the worst-case vs the best-case performances was particularly important and is going to take more practice. It is mind blowing to learn about whether an algorithm works or not, but more importantly the complexity at which they solve problems. This module has laid a good foundation for me to continue in this semester.


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