Honors Basic Algorithms, Fall 2000: Midterm Page

• Dec 8, 2000: Here is the SOLUTION for your second midterm.
  Here is a postscript file .
• Nov 16, 2000:
  Information for your Second Midterm, Monday, Nov 27.
  Hope you will get to this BEFORE your Thanksgiving break!!
  1. Format and style is the same as in the First Midterm. We will probably set 5 questions instead of 6 questions.
     You will be allowed 2 sheets of Notes (one of them can be from the First Midterm)!
  2. Originally, 20% and 40% of your course grade was to be based on the midterm and final exam, respectively. In view of the Second Midterm, this percentage is adjusted as follows: 15% First Midterm, 15% Second Midterm, 30% Final.
  3. Material from the First Midterm:

     	Analysis:
     	-- Proofs and Induction
     	-- Asymptotics
     	-- Summation Techniques
     	-- Solving Recurrences
     	-- Master Theorem
     	-- Real Induction
     
     		REFERENCE: Chap 3, and my Notes on Recurrences.
     

  4. New Material:

     	Search Trees
     	  -- AVL Trees
     	  -- (a,b)-Trees)
     
     		REFERENCE: Chap 9.  Read all but Section 9.5 (Red-Black Trees)
     
     	Sorting Chapter
     	  -- QuickSort
     	  -- QuickSelect
     	  -- Lower Bound for Sorting
     	  -- Basic Probability
     
     		REFERENCE: Chap 10.  Read 10.3, 10.4, 10.7.
     

• October 24:
  Here is the actual midterm exam and solution. The pdf version.
• The exam is in-class and closed book, but you are allowed to refer to a ``cheat sheet'' which is a 8"x11" sheet of notes, written on both sides in whatever font size you want. This sheet can be re-used for the final exam, when you will be allowed two such sheets.

• Sample Midterms from the past: Fall99 and Fall98. They roughly indicate the style of my questions. The actual subject matter varies from year to year.

• Types of questions to expect:

  	(1) Short questions (e.g. what is the primitive 8th root mod 17?)
  	(2) Multiple choice questions (including True/False).
  		In such questions, a WRONG answer may carry a negative 
  		score, while not answering the question gives you a zero 
  		score.
  	(3) Algorithmic Simulation.  These just tests your knowledge
  		of algorithms, so that you can mechanically carry out
  		the steps.  E.g. given a specific heap, show the 
  		intermediate transformations of the heap when you remove
  		the minimum item.
  	(4) Programming questions.  This will NOT be part of our midterm.
  	(5) Proofs.  You should know proofs by induction, by contradiction,
  		by case analysis.  Slightly harder is "real induction".
  	(6) Creative problems.  You need to use what you know and apply
  		it to solve some problems we pose.  
  

• READING MATERIAL:

      (1) From TextBook: emphasis is on material that we actually
      lectured on.  In general, skip Java-specific material as
      we want to focus on the mathematical substance behind them.
  
  	Chapter 3: Analysis.  read all sections.
  	Chapter 4: Linear Structures. Skip 4.1.3, 4.2.3, 4.2.4,
  			4.4.4, 4.5.*
  	Chapter 5: More Linear Structures. Skip 5.4.* and later.
  	Chapter 6: Trees.  Skip 6.3.5. Skip 6.4.*.
  	Chapter 7: Priority Queues.  Skip 7.2.* and 7.4*.
  	Chapter 8: Dictionaries. Skip 8.7.
  	
      (2) From Class Notes on FFT Multiplication:
  		Arithmetic modulo M
  		DFT and its inverse
  		FFT Algorithm
  		Convolution Theorem
  
      (3) From Recurrence Class Notes and Lectures:
  		Rote Method
  		Basic Sums (section 4 of Class Notes)
  		Standard Form and Summation Techniques (section 5)
  		Domain and Range Transformation (sections 6, 7)
  		Master Theorem (section 8.2)