Week 11 (Looking at other's course experience)

This week was concentrated on talking about solving problems with Python. I thought it was crazy when Danny said that there are some problems that can’t be solved by algorithms. Since before this class every problem I had encountered had a definite solution. Here is an example Danny gave us in class:

Essentially what mathematicians have been trying to prove for over 70 years is that this function will halt for every natural number. After going over these lines of code myself I see that in theory this code should halt for every natural number. Yet, I also see what the many mathematicians have discovered, that you can’t predict if it will create an infinite loop. Personally, I find this type of problem very intriguing and one of the reasons I am interested in computer science. I really enjoy looking at a problem and thinking of a way to discover a solution. The satisfaction that I get from solving these types of problems is amazing, and is one of the reasons I am motivated to continue tackling hard problems. Even thought problem solving at first can kind of look like this:

Now to talk about my experience this week, I was very happy with tutorial this week, as I believe I did extremely well. The concept of proving Big-Oh and Big-Omega have become second nature to me, and it’s a really good feeling. With the semester coming to an end I am now starting to really concentrate on studying for the exam as well as finishing the final assignment. Personally, this last assignment is a great way to practice proofs right before the exam. Also, now that I am almost done with this course, with just one full week of class remaining I thought it was time to browse through other’s Slog’s and find something I found interesting.

http://99bugsbutaglitchaintone.blogspot.ca/2014/10/week-7-penny-piles-recursive-solution.html

Above is the link to Albert Xie’s Slog, particularly his “Week 7: Penny Piles - Recursive Solution in Python 3” entry. What I really enjoyed about this entry was that he began to solve the problem. Then going further he realized his solution was wrong and at that point revised what he had done to come to a better solution. For me, trial and error has been a big part of this course. Throughout all the exercises this year many times I ended up with the wrong solution, and on numerous occasions I had to completely restart. I believe this is a big part of problem solving, and I really liked Albert’s approach to this penny pile problem.