Lecture 13 - Midterm Practice Problems

Today's Goals

  • Work through realistic practice problems similar to the midterm
  • Practice applying multiple concepts together
  • Walk through solutions step-by-step

Today's Format:

  • Work individually first, then discuss with neighbors
  • I'll walk through solutions after you've tried each section
  • Ask questions anytime - if you're confused, others probably are too!

Exam tips

Exam format

  • Short answer, fill-in, find bugs ~ 60% of the exam
  • One hand-coding problem ~ 40% of the exam

Short answer tips

  • I was serious about Anki / flashcards - they help!
  • When approaching a block of code (to debug, find what it returns, fill in blanks):
    • Skim it quickly once to get the gist
    • Then read it slowly making sure you understand each part completely
  • Write what you know - if you don't know the answer, what DO you know?

Hand-coding tips

  • Read the whole problem first and make a plan
  • Test your logic by imagining runs with example data
  • Show your process (you can write comments by hand too!) - if I can see what you were trying to do I can give you more credit
  • Check your function signature - parameter and return types should match!
  • Check your syntax! - semicolons, = vs ==, .. vs ..=, ... did I mention semicolons?

See Activity 13

for the material for the rest of the lecture

First-half Discussion

Let's go through the solutions for Practice Set A together before moving to the longer problem.

Second-half Discussion

If you're finished and want to try out your solution, type it up and email it to laurenbw@bu.edu

I'll put it on the screen (anonymously) and we'll discuss it / debug it together

Questions?

What would help clarify anything before the midterm?