COS 226 Final Information, Spring 2018

This document is intended to help you use your study time effectively. Please view it as a guide, not a contract. You may also view the exam archive to study old questions.

While this page is accurate, changes are still being made. Those changes will be listed in red.

Time and location:

The programming exam is on Monday April 30 from 11AM-12:20PM.
The written exam is on Wednesday May 2 from 11AM-12:20PM.
The rooms for both exams are the same as for the midterm:

Precepts P01, P02, P02A, P05, P05A: McDonnell A02
Precepts P03, P04, P04A, P04B, P05B : Friend 101 (class meeting room)

Failure to go to the right room can result in a serious deduction on the exam.

Programming Exam Rules:

In-class exams are governed by the Undergraduate Honor System.
Sit one one seat apart from other students and avoid sitting near students with whom you've studied.
Bring a fully charged laptop for programming exam. Be sure to restart your computer before the exam so that you are sure all windows are closed that you should not be using.
At the end of the exam we will say "Time's Up". That means every one uploads the zip file as is.
Your program may use anything in the algs4 library, or in java.util or java.lang. No other libraries are allowed.
You may use the textbook, any handwritten notes, and the booksite for the programming exam. You may use any code from the booksite, course web site, your programming assignments or any code you have written yourself. You are also allowed to go to the link java oracle link above.
During the exam, you may post questions privately on piazza.
If you have been approved for extra testing time, have a scheduling conflict or need an outlet or a cluster computer for the programming exam, then please fill out the form below before Thursday 4/26 midnight: Programming exam special accommodations form. The written exam form can be found below; if you need to fill out both. Note that exam make ups are granted only with a written recommendation from a Dean or Director of Studies.
If you need to use a cluster computer, go a day or two before the exam and try out the following instructions.
- Download algs4.jar and
- Add it to the class path using DrJava.
- If you wish to compile/run through the terminal, set the class path.

Written Exam Rules:

In-class exams are governed by the Undergraduate Honor System.
Closed book, closed note.
You may bring one 8.5-by-11 sheet (two sides) with notes in your own handwriting to the exam.
Calculators, and electronic communication devices are forbidden. Headphones attached to audio devices are also prohibited. Computers are not allowed for the written exam only.
Sit one one seat apart from other students and avoid sitting near students with whom you've studied.
Bring a pencil (with eraser) and write darkly and legibly (for written).
If you have been approved for extra testing time or have a scheduling conflict for the written exam, then please fill out the form below before Thursday 4/26 midnight: Written exam special accommodations form.

Office Hours for 4/28 - 5/1. No office hours from 5/2-5/6 (after the exams)

DATE TIME ROOM PERSON

Sat 4/28 8:00-10:00 pm Friend 010 Yushan

Sun 4/29 3:00 -5:00 pm Lewis 122 Maia

Mon 4/30 2:00-4:00 pm 221 Nassau St Ibrahim

Mon 4/30 6:30-8:30 pm Friend 010 Tosin
Tue 5/1 12:30-2:30 pm Friend 010 Shayan

Tue 5/1 2:30-4:30 pm Friend 010 Charlie
Tues 5/1 4:30-6:30 pm Friend 010 Lauren
Tues 5/1 6:30-8:30 pm Friend 010 Nayana

DATE	TIME	ROOM	PERSON
Sat 4/28	8:00-10:00 pm	Friend 010	Yushan
Sun 4/29	3:00 -5:00 pm	Lewis 122	Maia
Mon 4/30	2:00-4:00 pm	221 Nassau St	Ibrahim
Mon 4/30	6:30-8:30 pm	Friend 010	Tosin
Tue 5/1	12:30-2:30 pm	Friend 010	Shayan
Tue 5/1	2:30-4:30 pm	Friend 010	Charlie
Tues 5/1	4:30-6:30 pm	Friend 010	Lauren
Tues 5/1	6:30-8:30 pm	Friend 010	Nayana

(Optional) Practice Programming Exam Preparation

Practice Exam from Class meeting April 16 in Friend 101. Practice Dropbox
Would your code pass all tests? Try with this additional test file!
Write the code from the Median question of the midterm and test it carefully.
Fall 16 programming exam
tiny sample text file
Template of What3Words.java
Sample input file
Solution
Spr 17 programming exam - this is a download
Polynomial.java(Solution)

(Optional) Written Exam Preparation

Class meeting (design questions) April 25 in Friend 101.

Exam review session April 30 at 4:30pm in CS104.
Quizzera review

Material Covered

We have covered a large body of material this semester, but the exam can only contain questions about a small fraction of it. When you study, you should focus on understanding basic issues, not memorizing details. For each algorithm, you should make sure that you understand how it works on typical input and then ask yourself some basic questions: Why do we care about this algorithm? How is it different from other algorithms for the same problem? When is it effective?

The programming exam is cumulative but will not include string algorithms.

The written exam will stress material covered since the midterm, including the following components.

Lectures 1–12.
Algorithms in Java, 4th edition, Chapters 4–6, and Section 3.4.
Quizzes 0–11.
Programming assignments 1–3.

The midterm itself is fair game (did you take the time to understand questions that you missed on that exam?). Also, some material before the midterm is also relevant to putting new algorithms in context. For example, you might see a question on sorting/searching that covers both standard and string algorithms.

Partial list of topics covered since the midterm

KdTrees	Linear Probing Hashtables	Separate Chaining Hashtables
Depth-first search	Breadth-first search	Topological sort
Prim's algorithm	Kruskal's algorithm	Dijkstra's algorithm	Bellman-Ford algorithm
Ford-Fulkerson algorithm	Knuth-Morris-Pratt substring search	Boyer-Moore substring search
RE to NFA	R-way tries	Ternary search tries
Key-indexed counting	LSD radix sort	MSD radix sort	3-way radix quicksort
Run-length coding	Huffman coding	LZW compression

Questions that show awareness of advanced topics that were covered in lecture are also fair game.