CMSI 282
Preparation for Quiz 1
To be held on March 27, 2008
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Here are the topics that the test questions will be drawn from:

  - The mathematics of sets, numbers, and functions

  - Algorithm analysis

  - Numeric algorithms

  - Cryptology

  - Sorting

There won't be anything on Priority Queues or Recurrence Relations
on this exam.

The kinds of things you'll be asked to do on the quiz will include:

  - Simplify an expression with logarithms.

  - Give the time complexity of a code fragment.

  - Answer a question that somehow deals with the relationship between
    certain complexity classes.

  - Answer a "what if I had a faster computer?" or "what if I needed to
    process a larger input set?" question.

  - Figure out something about a sorting algorithm... perhaps find
    a bug in an attempted implementation, or compare two algorithms,
    or identify best and worst cases.

  - Answer questions about mods, logs, multiplication, etc.
    of really big numbers.  (May be similar to H/W#1 problems.)

  - Apply a classic cipher by hand.

  - Answer questions about the effectiveness or weakness of
    certain ciphers, or maybe compare two different ciphers.

I might throw in a couple problems from Chapters 0 and 1 in the
text, so a good way to prepare is to do some of these problems
with your friends.