This problem involves using a word processing application (e.g. Microsoft Word) on a personal computer. To do it, you will have to use your own Mac or PC, or to use one of the Macintosh computers in the CS Lab. You are welcome to use a different Windows/PC or Mac application similar to Microsoft Word to complete this problem. However, the course staff is not obliged to help you with these other applications if need be. The material necessary to master the word processing application you will use for this problem is described in the Optional Textbook listed in the syllabus. A copy of this text is on reserve in the Science and Engineering Library.

Using msWord prepare your own Resumé and a cover letter to go along with it. A resumé is a 1-page document that describes an individual's education, work experience, extra-curricular activities, honors and awards, ... etc. A cover letter accompanies the resumé and is intended to give a wordy explanation of your interest in a job, in a scholarship, ... etc.. The visual impact of a Resumé is very important. Make sure to use appropriate fonts and styles so your resumé would stand out. Notice that it is a challenging task to do this and at the same time pack your resumé with all the information you may want to reveal (say) to a potential employer!

Note: Except for your name, you can include any information in your resumé or cover letter, even if inaccurate or incorrect. Of course, your resume and cover letter should be different from the ones in the textbook. The technical quality of the work as well as the way you present it is very important. Pay attention to details. This will pay off with better grades. All solutions should be handed in with a cover sheet that specifies your full name, and your login name.

Give short answers for the following questions on materials covered in the lectures.

Note: The answers to some of the questions below were exclusively covered in the class (i.e. not in the textbook).

a. Explain what is meant by the ``Divide and Conquer'' approach to programming?
b. The run time for the sorting program (non-recursive successive discovery of largest elements) discussed in class was measured to be 10 seconds for a list of 100 elements. Approximately, how long would it take to run this same sorting program on a list of 1,000,000 elements?
c. What is meant by a ``recursive'' algorithm?
d. Why does an ``interpreted'' program run slower than a ``compiled'' program?
e. In a few sentences explain why software costs are not declining as fast as hardware costs.
f. What is the difference between a variable ``name'' and its ``value''?
g. What is meant by a WYSIWYG editor? Is Emacs a WYSIWYG editor? Is Microsoft Word a WYSIWYG editor?
h. Why is it that WYSIWYG editors are not used to edit computer programs (e.g. HTML pages, etc.)?
i. An important functionality of the GUI of the Macintosh is its ability to do ``Cut-and-Paste'' between various windows. Explain what is meant by Cut-and-Paste. Also, explain the function that the ``clipboard'' plays in supporting Cut-and-Paste.

You are to design a program that will assign letter grades to students based on their numeric grades. To do so, you start with the following algorithm: First, the program should ask the operator (the person running the program) to input the number of students in the class. Next, for each one of these students (in order), the program will ask the operator to enter the student's grade. If the grade is above 85, then the student gets an ``A'', if the grade is between 76 and 85 the student gets a ``B'', if the grade is between 66 and 75 the student gets a ``C'', if the grade is between 50 and 65 the student gets a ``D'', otherwise the student gets an ``F''. The program should print out the letter grade for the student and then proceed to the next student and the process repeats.

Draw a flowchart for the algorithm described above.

You are given the following list of 8 numbers and asked to sort it in a descending order.

19, 15, 17, 4, 8, 23, 9, 7

Step through the various steps involved in sorting that list:

a. Using the ``successive discovery and removal of largest number'' algorithm discussed in class.
b. Using the recursive ``Merge Sort'' algorithm discussed in class.

Created on: 1997.08.01
Updated on: 1997.10.08
Maintainer: Azer Bestavros
            best@cs.bu.edu