Midterm Review - CS112 - Spring 2009
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Last update: 3/04/09 11:00 AM

Some topics to review for the midterm include (but are not limited to):

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Algorithm Development
    - Pseudocode - what is its purpose? Are there any syntax requirments?
 
Python Basics
- Indentation - why is it important, how does it define the concept of a logical block of code
- Identifiers
    - what do they represent
    - where are they used (functions, variable names)
    - what are reserved words (or key words -- same thing)
- How to use the print function
    - Use with multiple strings (with/without the comma)
    - Use with print formatting

Statements versus Expressions
- Know the difference between statements and expressions and be able to identify either
- What does it mean to resolve an expression
- How do you create a statement across multiple physical lines

Data Types
    - What types were discussed in class
    - Know how operators affect strings, numbers

Command Line I/O (CLI)
- How to write to the command line
- How to read input from a user (and convert it to a number if needed)
- How to create a command line menu

Control Structures
- Branching: If / elif / else statements
    - How do they work
    - Which parts are required versus optional    
- Definite Loops
    - For loops - know how to write them to iterate over any sequence or a specific number of times
- Indefinite Loops
    - While loops - know how to write them and when they will exit
- break statement - what is it, how does it change the control flow of the loop?
- continue statement - how does it change the control flow of the loop?

Built-in functions
- which ones have we discussed/used in lecture and lab/project exercises, how do they work, how are they used, what can they do for you, etc.

References/Documentation
- What is in the language reference
- What is in the library reference
- Know how to read a function specification, including understanding optional parameters

Data Structures
- Sequences - Lists, Tuples, Strings (as a data structure)
- Know how to Slicing/Indexing them
- Know how to delete from them (when possible)
- What is meant by mutable and immutable

Mutable Structures
- How to insert into lists
- How to remove values
- How to modify values

Logical (Boolean) Expressions
- Know how to use :
-     and, or, not operators
-     comparison operators (==, != , <,>,<=,>=)
-     truth tables

Numeric Data
- Operations
- Conversions using functions (eval, bin, hex)
- Conversions using math
    - Given a hex number, convert it to decimal or binary
    - Given a decimal number convert it to hex or binary
    - Given a binary number convert it to hex or decimal

Functions
- Know how to invoke a function
- Know how to pass parameters to a function. (What are formal versus actual parameters?)
- Define a function that returns something
- What is variable scope

Datatypes
-    Know how to use and modify lists (mutable)
-    Know how to use  int/float/char/String/Tuple (immutable)
-    Know how to slice out portions of any sequence type (it’s the same for both!)
-    What is meant by mutable and immutable

Loops/Decisions
-    How do you create a for loop (definite loop)
-    How do you create a while loop (indefinite loop)
-    Know what break does
-    Know what continue does
-    Know how to use if/elif/else
-    How to create a text menu using a loop

File IO
-    What can happen if you don’t close the file?
-    Processing sequence: open, read, close
-    File modes, what are the differences (r, w, a)
-    Know how to read files using at least one of these: read, readline, readlines, for loop method. If I ask you to write code to read a file, you should know how to do it.
-    If I ask you how to write code to write a file, you should know how to do it
-    What is \n ?
-    What do I do with \n when reading from a file? When writing to a file?

Remember to bring a scantron!

Also check Prof. Heishman's review for another way to think about these. His Midterm Study Guide is on Blackboard under "Materials for Prof Heishman's Section --> MT Study Guide"