CST370 - Module 4

What did I learn in the fourth week of CST370? 

This week introduced only one new algorithm, which is the merge sort. The lecture and exercises helped me to understand how the merge sort works and fits into the divide-and conquer paradigm, as the merge sort broke down the problem into smaller subproblems, solved recursively, and then combined the results together through a merge. In the end, the way the merge sort worked through the visual display helped me to understand why the time complexity is Θ(n⋅log⁡n), which helped me answer some things on the midterm. 

Although the merge sort was the sole new topic covered this week, the rest of the week was dedicated to preparing for the midterm. The review materials revisited everything from the prior weeks, illustrating to everyone that they should study or review brute-force strategies, graph traversal, recurrence relations, asymptotic notation, and combinatorial problems, while providing some sample exercises by revisiting prior puzzles like knapsack. Furthermore, the midterm will go over theta notation and understanding some math or algorithm problems through the master theorem, which the TA reminded and emphasized during the Q & A review/question zoom call with the entire course group. In the end, the TA really helped me to understand what I needed to look out for and study, as his clarification and insightful responses helped me to direct my attention towards what needed to be studied.

Overall, week 4 introduced a new algorithm that was on the midterm, while also going over a midterm that comprehensively went over everything we learned so far.