Sorting Matters.

    Sorting seems to be a favourite I've seen when demonstrating the differences in the run-times of algorithms, my guess is because there are so many different ways that you can do it, and what's more so many different behaviours that each algorithm can have. We saw the most evident of these differences on the larger scale tests in the penultimate lab, but it's always entertaining for me to see the drastically different results that the means with which one handles data can have on the data management efficiency. 

    It happens to be of particular interest to me in Cognitive Science because it can show that the particular way that you take in and manage information, has a significant effect of how quickly you can use it, and in what contexts. With things such as working memory that are so tied to problem-solving abilities and general intelligence, information-handling efficiency is particularly important because of how limited working memory is both in capacity and in the amount of time information can be held in it. Showing a distinct difference in sorting algorithm run-times suggests that even in our own working memory, the way that we encode and manipulate information in our own brains might be a factor in how well we are able to solve problems and efficiently carry out tasks. It's really a fascinating thing.

Home Stretch

The funny part is that I'm looking at the course calendar and I'm seeing only three lectures left, but I don't quite believe it.
Really.
It seems pretty much like the usual "OMG THE SEMESTER WENT BY SO FAST WHAT?" but it's accompanied by this weird feeling of "I swear I learned something...I'm not quite sure what...but SOMETHING."

The issue I'm having now is of course, the only issue left, the exam. I compare the first mid term and the second midterm in terms of difficulty, but the apparent range of difficulty between the two tests was such that I can't ballpark where the exam is gonna be. I could average the difficulties of the two and guess it will be somewhere in the middle...or I can take the safe, common sense way of thinking and figure that it will just be more difficult than the first.

After this I can just worry about dealing with CSC165...Dammit.
I should start a sister blog for that titled "I Don't Know How to Math"
I really don't.
It's been 3 years since I've taken a MAT course.

What have I gotten myself into...

Naked and Proud?

    In lecture, Danny brought up that because of Python's apparent lack of aliasing or restrictions to instance variable names and all the like, it was said that moving over to Python from another coding language was a bit like walking into a nudist colony...

   From the perspective of somebody who knows next to nothing about programming, and has only programmed in Python this entire time, hearing this would be a bit more akin to being born and raised in a nudist colony, and then suddenly hearing that people elsewhere wore clothes...

What? People wear pants? And this is normal? Weird.

Testing, testing, 1 2 3.

The second test really just sneaks up on you doesn't it? I had an hour of relief once I had finished the assignment before I looked at the calendar and saw the second test first thing after the November break.
My angst arises from not knowing how to tell if I'm ready for the test. No really, I thought I had all the concepts down pat before, but I was wiped out by the test. I blanked out, all-gone, I forgot how to interpret a tuple. It was bad.

This time I have no idea how I'll do. The concepts about the performance of algorithms didn't quite sink in. I understand the reasoning behind the performance differences, but only on a very elementary level. I don't think I could even fathom any test-calibre questions on the subject. It doesn't help that I have a minimal recollection of how logarithms work. Other than that I don't even know what we're going to be tested on...how does one prepare for this??? How do I improve when I'm not so certain what it is that I really need study up on...

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