CSCI 1300 Final Exam Study Guide

Exam Format

As the first three exams were, this exam is divided into two parts, each worth 50 points. The first part is 50 multiple choice questions, to be answered on a green Scantron sheet. No books, notes, or computer usage is permitted on the first part. The second part is hands-on exercises; most of them will require using the computer. You will be permitted to use your textbook and notes on the second part.

The second part of the exam typically consists of the following types of problems:

• Group 1 -- choose one of the following two problems
• Write a complete, correct algorithm from a problem description
• Write an Alice program to implement an algorithm provided in the problem statement
• Group 2 -- choose one of the following three application problems
• Create an Excel spreadsheet to fit the given specification
• Create an Access database using a specific template or wizard
• Create a web page to display specified information

After you have chosen one problem from each group, you may do one additional problem from either group for extra credit. Note that you MUST do one problem from each group before doing a third problem; if you only do two problems and they are from the same group, only the first one will be graded.

To do well on the exam, it is important that you:

• Read each question carefully.
• Answer only the question that is asked; do not spend your time trying to do more than the problem states.
• Ask me to clarify any question that you don't understand.

Major topics

Refer to the study guides for the previous tests for topics covered on those tests. The topics listed here are only the additional topics that were not indicated in the previous study guides.

1. Social and Ethical Issues
   • Privacy issues
   • Computer crime
   • Hacking and cracking
   • Security measures
   • Data encryption

   Typical questions will refer to information in the assigned readings for the essays that you wrote on these issues.

2. Programming language paradigms and examples
   • Procedural/imperative: FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC, C, ADA, Pascal, C++ (also allows use of objects), etc.
   • Object-oriented: Simula, Smalltalk, Java (uses imperative features internally)
   • Functional: LISP, Scheme (AI applications)
   • Logic: PROLOG (expert systems)

   Typical questions will ask about the characteristics of each paradigm, what languages typify each paradigm, and what paradigm a particular language fits into.

3. High-level language programming
   • Use of translation programs (compilers/interpreters) to convert source code into machine language.
   • Creation of an Alice language world.
   • Use, manipulation, and interaction of objects within an Alice world.
   • Use of methods in an Alice world.