Peter Denning Article Reflection

Questions to reflect on after reading the Denning article:
What are the 2 essentials of computation?
-A series of representations
-A set of rules for transforming each representation to the next in the series.

Based on the article what are some of the difficulties of writing a program?
In the 40’s and 50’s, writing a program was much more difficult. There were many challenges associated with it, such as writing down a differential equation and wiring up a circuit to simulate it. Writing programs back then involved lots of trial-and-error, and were much more complicated than it is today.

What is an algorithm?
Algorithms describe and control what computers do, they are a set of mechanical steps that transform input data to output data.

What were some of the problems identified with algorithms?
Algorithms can be difficult to program sometimes. There is no effective way to tell if any algorithm implements exactly the same input-output transformations as the original.

What does it mean to convert optimization problems to decision problems?
An optimization problem seeks to find a combination of variables that maximizes a value function. A decision problem seeks to find any combination of variables whose value exceeds a given threshold. If you convert optimization problems to decision problems, you model a less greedy approach, instead of going for the global optimum, decision problems accept anything that is good enough.

How does this article inform your thinking about problem solving? about coding?

This article is helpful in informing me about problem solving and coding because it gave me a perspective from an expert on both problem solving and coding in the real world. I now have more knowledge about how people program computers using algorithms, and the differences between optimization problems and decision problems.

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