Assignment 1
1. Explain the purpose of pseudocode. In doing so, explain how and why it differs from natural language and formal programming languages.
2. From everyday life, provide and discuss examples of sequential, conditional, and iterative operations. How do the ways we state these operations in everyday life differ from the ways we state them in pseudocode? Why might there be a difference?
3. Explain why it is necessary for the pattern-matching algorithm to have a "loop inside of a loop."
4. Why do we use binary encodings to represent information on the computer? What would be the pros and cons of using base-10 instead of base-2?
5. Explain the relationship between Boolean logic and computer circuits. Why is Boolean logic so important to computer science?
6. Explain the purpose of the steps in the sum-of-products circuit design algorithm. Why must each step be done, and why in that order?
Assignment 2
1. What features of the different languages you've seen do you like best? Are all those features in the same language? Discuss why there are so many different languages, all with the same underlying approach. Why isn't there just one "right" language?
2. Compare the software development process with processes suggested for writing papers. Are there parallels; are there significant differences?
3. If you were designing a language and wanted it to be more like natural language, how would you choose to describe conditional statements and loops? How would your form differ from those of the languages you've studied?
4. When might a business decide not to have a web presence? What conditions might cause a business to avoid a web presence, and what changes might cause the business to reconsider?
5. What components necessary for an e-commerce business-to-consumer site would a "bricks and mortar" business already have, and what would be entirely new?
6. Given the kinds of information databases can contain, and how SQL queries may be used to retrieve the data, what are some restrictions a business might put on which employees can access what information in a business' database?
7. Discuss the role of Big Data in a day to day life. Are Data Brokers ethical? Should our personal information, purchasing history, and various proclivities be for sale?
Assignment 3
1. How much information would a computer need to complete a particular task? Think about tasks like packing a box for shipment, choosing the best route from home to work, searching for a particular person in a set of pictures, and mowing the lawn.
2. In what ways does an artificial neural network, as described here, accurately model a natural nervous system? In what ways does it differ?
3. Suppose a research company built a robot that acts exactly like an insect, like a cockroach. Would that count as "intelligent?" What if it acted exactly like a cocker spaniel?
4. Talk about the impact of military drone piloting done by civilians on the other side of the world. How does making combat decisions affect their psyche?
5. After reading about the steps involved in a computer-generated imagery, does it seem like more or less work than hand-drawn or stop-motion animation? What steps in the process are primarily technical, and where does the animator's creativity fit in?
6. What are the pros and cons of online virtual communities and games like World of Warcraft and Second Life? Where do you think these virtual communities will be in 10 years?
7. Will it be possible in the next two decades to "plug in" to virtual reality and have it seem as though it's actually the real world? What kind of ramifications may this hold for the real world?
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.