2.2.2 Computational Methods

Computable

Problem that can be solved using an algorithm

Problem Decomposition

Breaking down a problem into smaller parts repeatedly

Divide and conquer example

Binary search

Advantages of divide and conquer

Greatly simplifies very complex problems

What does divide do?

Halves the problem with each iteration

Name a common use of divide and conquer

Binary search

Disadvantages of divide and conquer

Stack overflow can cause the program to crash as it is recursive

Representational abstraction

Excessive details are removed to simplify a problem

Abstraction by generalisation

Groups together different sections of the problem with similar underlying functionality

Backtracking

Methodically visit each path and build a solution based on the paths that are found to be correct

Data mining

Identify patterns or outliers in large sets of data, termed big data

Heuristics

Provide an approximate solution to a problem when the usual solution is resource intensive or time consuming

Performance modelling

Provides mathematical methods to test a variety of loads on different operating systems

Pipelines

Different tasks are developed in parallel

Visualisation

Present data in a way that is easier for us to understand to help identify trends that weren’t otherwise obvious