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Lecture 09 Problem Solving and Analysis

The document discusses problem solving and analysis. It defines what constitutes a problem that can be solved by a computer versus other types of problems. It outlines a six step framework for problem solving called How to Think Like a Programmer (HTTLAP): 1) Understand the problem, 2) Devise a plan, 3) Carry out the plan, 4) Assess the results, 5) Describe what was learned, 6) Document the solution. Strategies for arriving at solutions like trial and error, algorithms, and heuristics are also discussed along with examples.

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Mugunth Narayanan.R.B
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19 views

Lecture 09 Problem Solving and Analysis

The document discusses problem solving and analysis. It defines what constitutes a problem that can be solved by a computer versus other types of problems. It outlines a six step framework for problem solving called How to Think Like a Programmer (HTTLAP): 1) Understand the problem, 2) Devise a plan, 3) Carry out the plan, 4) Assess the results, 5) Describe what was learned, 6) Document the solution. Strategies for arriving at solutions like trial and error, algorithms, and heuristics are also discussed along with examples.

Uploaded by

Mugunth Narayanan.R.B
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Problem Understanding and Analysis

What is a problem?
• There are many different kinds of problems:

• How much tax should my employees be paying?

• How do I get to Oxford from London?

• Why is it wrong to lie?


Cont..
• However, not all kinds of problems can be solved using computers
(Which of the above do you think can and cannot be solved with a
computer?).

• For a problem to be solvable through the use of a computer, it must


generally:

• Be technical in nature with objective answers that can be


arrived at using rational methods
• Be well-structured
• Contain sufficient information for a solution to be found
• Contain little, if any, ambiguity.
How do we solve problems?
• We need to THINK!

• We need to engage in one or more of the following types of thinking:

• Logical reasoning (e.g. Dave and Anne have two daughters. Each
daughter has a brother. How many people are there in the family?).

• Mathematical reasoning (e.g. A car has a fuel capacity of 10 gallons


and a fuel consumption of 45 miles per gallon. How far can the car travel on
three quarters of a tank?).

• Lateral thinking (e.g. I throw a heavy weight to arrive at a district in


North London?).
How do we solve problems?

• Problem solving is easier if we employ a


problem solving framework and an
appropriate problem solving strategy to
aid us.
A problem solving framework
• An outline framework for problem solving:
1.Understand the problem
2.Devise a plan to solve the problem
3.Carry out the plan
4.Assess the result
5.Describe what has been learned from the process
6.Document the solution.
• This framework is called How to Think Like a
Programmer (HTTLAP) approach to problem solving.
(1) Understanding the problem
• To understand a problem

• We need to read and reread it till we understand every


detail
• We need to dissect the problem into its component parts
(e.g. problems and sub-problems)
• We need to remove any ambiguity
• We need to remove any information that is extraneous to
the problem
• We need to determine our knowns and our unknowns
• We need to be aware of any assumptions we are making.
(2) Devise a plan to the solve the problem
• If a problem contains a set of sub-problems, in what order are you going to solve
them?

• How are you going to represent the problem:


• Numerically?
• Graphically?
• Tabular data?
• Natural language?

• Does the problem lend itself to a particular problem solving strategy or


strategies:
• Working backwards?
• Solving a simpler analogous problem?
• Logical reasoning?
• Finding a pattern?
(3) Carry out the plan
• Consider the following problem:
In a room with ten people, everyone shakes hands with
everyone else exactly once. In total, how many
handshakes are there?
• How would you represent and solve the problem?
• To solve it quickly and correctly without guessing we
could use one of the strategies mentioned earlier.
However, which strategy is best suited to solving this
problem?
• To answer this, we need to familiarize ourselves with the
strategies and practice their use.
Cont..
• To answer the handshakes problem we could begin by
accounting for all the possibilities and graphically A B C D E F G H I J
represent those possibilities in a table. A X
B X
• This clearly shows us who shakes hand with who (A to C X
J shake hands with everybody except themselves (X)). D X

• We can then use some basic mathematical reasoning E X

to find our solution: F X


G X
H X
number of people = 10 I X

grid size = 10 x 10 = 100 J X

handshakes = (100 - 10)/2 = 45

• From here we can abstract a generalisable solution


that can easily be turned into an algorithm and
eventually into computer code:
h = ((p2) – p))/2
(4) Assessing the results
• It is very unusual when solving complex problems to achieve the
correct result first time round. We often need several attempts to
get it right.
• To verify our solutions are correct, we need to take a few steps
backwards:
• Was our understanding of the problem correct?
• Did we overlook anything?
• Did we choose the correct strategy?
• Did we employ that strategy correctly?
• Have we made any incorrect or unwitting assumptions?
• However, it is often very difficult to spot our own mistakes. It is
often better, therefore, to have somebody else verify our solutions
for us.
Cont...
• Sometimes solutions appear correct, but are in fact
wrong, due to an initial misunderstanding of a
problem
• If you have misunderstood a problem, it does not
matter how good a coder you are, your program
will not work as it is supposed to.
• Therefore getting the problem-solving part of
programming right is absolutely essential if we are
to build programs that work as they are supposed
to work.
(5) Describing what you have learned
• You can only become a good problem solver by reflecting
on your experiences of problem solving.

• Keeping a record of problems you have attempted, your


success, failures, the approaches you have used, etc. will:
• Broaden your problem solving repertoire
• Help you to recognize similarities/patterns in problems
• Help you identify and fix logical or implementation
errors
• Help you to solve problems faster and more effectively
(6) Documenting the solution
• Documenting a solution will help you to generalize your
approach to other similar problems.
• Do you recognize the following type of problem? How would
you solve it?

• It will also prevent you forgetting how you arrived at your


solutions.

• In the long run, it will make you a better problem solver


and eventually a better programmer.
Strategies Strategies for Problem Solving
for
arriving at Problem solving refers to the thinking we do in
solutions order to answer a complex question or to figure
include: out how to resolve an unfavorable situation.
Trial and error involves trying various possible solutions, and
if that fails, trying others.
trial and •When it’s useful: perfecting an invention like the light bulb
error by trying a thousand filaments
•When it fails: when there is a clear solution but trial and error
might miss it forever
algorithms An algorithm is a step by step strategy for solving a problem,
methodically leading to a specific solution.
A heuristic is a short-cut, step-saving thinking strategy
heuristics or principle which generates a solution quickly (but
possibly in error).

insight Insight refers to a sudden realization, a leap forward in


thinking, that leads to a solution.
Clarifying Problem Solving Examples
Where’s Tothefind
apple
a
juice? Dospecific
I look on every
item in
shelf in the store, or do I
a supermarket
search where there is
similar stuff?

Trial and Wander around a


error supermarket
randomly to find it.

Create a methodical
Algorithms path to make sure
you check every
single aisle.

Heuristics Check only


related aisles.
End of Lecture 9

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