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Level 4 Diploma in Cyber Security

Recursion and memoisation (e.g. Tower of Hanoi); the memory vs. complexity trade-off

CYB404 · Algorithms and Data Structures — Week 5 of 16

CourseCYB404
Week5 of 16
SemesterII
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This week’s topics

Recursion and memoisation (e.g. Tower of Hanoi); the memory vs. complexity trade-off

  1. Recursion and memoisation (e.g. Tower of Hanoi)
  2. The memory vs. complexity trade-off

What you will be able to do

  • 3.1 Use recursion and memoisation as tools to design solutions to problems.
  • 3.3 Explain the trade-off between memory and computational complexity in algorithmic design.

Activity

Seminar, guided reading and a short written task: use recursion and memoisation as tools to design solutions to problems.

Study materials

Further resources

  • Think Python, ch. 5: Conditionals and recursion · PDF · Downey, Think Python 2e (Green Tea Press), ch. 5: Boolean expressions, logical operators, conditional and chained execution, pp. 39–50 · for registered students
Materials marked “for registered students” open in the student portal, which is set up as soon as you receive final acceptance.
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Course plan
  • Week 1: Data structures: arrays, lists, stacks, queues, sets and di…
  • Week 2: Choosing data structures, with a Python refresher
  • Week 3: Measuring complexity: Big O notation
  • Week 4: Problem classes: computability and Turing machines, P and N…
  • Week 5: Recursion and memoisation (e.g. Tower of Hanoi); the memory…
  • Week 6: Algorithmic paradigms: divide and conquer, backtracking, gr…
  • Week 7: Sort, search and pathfinding algorithms compared by time an…
  • Midterm: Midterm evaluation
  • Week 9: Writing pseudocode as a universal template for algorithms
  • Week 10: Checking algorithms are correct: tracing, testing and timing
  • Week 11: Debugging and testing implementations; review and practice …
  • Week 12: Applying Algorithms and Data Structures in practice: case s…
  • Week 13: Assignment workshop: research, planning and referencing
  • Week 14: Assignment workshop: drafting, feedback and improvement
  • Week 15: Review and coursework completion
  • Final: Final assessment and submission
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