Unit 3: Problem Solving and Programming

This unit will serve to illustrate a problem solving method discussed in unit 2 in relation to programming a computer solution to a problem and also provide an introduction to students new to the Visual Basic.NET environment. Most students could probably benefit with a review of programming conventions if a year has gone by since having taken Computer Science 20. For the few of you who are fortunate enough to take the classes in successive semesters, this will be a cakewalk. Demonstrate your level of problem solving ability accordingly.

More on Problem Solving

Believe it or not, there is more to computational science than writing code. The article at Wikipedia on Computer_science states that "computer science is the accumulated knowledge through scientific methodology by computation or by the use of the computer."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science) You learned about scientific methods in science classes. You learned about computation in math classes. Science is broadly defined as the investigation or study of nature. Searching Wikipedia, again, on the word compute provides the following definition:

"The discipline of computing is the systematic study of algorithmic processes that describe and transform information: their theory, analysis, design, efficiency, implementation, and application. The fundamental question underlying all the computing is 'What can be (efficiently) automated?' "(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compute)

So what are algorithmic processes? You may remember from previous math and computer science classes, that an algorithm is a set of instructions for accomplishing some task. For example, making a traditional German "Black Forest Cherry Cheese Cake (BFCCC)" would likely be possible if someone had a recipe and followed the instructions precisely. A recipe is much like an algorithm. It describes ingredients (variables) and instructions for working with the ingredients (methods). A scientist may pose some questions about this recipe. Is there only one way to make a BFCCC? Can ingredients be substituted; artificial rum flavoring instead of real rum for example? What does a BFCCC look like? Can it be make more economically by only using half the chocolate? Although computational science involves writing algorithms(programs/recipes) it is also the process of arriving at these algorithms, the thinking about how we compute solutions to problems that is important.