CSC108 Final Exam Advice
Summer 2001

What’s On the Exam

The final exam covers the subject matter of the entire course. The questions will require you to (1) answer brief theoretical questions; (2) check Java code for correctness (i.e. determine whether it will cause compiler or run-time errors); (3) trace Java code to find out what its output would be; and (4) write Java code on your own. Note that there are no aids allowed except for the Java API, the edition specified in the course outline. Make sure you bring it along, because you’ll need it. Make sure, also, that you don’t write anything in it, because we’ll consider that cheating (highlighting is OK).

In more detail, here’s what’s on the exam:

primitive and class types
writing your own classes, constructors, and methods
creating objects and calling methods on them
passing parameters to methods
static methods and variables
equals and toString
loops
conditional statements
boolean logic (&&, ||, !)
the String class and its methods
the Vector class and its methods
arrays: declaration, instantiation, manipulation of elements
arrays of primitive type or class type
inheritance
polymorphism
complexity - determine the Big-O order of some code

You have to know all of the above; note, however, that the emphasis will lie on the second half of the term (material covered after the midterm). Note also that the memory model, searching, and sorting are not on the exam. (But you might still want to review the memory model as an aid to understanding some of the concepts listed above.)

Study Tips

Read your lecture notes, both the ones taken in class and the ones provided online. (Note that the notes from other instructors in previous offerings of the course are not compulsory reading; but the notes provided by Profs. Hunter and Bolintineanu are compulsory reading.)
Memorize rules and definitions (not word for word, of course; just be sure you know what they mean).
Make sure you understand all the examples provided in lecture.
Read through past quizzes, starting with the most recent ones and working your way back; try solving them again.
Read through the assignments and check if you remember how and why you solved the assignments as you did.
Write programs involving inheritance (which was not covered by an assignment).
Most importantly, go through past exams and solve questions. Time yourself to make sure you can finish them in the allotted time.
As you review the course material, the safest thing to skip are the textbook readings (though not 100% safe to skip); the emphasis of the exam will lie on material covered in class, though there may be one or two questions for which textbook examples would be nice to know.
And don’t forget to get a really good night’s sleep the night before the exam. Sleep helps with retrieving information from memory as well as with thinking quickly and well. (Trust me, caffeine isn’t all that helpful; it’ll make you nervous rather than alert, and you’ll have to run to the washroom a lot.)

Start your review early, so that you’ll have a chance to bring questions to your instructor. Aim to have done your readings sometime before Wednesday, August 8, so that you’ll have plenty of time to practice.

Best of luck!

CSC108 Final Exam Advice Summer 2001

CSC108 Final Exam Advice
Summer 2001