PBL Unit 1 / Week 11
Simulations
- A simulation, in context of computer science, is a digital representation of a situation in the real world.
- Examples:
- Experiments: When an experiment is to dangerous to perform in the real world or too expensive, a simulation can be made of it and be performed digitally.
- Training and Education: Simulations such as flight simulators and medical simulation can be very practical in aiding dangerous proffesions to receive training.
- Video Games: Some video games try to aim to be as releastic as possible with physics and graphics to try to simulate the real world.
Algorithmic Effeciency
- A problem is a general description of a task that can (or cannot) be solved algorithmically
- A decision problem is a problem with a yes/no answer
- An optimization problem is a problem with the goal of finding the “best” solution among many
- Efficiency is an estimate of the amount of computational resources used by an algorithm
- An algorithm’s efficiency is determined through formal or mathematically reasoning