Final Exam

The Final Exam consists of TWO parts that require two separate submissions on Gradescope!

Both exam parts are due Thursday March 18th by 11:00pm PST

Part 1 example answers can be viewed here.

Due to the online-only nature of this offering, we will not be holding a traditional in-person midterm and final exam. Instead, we will have two take-home, open-book exams. You will be allowed to work together in groups on these exams. The exams will be submitted via Gradescope.

Part 1: Writing Functions

Here are the Problems for Part 1
Write your implementation of the functions in the provided template file: final_21wi.py.
Submit this file via Gradescope, similar to how you would submit a homework assignment.
Note: the assert statements provided in the template file are NOT exhaustive. We will be running many more tests than what we have provided. You are encouraged to add more assert statements to test more cases.
We will NOT be grading your code on style. Of course we recommend good variable names, comments and good style, but we will NOT be grading your code on style.
You may only use parts of Python that have been covered in the class so far (defined as found on lecture slides or section handouts or discussed in lecture).

In particular, you MAY use these items discussed during the last weeks of the quarter: list comprehensions, get and setdefault, enumerate, ternary assignment, and lambdas. You do not NEED to use any of these to solve these problems, and we will not be awarding any extra points for using them, but you are welcome to use them.
You also MAY use the functions min, max, sum, and abs.
You MAY write and call helper functions(but this is not expected/required)
You do NOT need classes for any problems in Part 1.
You MAY import itemgetter and use it.
You may NOT use anything from the Math module.
You may NOT use things we have not covered, such as recursion.

Your implementations only need to handle valid inputs. E.g. if the problem says it accepts a list and an integer as arguments, you do NOT need to handle the case when a user passes in a string and a float instead.
While you are allowed to discuss these problems in groups of up to 4 persons, each student must submit their own answer in Gradescope.
There are 3 problems for Part 1. (You will answer a question about collaboration on Part 1 & Part 2, later in Part 2.)

Part 2: Short Answer/Code Writing

Here is Part 2 which you will submit similar to how you submitted in-class activities.
There is no special time limit for part 2. You have the full time period to submit and edit it as you like.

Good luck and Have fun!

Topics and format for the Final Exam

Everything in the course up to and including List Comprehensions is fair game for the final exam. Note the final exam will involve 2 parts.

Part 1 will be similar to the midterm and will involve writing small functions, although now data structures like dictionaries, sets, and tuples could be involved.

Part 2 will be some short answer questions and code writing that involves writing less than an entire function.

Final Exam Policies

Group Discussion Encouraged, Individual Submission:

You are encouraged to discuss the final together in groups (maximum group size is 4). Within your group you can discuss the final freely. However, EACH PERSON MUST SUBMIT THEIR OWN SOLUTION to the final. The idea is to allow you to benefit from discussion with your peers, but in the end what you submit should be your own answer. On your final you will indicate the names and UWnetIDs of the persons you collaborated with. We will be making use of similarity-detection built into Gradescope to detect collaboration outside of your group.

What resources can I use?

The final is meant to be open-book, open-notes, free discussion with other members of your group. You can freely consult lecture slides, readings, lecture recordings. Asking questions about the exam in online forums or message boards (other than our Ed Board) and "homework help" sites is strictly prohibited.

How long will it take?

The final will be due (slightly more than) three days after it is released. We are providing three full days primarily to accommodate students in different time zones. We will not be timing the final within that four day period. You have the entire four days to finish the final, even though the final is designed to be completed in a matter of hours. We are definitely not expecting you to spend the full four days on the final! Think of this as a final we would have if we were able to meet in person, just with more flexibility. Hopefully this should ease your stress, not increase it.

Can I use late days?

NO, the final will not be accepted late. Plan accordingly! Do not wait until the last minute to submit. Gradescope allows unlimited resubmissions/changing of answers up until the final closes.

Can I ask questions about the final?

In order to assure that equal help is given to everyone, we will NOT be answering questions about the final “in-person” during lecture. If you ask something during office hours, the TAs will ask you to write your question on the Ed Board. We will consolidate all clarifying questions about the final on the Ed Board, so consult it first to see if your question has already been asked. As with homeworks, you should NOT post any part of your solution to a problem publicly on the Ed Board. You are still able to make private posts asking for final clarifications, but we may not be able to answer them.

Keep in mind that the purpose of the final is meant for you to apply the learning you’ve done in this class, and the course staff will only answer clarifying or logistical questions – we will not help you with specific questions, review course concepts with you, or give you hints on the final.

We will be monitoring the Ed Board closely during the final time, but as all of our staff is currently in the Seattle area, you should only expect responses during approximately 9:30am-11:30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

How can I find people to form a final group with?

Please use this thread to find people to work with in a final group.