COMP 2011 Midterm - Spring 2014 - HKUST
Date: March 29, 2014 (Saturday)
Time Allowed: 2 hours, 10:30am – 12:30pm
Instructions: 1. This is a closed-book, closed-notes examination.
2. There are 9 questions on 18 pages (including this cover page).
3. Write your answers in the space provided in black/blue ink. NO pencil please.
4. All programming codes in your answers must be written in ANSI C++.
5. You may use only the C++ language features and constructs learned in the class
so far. For example, no pointers, C++ classes, string class, etc..
6. For programming questions, you are NOT allowed to define additional helper
functions or structures, nor global variables unless otherwise stated. You also
cannot use any library functions not mentioned in the questions.
Student Name Model Answers
Student ID
Email Address
Problem Score
1 / 15
2 /8
3 /8
For T.A. 4 /7
Use Only 5 / 10
6 / 10
7 / 10
8 / 20
9 / 12
Total / 100
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Problem 1 [15 points] True or false
Indicate whether the following statements are true or false by circling T or F. You get 1.5
point for each correct answer, −0.5 for each wrong answer, and 0.0 if you do not answer.
T F (a) The following C++ char array definition is legal. That is, it is syntactically correct and
can be compiled without errors.
const char 888 [ ] = " 888 ";
T F (b) It is legal in C++ to define a function inside another function. For example, the following
code is legal in C++:
void f(int x, int y)
{
int max(int a, int b) { return (a > b) ? a : b; }
return 1 + max(x, y);
}
T F (c) One may define 2 functions of the following prototypes in the same C++ program in the
same file.
int add(int, int);
int add(int&, int);
T F (d) Given that the size of char is 1 byte, the following statement still will compile but will
generate a runtime error during the initialization of the char variable x.
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main(void) { char x = 1000; cout x endl; return 0; }
T F (e) Since a C++ program can have only one main function, the main function cannot call
itself recursively.
T F (f) Given the following definition and initialization of 3 int variables
int a = 3, b = 4, c = 5;
what is the truth value of the following boolean expression?
((a+b) > c) && b
2
T F (g) The following use of const in the declaration of the formal parameter x will cause com-
pilation error.
int test(const int x) { return ++x; }
T F (h) In C++, global variables are initialized to zero.
T F (i) The following 2D array definition compiles and runs without any errors.
int a[ ][2] = { { 1 } , { 2 , 3 } };
T F (j) What is the truth value of the following boolean expression?
(5/4 == 6/5)
3
Problem 2 [8 points] Integer Division and Remainder Functions
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main(void)
{
int j = 1;
while (j <= 15)
{
++j;
if (j/5 != 1) // ’/’ operator is changed to ’%’ operator in part (b)
continue;
else
cout j ’ ’;
}
cout endl;
return 0;
}
(a) [4 points] What is the output of the above program?
Answer: 56789
(b) [4 points] If we replace the division operator ’/’ by the mod operator ’%’, what is the
new output?
Answer: 6 11 16
Grading scheme:
(a) 1 point for each of the first 3 numbers, scanning from left to right, then the remaining 1
point for completely correct answer.
(b) 1 point for each number in the answer, scanning from left to right; 4 when they are all
correct.
4
Problem 3 [8 points] Break and Continue
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main(void)
{
int A[3][3] = { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 };
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
for (int j = 0; j < 3; j++)
{
if(i == j)
continue; // ”continue” is changed to ”break” in part (b)
A[i][j] = 4;
}
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
{
for (int j = 0; j < 3; j++)
cout A[i][j] " ";
cout endl;
}
return 0;
}
(a) [4 points] What is the output of the above program?
0 4 4
4 0 4
Answer: 4 4 0
(b) [4 points] If we replace the continue statement by break, what is the new output?
0 0 0
4 0 0
Answer: 4 4 0
Grading scheme:
(a) 1 point for each row, and 1 point for the format.
(b) 1 point for each row, and 1 point for the format.
But all the numbers on a row must be all correct.
5
Problem 4 [7 points] Scope
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
void foo(int& x) { x--; }
int main(void)
{
int a = 1;
int& b = a;
foo(b);
if ((a++) == 0)
{
int a = 1;
foo(a);
cout a ’ ’ b endl;
}
cout a ’ ’ b endl;
return 0;
}
What is the output of the above program?
0 1
Answer: 1 1
Grading scheme:
4 points for the first correct row, and 3 points for the other row.
But all the numbers on a row must be all correct.
6
Problem 5 [10 points] Overloaded Functions and Functions with Default Arguments
/∗ External function prototypes ∗/
int F(bool b, int i = 0);
int F(int i, int j);
int F(int i, bool b = true);
int F(int i, float f);
int F(float f);
float F(float& f);
int main(void)
{
int x = 42;
float y = 3.14;
float& yref = y;
/∗ A FUNCTION CALL STATEMENT IS TO BE ADDED HERE ∗/
return 0;
}
A function call statement is taken, one at a time, from the following table and inserted to
the above program to check if it is a valid statement. A statement is valid if after it is added,
the program can be separately compiled with no errors. You get 1 point for each correct
answer, -0.5 points for each incorrect answer, and 0 point if the question is unanswered.
Statement to Add Valid? Invalid?
√
(a) x = F(0, 0);
√
(b) x = F(x, 3);
√
(c) x = F(y, 3);
√
(d) x = F(x, y);
√
(e) x = F(y, x);
√
(f) x = F(true, 3);
√
(g) x = F(yref);
√
(h) y = F(yref);
√
(i) x = F(’a’);
√
(j) x = F();
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Problem 6 [10 points] Print Recursive Calls
int num zeros(int n) /∗ File: num [Link] ∗/
{
if (n == 0) // Base case #1
return 1;
else if (n < 10 && n > 0) // Base case #2
return 0;
else
return num zeros(n/10) + num zeros(n%10);
}
The recursive function, int num_zeros(int), above is an example in our lecture notes on
recursion. It finds the number of zeros in a non-negative integer.
Write another recursive function,
void print_num_zeros_calls(int n);
to print out the recursive calls of num_zeros on the input n. For example, if n = 120803, the
output of print_num_zeros_calls(120803) is as follows:
call num_zeros(12080)
call num_zeros(1208)
call num_zeros(120)
call num_zeros(12)
call num_zeros(1)
call num_zeros(2)
call num_zeros(0)
call num_zeros(8)
call num_zeros(0)
call num_zeros(3)
Your answer must be a recursive function that works with the main function on the next
page to produce the above results.
Note that the function print_num_zeros_calls does not compute the number of zeros in
the given number but only tells you how the function num_zeros is called to produce the
answer of num_zeros.
8
Answer:
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
void print num zeros calls(int x)
{
// ANSWER: ADD YOUR CODE HERE
if (x > 9) // 2 points for knowing that there are printouts only when x > 9
{
cout "call num zeros(" x/10 ")" endl; // 2 points
print num zeros calls(x/10); // 2 points
cout "call num zeros(" x%10 ")" endl; // 2 points
print num zeros calls(x%10); // 2 points; this is redundant though
}
}
int main(void)
{
cout "Enter a positive integer: ";
int x;
cin x;
print num zeros calls(x);
return 0;
}
Grading scheme:
- for each syntax error, - 0.5 point; max. 1 point
- the order of the codes is important
- the last line of code is redundant but the concept is there. You will get the 2 points if your
answer doesn’t violate the concept.
9
Problem 7 [10 points] Compare Character Strings
In the C++ standard library, there is a function strcmp that will take 2 C++ character
strings and compare them lexicographically. Here you are going to implement a similar
function called str_compare that is defined as follows:
• It takes 2 C++ character strings, s1 and s2.
• The characters they contain have an ASCII code that is smaller than 128.
• s1 is equal to s2 only if they have the same length and they contain exactly the same
characters.
• To compare the 2 strings, scan them from left to right until the end of one string. Check
their first differing characters. If that character of s1 is smaller than that of s2, then s1
is said to be smaller than s2.
• Character x is said to be smaller than character y if their difference (x - y) is negative;
they are equal if the difference is zero; x is greater than y if the difference is positive.
• str_compare should return -1 if s1 is smaller than s2, 0 if they are equal, and +1 if s1 is
greater than s2.
Answer:
int str compare(const char s1[ ], const char s2[ ])
{ /∗ ANSWER: ADD YOUR CODE HERE ∗/
/∗ You are not allowed to use the lib function ’strcmp’ ∗/
// 4 points for skipping all the common characters
int j = 0;
while ((s1[j] == s2[j]) && s2[j] != ’\0’)
++j;
// 6 points: 2 points for each case
int diff = s1[j] - s2[j];
if (diff < 0)
return -1;
else if (diff > 0)
return 1;
else
return 0;
}
/∗∗ Grading scheme:
∗ - for each syntax error, - 0.5 point; max. 1 point
∗ - can’t stop at the null char: -1 point
∗ - get the 3 cases but return the wrong value: -0.5 point for each case
∗ - get the idea of a case but doesn’t cover all possibilites: 1 point only
∗/
10
Problem 8 [20 points] Recursive Generation of Pascal’s Triangle
(a) Pascal’s triangle with rows 0–5. (b) C++ representation.
Pascal’s triangle is a triangular array of the binomial coefficients. (You don’t need to know
what binomial coefficients are to answer this question.) In programming, one may generate
the Pascal’s triangle row by row, starting from the top row r = 0. Here are the rules,
• For row r=n, there will be n + 1 integers.
• Except for row 0 which contains only one integer 1, all other rows start and end with the
integer 1.
• Starting at row 2, except for the first and the last number in the row, each of the middle
numbers is the sum of 2 numbers in the row immediate above as shown in the figures.
This is the recurrence relation to be used for the recursive generation of the numbers.
• You may assume that the maximum number of rows is 1000 if you think you need this.
Implement 2 versions of the function pascal_triangle to generate the n + 1 numbers in the
nth row of the Pascal’s triangle, using the given function prototype: an iterative version and
a recursive version. You MUST use the recurrence rule given above for their generation, and
are NOT allowed to directly use the formula of binomial coefficients.
You may assume that n + 1 is always smaller than the size of the array that stores the
coefficients.
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(a) [10 points] Implement an iterative solution that uses loops to generate a row of the
Pascal’s triangle.
Answer:
void pascal triangle(int row coef[ ], int n)
{
/∗ ANSWER: ADD YOUR CODE HERE ∗/
row coef[0] = 1;
if (n == 0)
return; // Base case #1 – correct row 0: 1 point
row coef[1] = 1; // Base case #2 – correct row 1: 1 point
for (int k = 2; k <= n; ++k) // loop condition: 1 point
{
for (int j = k-1; j > 0; --j) // loop condition: 1 point
row coef[j] += row coef[j-1]; // recurrence formula: 5 points
row coef[k] = 1; // last coefficient: 1 point
}
}
/∗
∗ Grading scheme:
∗ - for each syntax error, - 0.5 point; max. 1 point
∗ - base case for row 0: 1 point
∗ - base case for row 1: 1 point
∗ - recursion part: 7 points
∗ - set the last coefficient to 1: 1 point
∗/
12
(b) [10 points] Implement a recursive solution to generate a row of the Pascal’s triangle.
Answer:
// row coef[ ]: to store coefficients in one row of the Pascal’s triangle
// n: index of a row of the Pascal’s triangle; it starts from 0
void pascal triangle(int row coef[ ], int n)
{
/∗ ANSWER: ADD YOUR CODE HERE ∗/
/∗ Another way to catch the base case more explicitly
row coef[0] = 1;
if (n == 0) // Base case: 2 points
return;
∗/
if (n < 0) // Base case: 2 points
return;
pascal triangle(row coef, n-1); // 2 points
for (int j = n-1; j > 0; --j) // 5 points
row coef[j] += row coef[j-1];
row coef[n] = 1; // 1 point
}
/∗
∗ Grading scheme:
∗ - for each syntax error, - 0.5 point; max. 1 point
∗ - base case for row 0: 2 point
∗ - recursion part: 7 points
∗ - set the last coefficient to 1: 1 point
∗/
13
Problem 9 [12 points] Length of the Longest Word in a Sentence
An English sentence is read into a 1-dimensional C++ char array s. To make this problem
simple, a sentence consists of only words separated by one or more spaces, and each word is
comprised of the 26 English letters in either lower or upper case. There are no other charac-
ters, not even punctuation. Implement the function max_word_length to output the longest
word in the sentence. If there are multiple words with the same longest length, output the
first one.
EXAMPLE SENTENCE OUTPUT
Example #1 “ he is a good student” “student”
Example #2 “Hong Kong University of Science and Technology” “University”
Example #3 “ Hong Kong is city ” “Hong”
You function actually computes 2 things: the array index of the first character of the longest
word (in variable start index, and the length of the longest word (by the return value).
Grading scheme #1: if you follow our solution
(a) for each syntax error, -0.5 point; max. 1 point
(b) forget to initialize start index or max length: -0.5 point each
(c) no or wrong return statement: -1 point
(d) no penalty if the answer consider leading spaces nor trailing spaces
Grading scheme #2: if you don’t use nested loops, additional rules besides (a)-(d)
(e) correct breaking condition: 1 point
(f) store the length of current word: 2 points
(g) know when to start a new word: 2 points
14
Answer:
/∗ Input variables:
∗ const char s[]: Given sentence consists of only letters and space ONLY.
∗ start index: At the end, it saves the index of the first character of
∗ the longest word in s.
∗
∗ Return value: the length of the longest word in s.
∗/
int max word length(const char s[ ], int& start index)
{
// ANSWER: ADD YOUR CODE HERE
int i = 0; // Index of the first char of the next word
int max length = 0;
start index = 0;
while (s[i] != ’\0’) // Stopping condition: 1 point
{
int j = i; // Correct initialization: 1 point
// Scan thru a word: 4 points
while (s[j] != ’ ’ && s[j] != ’\0’ )
j++;
// Update info of the longest word: 4 points
if (j-i > max length)
{
max length = j-i;
start index = i;
}
// End of sentence?: 1 points
if (s[j] == ’\0’)
break;
// Update the starting index of the next word: 1 point
i = j+1;
}
return max length;
}
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