Tips and Tricks

In order to do the exercises (or any programming task), sometimes it is hard to figure out where to start. Here are some tips:

• try to break the problem up into pieces, for example:

  • How does any data get generated or input and how can it be organized?

  • What are the core algorithm(s) need to solve the problem? Are there multiple parts or steps?

  • How can you visualize what is happening? (Not only at the end, but also at various steps along the way.)

    • This can be printout, but also a plot or image.

• Try understanding individual pieces of of the problem through simplified versions of each piece, for example:

  • use a dummy data input (perhaps just hardcoded by you in the code)

  • use a smaller dataset or range

  • if the necessary algorithm is complex, try to write a simpler or analogous algorithm to get started