srm 215 & 216 lessons

• "Know your libraries" (leadhyena_inran)
  • To split a string into words in C++ you can do while (is >> word) since there is an implicit conversion from input streams to void*.
  • The STL has nice algorithms and utilities like set_union, copy, inserter, back_inserter. It is not enough to know about them: you have to recognize opportunities to use them.
• Debug methodically
  • Never panic for lack of time. If time is short then don't rush: do it by the book.
  • Make it repeatable. Investigate your data structures. Try different input data and try to infer the cause.
  • Use sanity checks when you have redundant information in the data structures (Knuth).
  • Print the content of the DS.
  • Construct additional information and print it. For example if you are counting ways to build a spanning tree then actually build the spanning trees and print them. The same goes for counting anything.